Raimon Samsó - The Power of Discipline ; The Habit that will Change your Life

Authors Introduction

From what I remember, I have always been guided more by heart than by brains.

At school, I was not the most intelligent kid in my class, but for sheer strength of will, no one could beat me. And thus, it has been all my life: as a student, as an employee, and as an author. I have never been the best runner, nor the fastest, but because I maintain a steady and paced rhythm, I always finish my races in a good spot.

As to discipline, my first story goes back to the beginning of my high-school years, when I was eleven. I was the only kid in the class that did his homework at school... during recess! While my peers played, I applied myself to my assignments for the following days; and only when I had finished them did I allow myself time with others, to enjoy what was left of recess.

Before pleasure, duty, that is the norm that I have always lived by. It has worked out for me.

Also, back then, I implemented a habit that would be crucial in my performance as a writer. For some reason, which I cannot remember, I started to summarize each lesson in a notebook. Summarizing forced me to understand the main ideas of every lesson first, and synthesize it later. It was my way of studying. And I enjoyed doing it, it helped me understand and memorize. I continued this habit up to college.

Today, without this skill now turned to habit, I would not be the writer that I am. Summarizing concepts, synthesizing ideas, making the complex simple... without a doubt, those are my strong points as a writer.

Later, as an adolescent, I realized the importance of creating discipline as a reader and reading intensely to increase my overall culture. I was in luck, my parents were good readers, and we had hundreds of books at home, in addition to being registered in a readers club. At fifteen I decided to read fifty books every year. I accomplished it the first year, and then I slumped a bit (girls or books), but without a doubt, I was a reader that consumed dozens of books every year.

Reading intensely has been the habit that has saved my life, in diverse aspects.

I soon realized that what I could not achieve with my IQ, I achieved through discipline (motivation, passion, heart...). I adopted it as a modus operandi. Good results came over and over. Discipline reached farther than my IQ could. It has always worked. This is my advice: if you have a son, do not worry about his intelligence, teach him self-discipline, and he will triumph.

From my mother, I learned to be diligent: what must be done must simply be done. And quick. I saw it in her once and again, and it worked for her. I have applied it to date: when I must do something, I do it without delay, without questions, and without wasting time.

From my father, I learned to invest in books, without even looking at their price.

From my readings, I learned to follow my heart: guide myself by the essential values of the spirit, and take each step inspired in love.

I do not know the reason why I am always motivated. Perhaps I fell into a magical potion when I was little, and I drank all of it, as it happened to Obelix. Or the Angel of Motivation placed a seed in me before I was born. Whatever it was, its effects have not waned up to date; I always awake motivated (sometimes hyper-motivated). I have never needed anyone to motivate me; I assure you; I have ample reasons to build a happy life.

And you should not believe the thesis that you have to be motivated first, before acting. It is nonsense. That is simply stupid. People should know that motivation is a consequence of action. First, you act, then you motivate yourself; not the other way around, as told by the urban legend of motivation leading to action. What you need is discipline, the most important ingredient to success!

Now, imagine this cocktail: discipline, diligence, motivation, passion... all in equal parts. Well stirred. Add a couple of drops of angostura sour, a leaf of mint, a slice of lime, ice... and serve cold. Unbeatable. That is the cocktail made of my secret weapons, which I will share with you, with the certainty that, if you replicate it, you will achieve equal or even greater success in your life.

Today, I can say that discipline has given me everything (and I do mean everything), and it is my superhero superpower: my costume bears a huge D in the chest, for Discipline. The path I have taken is the path of discipline.

But, do not be confused about it, it is not glamorous at all... every day I walk down to the mine and chip away at the stone. You need to wet your shirt day in, and day out, as well. The mine is a metaphor, but the chipping away is real: I have never stopped working intensely, since I started at 24. That is why I do well. Remember, I cannot trust my IQ too much, but I can trust my discipline.

One might think that, to find gold in life, it is enough to buy a good pickaxe (and a great shovel to pick it up). And an egg. If you do not use the pickaxe, nothing will happen. And that is what is mostly wrong today: Too many people are comfortable with reading, knowing, understanding, going to seminars... but they do not apply what they have learned when they need that knowledge the most. In the mine, if you dig deep enough, you will strike gold. And in the silence of its galleries, you end up finding yourself. That is your biggest reward.

This is a strange book, because it focuses in a way of being and behaving, not in the theory. I am not saying that all actions are external (behavior); much of it is internal (mentality). In both cases, if you do not give it all your effort, things do not change.

When things are going badly, give it your all. When things are going well, give it even more. Do not stop climbing down the mine daily (if you can, also climb down there on the weekends). Remember, there are rich and happy people because they give all their efforts to their objectives.

Why a new personal improvement book? Because most have remained in theoretical discourse. And the subject of this book is about pulling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty. Passing to action.

This book will not try to convince you of anything. It is an instruction manual to action. And it does not matter if you like those instructions or not. Just as a doctor does not ask the patient if he likes the recipe. Instructions are to be followed, without questions. And yes, they are for your own good.