YOU GOTTA WANT IT

I have been given the pleasure of mentoring some of the baseball players at the University of San Diego here in town. As you might imagine, playing baseball at the college level isn't easy. Weights and conditioning start at 5:50AM, followed by classes in the morning, baseball practice in the afternoon, and then homework in the evenings. Throw in the games that start Friday and last all weekend. An ambitious schedule to say the least. They are all remarkable young men. All of them have the dream of playing professional baseball.

To achieve your dream, you gotta want it. It has to be an urge inside that can push you past the obstacles when your mind and body are telling you to stop. A great person will achieve their dream only when he is willing to "pay the price" for it.

The most valuable trait anyone can have is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not. Having self-discipline is powerful and should be learned at the earliest possible age.

Start tomorrow on developing a plan for improving your self-discipline. List five areas in your life that lack discipline. Place them in order of your priority for conquering them. Then take on the first one by spending fifteen minutes each morning getting focused in order to get control of this weak area in your life. Give yourself sixty days to work on this one area until you go to the next one.

Remember, having it all doesn't mean having it all at once. The slow accumulation of small disciplines will one day make a big difference and get you closer to the big leagues.