Last week we spoke about the first 4 principles of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly (more here : day-1-purpose; day-2-priorities; day-3-balance; day-4-discipline). Today we delve into the fifth principle: Discipline (Just a small but important note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself.) Principle 5: GROWTH “If you are not growing, you are slowly dying.” Growth is a non-negotiable principle of life. It doesn't have to be a constant upward progress, it can be seasonal, but it's gotta happen in order to avoid the soul shrinking that will happen as a result. Stagnation is not neutral...it's regressive and stagnant water becomes putrid and also has the tendency to infect things around it. Growth must be intentional and often requires humility-admitting what you don't know, where you need help and recognizing a need for change. We often mistake growth for intensity-doing moer, pushing harder, building up speed. But we must not confuse momentum with growth. Think of riding a bike down a not so smooth hill and at the end you need to make a turn. Momentum on it's own could end up being catastrophic--being intentional with how you navigate the hill, when to apply the breaks, when to maybe even walk the bike is necessary. This analogy is only in relation to momentum because part of growth may also need to bring in the question "is this a hill that's really best suited for my goal/my life". Sustainable growth requires integration meaning that it requires the space to process, reflect, and consolidate what has been learned. Without this rhythm/balance, growth becomes compulsive and lessons aren't fully learned.Again, it's not necessarily about speed. It's tough though because we can struggle with delayed gratification sometimes.

In the last two days we spoke about the first 2 principles of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly (more here : principles-of-success-day-1-purpose; principles-of-success-day-2-priorities ). Today we delve into the third principle: Balance (Just a small but important note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself.) Principle 3: BALANCE “Life demands balance; without it, even success becomes destructive.” "Work-life balance was a mistake from the start. Because we don't really want balance. We want satisfaction" Balance is the rhythm that sustains success. We tend to function best when we are within a 'window of tolerance'. When we're outside that window we feel overwhelmed and numb and start losing flexibility, empathy, and clarity. When this happens progress in one area begins to erode another (health/relationships/peace/meaning). Balance doesn't mean equal time for everything, but rather appropriate attention (and discernment) over time. Trying to give everything equal weight at all times becomes an unrealistic endeavour so this calls us to sacrifice some things, BUT, it's asking us to sacrifice some things consciously rather than driven by fearr/guilt/compulsion. Maybe a better way of saying this is is that it calls us to prioritize some things over others. Balance is about looking at the season that we're actually in and tending to the things that benefit from our attention in that season not the season we wish we were in. QUESTIONS for reflection: Which area of life feels overworked and which feels neglected? POLL: Which best describes your current state? ACTION: -Track energy levels for 7 days--and ask yourself at the end "What did my system need more or less of...and did I listen?"

In the last three days we spoke about the first 3 principles of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly (more here : day-1-purpose; day-2-priorities; day-3-balance ). Today we delve into the fourth principle: Discipline (Just a small but important note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself.) Principle 4: DISCIPLINE “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”-Abraham Lincoln “No man is free who is not master of himself.” -Epictetus “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle This one can be rough...In many ways people looking in may think that I'm pretty disciplined in a lot of areras of life...but there are many that I want (or....want to want?) to be more disciplined in and I fall again and again...The easy way out, the distractions, the comfort, the lure of the status quo sometimes still win out.. Stemming from the Latin for "to teach," discipline is training for self-control and character. Benefits of discipline involve better outcomes, stable relationships, and increased well-being. It fills the gap between intention/dreaming and reality. Discipline is...wait for it....discipline is self-respect in action. We want to respect ourselves, don't we? Small repeated choices shape our character and it builds self trust and each small act of discipline is a lil vote towards the person we want to be and over time these votes compound. Compound effect is a real thing! Think about the direction you want that compound effect to go. Pychologically, discipline is closer to self-regulation than self-control and it's more about creating conditions where success is more likely. When we struggle with follow through, it'srarely because of laziness (which sometimes people shame themselves with this type of language) but it's more likely that the nervous system is overwhelmed, dysregulated, or trying to avoid pain.

In the last few days we talked about success (how we define it::success ) and failure (how to deal with it: raise-back-up). In the next few days, we'll take a dive into some of the principles of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly. But just as a small but imporrtant note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself. Principle 1: PURPOSE “Success is becoming the best version of yourself.” Purpose is one of the foundations of a meaningful life. It guides your choices, actions, and goals. Living without purpose can make even the best achievements feel empty/hollow and the ache that can come with that can be palpable. "Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being" or "what makes life worth living," combining "iki" (life) and "gai" (worth) to find purpose through joy, passion, and contribution, often visualized as the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for." Purpose answers the question: Why am I here, and who am I becoming? Purpose is discovered over time through honesty, suffering, joy, failure, and service. It is revealed by paying attention to what consistently brings meaning, energy, and a sense of rightness even when it is difficult. In Matthew Kelly’s framework, purpose is about becoming, not acquiring/not achieving. A life without purpose has the tendency to drift and doesn't feel anchored. And that feel of "something's off" or "there's got to be more than this". It ends up reacting to expectations, approval, fear or comparison among other things. A life rooted in purpose can work through sacrifice, disappointment and delay. ""He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how" (nietzche)

Yesterday we talked about the first principle of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly (more here : principles-of-success-day-1-purpose). Today we delve into the second principle: Priorities. (Just a small but important note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself.) (side note, we just recently talked about this here: your-life-is-full-is-it-full-with-what-matters , but since I'm following the principles as enumerated in the book, it's coming up again!) 2. Priorities "If it's a priority you'll find a way. If it isn't, you'll find an excuse" -Jim Rohn Here's a fun fact of life: We don't have time for everything. The sad part about this is that if we don't carve out time and apply our energy towards the things that we say that matter, other things will fill up that space. It kind of reminds me of the 'law' of the empty purse. It's the idea that an empty purse never stays empty for long. If there’s space, something will go into it. And if we don’t choose intentionally what fills it, it will be filled by whatever is closest, easiest, or loudest even if it’s useless.Sometimes we even fill it with other people's things "can you hold this for me?" And then the tendency is to want a bigger bag (more time) rather than to take a look and see what's in there. This applies to attention, time, identity, relationships, and desire. When something feels like it's missing (meaning, belonging/connection, direction/purpose) we don’t always sit comfortably with the emptiness...We rush to fill it and that sense of urgency/discomfort makes us careless. We reach for distraction, validation, consumption, busyness, control, or approval. Junk goes in faster than nourishment because it requires less thought.