“Self discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think you can’t control what you do.”
~~Napoleon Hill
In Sacred Success™, discipline is far less about doing and all about thinking. Mental discipline paves the way to disciplined action.
When you discipline your thoughts—ridding yourself of any self depreciation, pessimism, or worry— disciplined action becomes so much easier that it may even feel effortless.
I was struck, during my interviews with women making millions, how fiercely—to the point of obsession—they practiced Mental Discipline.
For example, one woman told me: “I don’t use the word ‘can’t’. And I started fining my employees a dollar who did”
Virtually every woman I interviewed consciously and deliberately monitored the words that went into her head and out of her mouth, in all areas of life. These women were so vigilant, that what started as a discipline, eventually became a habit. That’s just the way it works!
There are 4 specific forms of mental discipline I want to share with you: constructive denial; creative separation; situational reframing; and strategic thinking.
I’ll be blogging about each one, right here. If you have any to add, I’m all ears!
September 11, 2010 at 2:46 am
Conscious, fierce, deliberate and vigilant — what a great image that brings to mind of the millionaire woman. And “constructive denial” sounds so intriguing. I’m really looking forward to your further posts about mental discipline.
September 11, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Self image dictates the quality of thoughts that a person has about themselves.
If a woman sells herself short in this area, all the well meaning exhortations of controlling one’s thoughts will not help.
Will you address this in your upcoming blogs?
October 14, 2010 at 12:41 pm
[...] It wasn’t until my interviews with women who make millions that I had a stunning realization. The key to disciplined action is disciplined thinking. [...]
October 26, 2010 at 3:42 pm
[...] wonder if we women aren’t lacking a gene that makes this form of discipline especially difficult. The final technique, Strategic thinking, means keeping one eye on your [...]
December 2, 2010 at 3:04 pm
[...] had a habit of putting myself down…without even realizing it. I’d constantly dismiss my skills (“Oh, that’s no big thing”), [...]
January 26, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Love this “Discipline is an inside job”! I so agree and it’s one of the first things I tell women entrepreneurs when learning to take control of the finances in their business and life! Mental discipline is something that has to be done on a daily basis, it has to become a part of who you are and what you do!