Day #8: The Freedom of Discipline

Very interested in the title of this chapter before I’ve even read it. I’ve been feeling kind of scattered in the last couple of days. There’s a lot going on – especially with training our new team members – and I haven’t been as focused and feeling as centered in myself as I generally like to. As I get into reading this chapter I’m going to be thinking about the start of next week and how I can get good stuff out of this chapter that will help me be more balanced and centered as I work next week.

One of the words she uses in the beginning of this chapter is the word floundering. It’s the word her client used when she came to her for help. I can relate to that word in some ways too. I’ve gotten movement on a lot of things and projects this week, but I’ve also felt like I was floundering a bit too. I used the word scattered at first. They are similar to me.

Define Freedom: Hmmm. The feeling of being unrestricted and in flow. Not boxed in. I see that freedom to me is the absence of yucky stuff that traps me. What is it the presence of? Being able to choose? Huh. Defining freedom is not that easy right now. Being able to do whatever I want. I think that’s my main association with freedom.

Define Discipline: The ability to make myself do things – even if I don’t really want to do them. Has to do with making myself, forcing myself, making something happen.

Rhonda Britten’s definitions from when she was struggling in her business: Discipline = confining and rigid. Freedom = doing whatever I want whenever I want

Notes

- True discipline takes hightened awareness and self-mastery.

- Getting in touch with discipline requires a willingness to take responsibility for the state things are in. Not blaming other stuff like customers, the economy, other people, etc.

- Are you willing to take full responsibility for the problems you’re experiencing in your business? (I need to take responsibility for how I thought having team members would make everything easier. But I wasn’t prepared for the amount of training that would be involved and the adjustment period and how it would take my attention from other things.)

- Freedom can not be achieved without discipline. It includes the ability to focus, inner-peace, self-acceptance, and clarity of intention.

- Where do I think I DESERVE freedom without having gone through the steps of earning it? When we think we deserve something, it’s easy to focus so much on what we AREN’T getting instead of focusing in on the stuff that would actually get us closer to what we want.

- Rhonda’s mantra: “True freedom lies within the lessons of self-discipline.”

- How many hours a day do you work? What do you work on? What distracts you? What keeps you focused? What turns you on? what turns you off? What are your monetary goals? How many clients do you have?

- Need to look at a Life Log. Hour by hour activities and keeping track of what ignites your passion and whether the activity moves your business forward or not.

Today, Practice Disciplined Freedom

Can you count on yourself to finish a task that you started?

Ugh. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. So I guess that means no. I’m not always trustworthy in this department. Or more accurately, I haven’t been that trust worthy in the past. I am open to changing this about myself and beginning now to be able to count on myself to get the job done whatever it may be.

How many projects are left undone in your home right now?

Not many in my home since we got our awesome personal assistant, but there are some in business that are more of a concern to me.  4 big ones I can think of right now. (QTM book, TG Market, MWTEB slides, HBP q’s)

What would your life look like if you were disciplined?

It seems like my life would be really productive. I’d feel really accomplished. I’d be on purpose. I’d be focused and clear. Those are things that I really value. But there’s also a fear of being disciplined and thinking that I would feel forced to do things because I’m scheduling them or something like that. But I sure don’t like the results I get when I don’t have schedules for doing things. Feels a little Catch-22ish. But I also think I’m leaning toward the more disciplined stuff.

Also realizing that I don’t get good work done when I’m in a room with other people. I get my best work done when I’m by myself and things are quiet.

What could you accomplish if you were disciplined?

I think it’s really the only way to grow the business. I have to focus in and get some things done and make sure those things are the priority. And I really need to spend some time figuring out how this can work in the mornings while our team members are with us. And how to work with them while they’re here and not get so worn down that by the time they’re gone I don’t have the energy to do the focused work that I need to do alone. Hmmm. Will be figuring this out over the weekend.

From Rhonda: Your willingness to become more disciplined tells me how committed you are to being true to yourself and changing your life.

5 Acknowledgements

1. Today I acknowledge myself for: Sleeping in and taking care of myself this morning.
2. Today I acknowledge myself for: Being as gentle with myself as I could when I realized I was scattered this morning.
3. Today I acknowledge myself for: Coming into the bedroom for some peace and quiet and time to work on this chapter from the Change Your Life In 30 Days book.
4. Today I acknowledge myself for: The awesome work session I had by phone with a client yesterday.
5. Today I acknowledge myself for: Being honest in a conversation with my assistant this afternoon and not feeling the need to censor some things about my personal life.