How Discipline is the foundation of successful people

Posted in Personal Branding On Feb 25, 2018

Warren Buffett is one of the best investors of all time. He keeps on attributing his success to a very simple practice: Discipline. He asserts that you don’t need to be smarter than the rest; you just have to be more disciplined.  The same concept was expressed by Bill Gates. He points out that success can be summed up in one word: Patience. It’s passing through failures without losing your vision.

That is how success can be boiled down. It can be boiled down to a few simple habits practiced day in and day out. You are what you are today because of the habits that you practiced yesterday. If you are not content with the results of today, study your habits that brought such outputs. Cause and effect is forever the ruler in our life. We are causing our own effects in life.  We are what we are today because of the decisions and habits that we’ve made in the past.




Discipline is a learnable skill. It is science more than being an art. You need to study and apply the methodology of establishing daily rituals. You must be aware to the fact that without applying this daily practice a price got to be paid. Paying the price is the result of not disciplining yourself; while practicing the habit will yield benefits. You either discipline yourself or you will be forced to.

In order for you to keep on a daily habit three keys need to be present.


Having a WHY in mind


To ingrain a habit, it must be linked to your vision. Your subconscious is getting used to a certain habit. Replacing it with a new one won’t be an easy task. In order for your new habit to survive the early stages, hold a positive mental image of how this new habit will change your future for the better.




Holistic approach


 A concerted effort of your whole being is needed to ingrain a habit. You got to be conscious of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Negative thoughts should be replaced by positive ones. Your emotions should be checked. Low frequency emotions such as fear, doubt, and worry won’t help in sustaining a habit. High frequency emotions such as love, forgiveness, and gratitude should be present. Your behavior will be dependent on the kind of thoughts and emotions that you seeded. Paying attention to your emotions and thoughts drive your behavior towards action.





Working vertically


The habit needs to be mastered overtime. It requires frequency as well as consistency. You are repeating the same routine at the same time on a daily basis. Being present to how the habit is formed and strengthened overtime isn’t an easy task. As your body got used to a certain routine, it won’t be easy to replace it with another one. Hence the role of emotions and thoughts that triumph over the resistance of the body.  The heart has a burning desire to work on this new habit; the mind visualizes the benefits of working on the new habit; the body in consequence will yield to the wishes of the heart and vision of the mind.

About The Author

Tareq Alaghoury

Tareq M. Alaghoury is the founder and Managing Director of Holistic Communications where he offers business coaching services and guidance to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build their brands and move their business to the next level.