Discipline is a particularly relevant topic this time of year, since most of us are struggling to maintain our New Year’s resolutions. In this podcast, I share five specific steps to developing more of it.

If you’re like me, your resolve has already been tested, and you might even be thinking about giving up. Well don’t throw in the towel just yet! I have some practical advice in this episode I think you will find very helpful.

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If you’re like me, you struggle with discipline. You have great intentions, but just as you get a little momentum, something derails you. My friend Andy Andrews asks this question, “Can you make yourself do something you don’t want to do in order to get a result you really want?”

Over the years, I have found that I can become disciplined in any area of my life by taking five specific steps. Whether it is trying to get in shape, maintain a blog, or develop a great marriage, the psychology is the same.

Determine your goal.

Your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. This is an acronym that provides a checklist for making sure that what you have is indeed a goal and not merely an aspiration. It stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Actionable

Realistic

Time-bound

List your reasons

Identify likely obstacles.

Develop new behaviors.

Stay focused.

Listener Questions

Rebecca Livemore asked, “How do you differentiate between a lack of discipline and a legitimate need for rest?”

Brad Blackman asked, “Would you recommend adding only one discipline at a time or is it okay to try and add multiple disciplines?”

Aslam Najeebdeen asked, “I find I often abandon my new habits after four or five days. What are some tips for keeping the new habit going?”

Derek Duncan asked, “As a Christian, how do we allow for grace in the practice of discipline?”

 Julie Welles asked “I’m struggling with my blog. How do you discipline yourself to write so prolifically?”

 Tessa Hartiman asked, “How important is developing discipline for novice writers?”

 Paul Lundberg asked, “I love scheduling and planning. I’m pretty good at planning. But I am not good at all when it comes to executing the day or week I’ve planned. How can I stay more focused on what I have planned to do?”

Todd Liles asked, “How do you discipline yourself when you are absolutely dog-tired?”

Victor Manzanilla asked, “What is a ‘keystone habit’ (a la The Power of Habit) for your spiritual life?”

Special Announcements

 We still have a few tickets left for the Platform Conference, which will be held here in Nashville on February 11–13, 2013—just about a month away.

My next podcast will be on the topic of “8 Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr." These are some principles I gleaned from watching again his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which he gave back on August 28, 1963.

If you have a question on anything related to leadership—especially casting vision—please leave me a