The importance of discipline in all aspects of life cannot be overstated. And if you want to be successful as an agent or entrepreneur, it becomes that much more important. While it’s easy to hustle at the beginning when you are excited about your new venture or when you hit that first success milestone, every entrepreneur knows that success doesn’t come easy.
When success isn’t coming as quickly as you had hoped, it can be easy to lose momentum. Practicing is the key to continuing forward even when the payoff is hard to see. If you could use a little inspiration to start, why not take a cue from some of these great minds?
1. “Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. [It] must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.” – Gary Ryan Blair
2. “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” – Jim Rohn
3. “Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.” – Buddha
4. “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” – Lee Iacocca
5. “There will have to be rigid and iron discipline before we achieve anything great and enduring. And that discipline will not come by mere academic argument and appeal to reason and logic. Discipline is learnt in the school of adversity.” – Mohandas Gandhi
6. “It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.” – Vince Lombardi
7. “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
8. “Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.” – Roy L. Smith
9. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
10. “When you are tough on yourself, life is going to be infinitely easier on you.” – Zig Ziglar
11. “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves. Self-discipline with all of them came first.” – Harry S Truman
12. “Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.” – George Washington
13. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher
If you want to accomplish great things, you must take these mantras to heart. If you aren’t sure where to start, simple things like practicing meditation, exercising regularly, coming up with measurable goals, and sharing those goals with others are all great, simple ways to start.
Rebecca Hansen is a content strategist with a background in digital marketing who loves helping companies create engaging content. She also runs the lifestyle website Salt City Style and firmly believes that there’s nothing that good food, good wine, and good friends can’t fix.
