“ How did you become great?” a journalist asked the billionaire at a press conference.
The man smiled and answered, “ I will share with you a story, and you will understand why I’m where I’m today. It happened when I was fourteen-year-old. I was playing with my friends on a tennis court in our subdivision. We were having fun on a beautiful summer day. Then one of my friends yelled, “ Jay, your dad is coming. ”I was shocked to see my father rushing toward me with an angry face. He grabbed my right hand and almost dragged me home. I was wondering what I did wrong. When we got home, he said words I will never forget. “ Jay, as soon as you wake up, make your bed. Do it every day. That simple habit will make a huge difference in your life.” I have followed my father’s advice until today. That advice taught me two things :
– First thing first: the law of priority
– The Power of discipline
These two principles have changed my life.
“ Could you please elaborate on the principle,” the journalist insisted.
“ Okay. Let’s start with the law of priority. I know you have read countless books on the subject. But I would like to explain it to you in my own words. To prioritize is to deal with things that will reward you.
As you can see, I didn’t say things that are urgent. Something can be urgent and not bring you any reward. What do I mean by reward? A reward is anything that can add value to you. The reward can be in the long or short term. For example, meditation is one of my priorities in the morning. What kind of reward my daily mediation brings me? Well, meditation brings me peace and confidence, increasing my self-awareness. To be successful, you must set your top five priorities every day. That will help you stay focused and productive. People who accomplish less in life are those who don’t have a “ priority mindset.” They try to do everything that comes their way. They are busy doing lots of stuff but achieving nothing. The second principle is linked to the first one: the Power of discipline.
“ Before diving into the second principle, could you please share your top five priorities with us?” another reporter asked.
“ You need to understand that priorities vary from person to person. My priorities don’t have to be yours. As said early, the keyword you should consider to set your priority is reward. Keep that in mind. Now let’s talk about discipline. What’s discipline?
I define discipline as the bitter pill.
Yes, discipline is bitter. And because it doesn’t taste good, only a few people are willing to swallow it. Human beings are wired to like everything sweet or easy. But sweet things bring bitter results, and bitter things like discipline get sweet results. The question is, what can of results do you want? Those who achieve great things in life are those who delay gratification and work hard to reach their goal. In my sophomore year in college, I attended a motivational conference on success. The speaker told the audience a story illustrating the human tendency always to choose the easy path. In the story, a king wants to marry his daughter. Fifty-six young and handsome boys were on the king’s shortlist. The king asked the candidates to meet him on the twelfth floor of the sky building. The king asked one of his servants to put 200 karat gold on the stairs of the eleventh floor. The young boy who would use the stairs and find the gold would marry the kind’s daughter. Guess what? All the candidates got to the twelfth floor using the elevator.
The moral of the story is that the gold is on the stairs.
Remember, discipline is the bitter pill that produces sweet results.