will do some of the heavy lifting for you, leaving your reserves of self-discipline to be used
for the unplanned situations, when they arise.
Ouzouk woke up with the first
rays of sunlight hitting his face. He scanned the interior of his dusty hut,
constructed with twigs, mud and dry grass. He scratched his back, which, as
always, had been bitten by insects over and over again throughout the night.
Grateful that the night had passed without any danger to his family, he crawled
out, careful not to make any sounds.
It was a crisp and clear morning. He would
have loved to take his family for a walk around the waterfall and play with his
little son, but there was work to do. It had been five days since the tribe ate
something more substantial than a fistful of berries. Unfazed by the
bloodthirsty mosquitoes buzzing by, Ouzouk walked over to the fire pit and
warmed his calloused hands. The light scent of wood smoke filled his nostrils.
He rubbed his hands together, still feeling the painful absence of his index
finger lost during that fateful hunt many moons ago.
One by one, his fellow tribesmen crawled out
of their huts and joined him at the fire. There was Dhizgab, his friend who was
bitten by a snake and was left partly paralyzed on his left side. Gnokk limped
along next, with his broken foot badly healed, and a part of his skull partly
caved in after a stone thrown by an enemy tribesman hit him smack dab in the
middle of his forehead. Rekknodd sauntered into the group next. So far, he was
the luckiest of the band, with only a deep scar on his cheek, left from an
attack by a tiger that had massacred a half of the tribe. Other men—some
missing limbs,
some having lost their entire
families, some with even more horrible memories—joined the group.
When the men were ready, they separated into
two groups and ventured out to secure food for the tribe. They made it back to
the camp in the early afternoon, forced to make a hasty retreat after spotting
a leopard resting in the thick bushes. Yet again, they had failed to obtain
food, but at least they were grateful that (unlike two moons ago) this time
nobody had been hurt.
With empty stomachs, the adults gathered
around the fire pit while small children, supervised by teenagers armed with
spears and bows, played by the creek a short distance from the camp.
They reluctantly decided that the area could
no longer support them. While clean water was plentiful and predators rare,
food was becoming increasingly scarce and successful hunts were few and far
between.
The next day they would gather their
belongings, put them on their backs, and walk for a long time until they would
find another suitable place for a new temporary dwelling. Some would die along
the way, some would get hurt, but such was life, Ouzouk thought to himself. A
human being couldn’t ever
stop struggling and fighting to survive each
day.
I can hear you thinking, “What a weird
prologue to a book about self-discipline!” Bear with me, please…
Our basic human nature hasn’t changed since
the days of Ouzouk. While the vast majority of humans fortunately no longer
have to live in constant discomfort and fear of death, we would still
do well to possess even a
fraction of mental toughness and self-discipline our ancestors had. In the
modern world, it’s easy to live without even a modicum of self-discipline.
Back then, nobody could avoid discomfort. It
was a fact of life that one couldn’t thrive unless they ventured into the
world, facing unknown risks and possible death in a quest for a better life.
Today, most people are unable
to wake up early without an alarm clock, and even then, it takes them thirty
minutes just to crawl out of bed. Most would find it impossible to sleep on the
bare floor, with insects crawling over them and biting their bodies the entire
night. If they experienced just a slight ache, most would skip work and
complain about how much pain they were in. Most wouldn’t be able to fast for an
entire day, let alone go without food for five days in a row.
Compared to our ancestors, we have it easy
.
Yet, or perhaps because of it, so many people
struggle with self-discipline today. A great majority of them do nothing to fix
that, and the ones who try are often met with ridicule. If you belong to the
group that is trying to better themselves or wanting to do so, the book you’re
now reading is for you.
I wrote 365 Days With Self-Discipline
with the intention of creating a daily
companion to help you embrace self-discipline in your everyday life.
As the author of several bestselling books
about self-discipline and being a personal growth junkie myself, self-control
is a topic close to my heart. I believe that if a person wants to reach their
full
potential, he or she can’t
avoid discomfort. Doing things that might not be entirely pleasant is key to
achieving long-term objectives.
In the following pages, I’ll share with you
one thought for each day of a year that is devoted to the topic of
self-discipline, mental toughness, success, or self-improvement in general. The
thoughts come from some of the world’s brightest minds: successful
entrepreneurs, athletes, bestselling authors, researchers, performers,
bloggers, and more.
Since the entries are brief and get straight
to the heart of the matter, you’ll be able to quickly find ongoing inspiration
to continue working on your most important long-term goals and on becoming an
ever better person.
Due to the large number of days in a year,
some themes will inevitably repeat, but I strove to address each subtopic from
different perspectives. Please note that I have quoted various people from
numerous sources, including books, articles, blogs, speeches, interviews, and
more. By citing their words, I don’t necessarily endorse their works or their
persona.
(A note on quotes in the physical and ebook
version of the book — whenever I could, I cited the source and included an
endnote. Unfortunately, the exact source of a small number of quotes,
particularly those by historic figures, was elusive to me. Whenever I couldn’t
find the author — as is often the case with many inspirational quotes
circulating around the Internet — instead of risking misattribution I wrote
“Unknown.”
)
Let’s turn the page and start with Day 1 and
the most important thought that defines the difference between a
self-disciplined person and a weak-willed one The next day they would gather
their belongings, put them on their backs, and walk for a long time until they
would find another suitable place for a new temporary dwelling. Some would die
along the way, some would get hurt, but such was life, Ouzouk thought to
himself. A human being couldn’t ever
stop struggling and fighting to survive each
day.
I can hear you thinking, “What a weird
prologue to a book about self-discipline!” Bear with me, please…
Our basic human nature hasn’t changed since
the days of Ouzouk. While the vast majority of humans fortunately no longer
have to live in constant discomfort and fear of death, we would still
do well to possess even a
fraction of mental toughness and self-discipline our ancestors had. In the
modern world, it’s easy to live without even a modicum of self-discipline.
Back then, nobody could avoid discomfort. It
was a fact of life that one couldn’t thrive unless they ventured into the
world, facing unknown risks and possible death in a quest for a better life.
