I know discipline is important, but I tell you sometimes it’s a struggle. Late posts and missed personal deadlines only expose my tendency to lack discipline.
My mind likes to float and enjoys being left to its own devices. Although free-flowing thought has its place, sometimes it can be counter-productive – making me less efficient and less productive than I could be in my personal endeavors.
I know, I know… You’re saying, “But you’ve written posts about being focused.” I hear you, and you’re right. I have. No doubt I know what should be done. My challenge is consistently making it happen. I’ve seen what works for others. My challenge is making something work for me.
I try one thing. Then something’s added to my schedule, and that one thing no longer works. Or maybe my husband’s schedule changes… In my world, I’m still a newlywed, so of course instead of sitting in a room alone writing, I’d much rather be seated next to him watching whatever the heck it is he’s watching on television. In the end, I lose ideas due to distractions and time due to lack of management. It’s tragic people.
Discipline…
We.are.not.friends.
But we need to be. We have to be. We MUST become cozy if I’m going to:
- Complete these 52 weeks AND
- Complete any other project I dream up, start or plan to start.
It’s that simple.
I’ve lamented over this thorn in my side a million times. So I guess here’s a million and one.
But there is a rainbow in my sky. Oh yes indeed there is. Despite a few setbacks every now and again I am making progress.
Case in point:
Last Friday, I reached a cool blogging milestone of five years. When I strolled down memory lane of my early blogging days, I found I posted once every other month (if that often). It was crazy sporadic. So to tackle once a week and be doing fairly well is certainly progress. See, rainbow….
The moral of the story…
If at first you don’t succeed at this discipline thing, trust me, you can try again. I’ve fallen and gotten back up many times, and I’ll keep doing so until something sticks.
I will be disciplined….eventually.
Yay me!
Shout out to my husband who, when I’m stuck, always encourages me to be completely me and write about what’s going on in my world “right now.”
And to my friend Michelle, whose conversation over dinner confirmed for me this topic and encouraged me to just keep pressing because at least a few of you are reading.
Finally, if you feel like you’ve mastered this discipline thing, share your tips and tricks in the comments. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d love to hear from you.
Until next time…
52 weeks to BE rolls on…
Oh Monica! I declare we are twins who were separated at birth. So many of your posts describe me to the tee! This one truly has my name written all over it. Isn’t it crazy how we can be SO disciplined in one area and totally undisciplined in another? Blogging for me has become quite the chore as you may have noticed from my lack of posts. I guess I will just do as you suggest and keep at it until I find something that sticks. I think I also need to work on freeing myself from clutter because I think that’s something that keeps me from being disciplined with writing. TOO much clutter! Thanks for sharing your struggles in this area. At least I know I’m not alone. Blessings my friend!
🙂 And it’s always somewhere along the lines of focus and discipline… You have your hands full with so much. I’m sure you’re probably getting a lot of other important stuff done. Your posts have been great, so just keep churning something out when you can. In the meantime, be encouraged. You are definitely not alone.