Dig…

A client recently asked me for a hack to make disciplines stick. He’s like so many young people I see; smart, hard working, talented, and so easily distracted. He so badly wants to make himself better. Good. However, for his disciplines to endure he’s got to do more than just force himself to keep “lacing ’em up,” so to speak. Here’s why.

The root for lasting disciplines in work and life are similar. The root, I’ve come to discover, is found in joy. Your discipline, if it’s too last, has got to somehow become a source of joy. Rarely is deep joy found in comfortable confines. One size fits one. You have to find your most precious and keep digging to reach the roots. You’ve got to dig and tune into what hard things can make you smile, even laugh while doing ‘em.

Wanna stick to your playbook of productive action toward the worthy aim of your OPUS. Find the joy in so doing. Find the joy. The best among us have learned to find the joy is some barren, badass kinda place. Find your joy, my friend. Lasting, lifelong kinda disciplines are laced with LOVE and aimed at a worthy and well defined labor of love – your OPUS. Fact. The roots of endurance, like so much of life, are not found in e z p z kinda searches near the surface. The roots, it turns out, you gotta dig for. Back in high school every coach tried to make me do core work. Half assed it at best. Loathed it. Today? Love it. Found the joy. Can’t stop. Won’t stop. It’s now a love to. Joy filled.

I’ve found the joy in it. Have you found yours?

Live hard. Love harder. Dig…

Learning to do hard things well starts with doing hard things horribly. Keep working. Do them not so well. Grab a hand. Discover the joy found in the camaraderie of suffering. You’re not meant to dig a lone. All ONE, remember…