The Power of Self-Discipline

Self-Discipline Is Not A Neat Little Trait That We Can Choose To Have. It Is The Trait For Ultimate Success. Without Self-Discipline, Everything Else Falls Apart. The Biggest Rewards That Life Has To Offer Are Only Attained Through A Long, Sustained Period Of Focused Effort.

America is one of the most successful civilizations in history. That is not an understatement. Whether we're talking about material well being, life expectancy and the general ability of any kind of government or society to provide for its people, America is at the top. 

It is no slacker when it comes to cultural contributions as well as economic innovations. We're not even talking about technology here. That's how dynamic America has historically been.

 But despite this rosy, shallow surface appearance, there are certain troubling trends that may undercut and, eventually, undermine and sabotage America's success. I am, of course, talking about the self discipline crisis.

You have to remember that for the longest time, the biggest contributing factor to anybody's success in the United States is ones ability to work hard. I'm not just talking about digging a ditch or doing any kind of manual labor. I'm talking about something bigger than that.

 Believe it or not, even if you're working at an office and you haven't lifted a shovel in your life, you can still work hard. You work hard with your mind. In fact, if you think about it, this is harder than physical work.

 With physical work, there's no thinking involved. You just basically press a button, you dig a ditch, you work the levers of the machine that's assigned to you and you're good to go. You just repeat that several times over the course of 8 hours.