From Celtics Coach Kevin Eastman:
The Pain of Discipline
Being disciplined is a great characteristic to have, but a difficult one to maintain over time. It’s not easy to work out day after day after day. It’s not easy to get in the weight room day after day after day. It’s not easy to do go to work and grind it out day after day. There is a pain factor involved — physical pain, mental fatigue (brought on by boredom of doing the same hard things over and over again), emotional pain from sometimes working your tail off every day and not being successful. The types and intensity of the pains will vary, but the constant is that they will be there!
In our careers it’s not easy to keep reading and studying the books, articles and reports or to continue to figure out how to become a better coach, salesperson, manager, CEO. Success is a disciplined process, not an overnight miracle.
Speaking from personal experience with our team last year, I think one of the reasons for our success was that we were willing to recognize and deal with that pain, to work through that pain, to invest in and commit to the grinding process that you have to go through to become successful in any meaningful challenge. For every NBA team, that challenge is to become the World Champions!
The Pain of Regret
Simply put, when all is said and done, if you haven’t invested in the discipline needed to be successful, you will look back and regret not having done everything within your control to make the outcome a successful one. This is the ultimate pain of regret. We know lots of people who do this — the ones who are constantly saying things like, ”I wish I had…” rather than ”I’m glad I did…”
So you, your team, your company all have a choice — do you choose the pain of discipline and continue to do everything possible (whether it hurts or not) to become successful? Or do you choose to shortcut things? Maybe you aren’t consistent in your energy and enthusiasm, or maybe you don’t maintain the focus needed to succeed. In any case, if you don’t choose the pain of discipline, you will regret it.
