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Time after time, I can recount desiring an outcome that required me to stretch. I learned then, and consider it a key principle for my life today, that there are opportunities that will only be afforded to those who are willing to do what it takes to take hold of them. I also learned that discipline is the key to maintaining those opportunities. If we are not careful, we can confuse the attainment of a particular accomplishment that may have taken some work with the embodiment of discipline. In life, there will be times when you can accomplish some really good things simply because the circumstances were optimal. However, there is a difference between being a person and leader who is disciplined and generating temporary energy or focus to accomplish short-lived outcomes. 

I like to say it like this: Discipline is the divine separator between the average and the extraordinary. Anyone can accomplish something once, but can you show up time and time again in a consistent manner that yields fruit? Discipline is the great equalizer of intentions. Discipline, or lack thereof, reveals the difference between a person who senses something is a good idea versus one who believes in something enough to fully commit to it. 

The Bible speaks to this in Proverbs 13:12, which reads, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (New International Version). 

When I read this scripture, I hear a message encouraging us to not allow things we say we want to accomplish to linger in the balance of our lack of commitment to accomplish those very things. As we set our eyes on a goal, it is imperative that we move forward in discipline to finish it, because if we don’t, we will defer that goal and find ourselves having regret. The regret of not doing something that you know you have the ability to do can make you sick and leave you feeling less than. However, there is something special that happens when you exercise discipline in moving forward with your goals. You come to a place where the longing you had is now fulfilled, and you feel the life that comes from fulfilling your goals.