I will admit it. Sometimes, I am not very disciplined.

However, my focus doesn’t change.

Here is a perfect example:

There is one part of my body that I constantly struggle accepting as it is and feel like I never make any progress with it getting any better. No matter how many push ups I do. I am not looking for a six-pack stomach, but I would like to have something that doesn’t quite look like a Capri Sun juice box either. I realize I carried three boys within that same section of my body, but it want it to be more muscular than it is right now. Again, I am not looking to be the next swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated or as a model for the Victoria Secret catalog. (I’ve heard there is a height requirement for both. Oh, so close!)

I am not saying I need to bounce quarters off my gut either. I just want something better than what I have now.

Every time, I get a new magazine and there is an article about how to “cut the gut,” I always rip out the page and put it with the other 10 or so taped to my bedroom wall. Because that’s a good place to put things, right? In the corner.

So a few years ago, I decided to tackle a 30 day abdominal workout. It required a few planks and sit ups every day for 30 days. The first 8 days went well. And that’s where it ended. Day 8.

Why did I quit? Because I wasn’t devoted to the outcome enough to suffer through what I needed to do.

You see, my problem isn’t my lack of focus. I know what I want. I even know how to get it. I’ve got the magazine articles to prove it.

That’s when I realized that focus isn’t my problem…

Discipline is.

The problem isn’t what we want…it’s staying committed enough to the process to achieve what we want. 

That’s where failure comes in.

It happens to all of us.

Regardless of why we fall short, it is hard to stay committed to the same thing over a long length of time.

Time isn’t our enemy either. It is what keeps us focused on our goals and reminds us that no matter how much we want something, it will take time to get it.

How do we stay on track without wanting to quit?

How do we continue to put forth the same effort without asking what it means?

How do we remain devoted to the goal when we seem so far from it?

How do we endure another disappointment?

How do we hang in there another day?

Our will to continue must be stronger than any force pushing us to give up.

We persevere.

We tackle adversity.

We admonish misfortunes.

We try again.

Every day is a new beginning. We can stay where we are or we can complete what we see out to complete. We need to convince ourselves to stay in it. To keep going. To tell ourselves, “We can do this!” when nothing else seems to work.

Some days are harder than others. You will take a step forward on some days and take a step back on others. Be disciplined to see it all the way through. To live with no regrets. To go “ALL IN!”

Your attitude and effort dictate what happens next.

Remember this, too…making a choice to do one thing or another will always come down to one thing…discipline.

Michelle A. Homme 2016 ©