Many people have believed that success is a matter of being in the right place at the
right time. And I think there's probably a grain of truth in that, but get this. You've
got to be aware that you're in the right place at the right time. If you're not aware that
you're in the right place at the right time, it ain't going to happen. What we're talking
about here is awareness. Now I see seven different levels of awareness here. It goes from an
animalistic state to mastery. Let's look at this and let's relate it to
our own life. In an animalistic state, you're going to react to everything. When you master
the situation, when you're in control of you, you respond, you do not react. Let's take
a look at the reactive state. That is the little child. That is the little baby. When
they react, it's fight or flight. That's what they're going to do. It's either fight or
run. Same situation happens, but a person's responding. What do they do? They think and
they plan. Now, down at the bottom is where we start
out. Up at the top is where we sure hope to be. There's the little child and the little
child now is old enough. They're up and running around. And what do we do? We say go on out
and be like the rest of the kids. In other words, follow the masses. Let them help develop
your paradigm. That's what you're doing. Now the child has this genetic strain in him that's
a paradigm. They're genetically programmed the moment of conception. Now they're moving
out into a bigger world and they're going to follow the masses.
Yet they do that for a period of time, but then they aspire to something greater. They
have a desire for something greater. We all do this. We all move into this. Every time
we go to do that, every time we go to step ahead, that damn paradigm pulls us back. Every
time it pulls us back. You say, "I'm going to go there", and the paradigm pulls us back.
This goes on over and over. We don't know what's happening. We don't understand any
of this. I go to do it and I can't do it. Then you hear, listen, if you discipline yourself.
Discipline is the ability to give yourself a command and then follow it. I am never going
to pick that up again. Well, this person learns that if they just
discipline themselves. And they say, "I'm going to do that. That's what I'm going to
do. I don't care what happens. I'm just going to go ahead." And that paradigm starts to
pull you back. And you see the discipline disappear. It just folds up and goes away.
And we find out that it was wasn't discipline. It was nothing but a wish. "I wish this happened.
I wish that could happen." And bam, we're stuck again. Over and over and over. We're
stuck. Now, what do we have to do? We've got to become more aware. We've got to become
aware of what's happening. Discipline is very real. And I think that's the best definition
of discipline you're going to find. The best one I've ever found. It is the ability to
give ourself a command and then follow it. Wants and discipline need to be connected.
If you're really going to make it happen, the wants and discipline have to be connected.
When you go to do this and you find, when you find that that discipline starts to fade,
you've got to say, "No way. Absolutely not." And when it starts to appear that it's a wish,
say, "No! I am not going to give in! This I am going to do". And you bring the discipline
back in. And you say, "I'm going to be in control of me. I am not going to let the paradigm
control me anymore." And what do you do? You took the idea and you acted on it.
And when you acted on that new idea, the whole world started to shift. All those things started
to change. And lo and behold, you are in control of you. You exercised the discipline. You
gave yourself a command and you followed it. You are in control of you and my god, you
feel so good. When you give yourself a command and follow it, you will feel something that
you won't get any other way. You can't buy it. Nobody can give it to you. It's something
only you can do. It is such a beautiful thing. Wow. Wow.