Freedom is something that pretty much all of us crave in one way or another. It can mean the ability to do what you want or to not do what you don’t want. It can apply to your business or career, your personal life, your health and your state of mind.
Just like yin-yang, positive-negative and left-right, there is a key that fits the lock of Freedom as well. The key to freedom, or the other side of the same coin if you will, is discipline.
Discipline at its most basic is activity or experience – be it physical, mental, or spiritual. It’s a practice that is applied over and over to both the basics and the in-depth details of an issue.
Discipline, or training yourself, begets mastery – the more self-discipline you use in training, the more you master the task at hand. And mastery, real mastery, requires digging into the details and not shying away from them. You become a master of something, whether it be hitting a golf ball or investing your money, by going deep, taking the time and using your energy to fully and completely experience the topic at hand. And when your discipline results in mastery, the result is freedom.
A great example of the freedom/discipline principle is running. By having the discipline to run every morning, by putting in that training, you gain the freedom to not only run long distances comfortably and enjoy the exercise, but you also get the freedom to enjoy so many other activities in life because you’re fit. Whether it’s a pick-up softball game or taking your family on an adventure, your fitness discipline results in having the freedom to enjoy life to the fullest – not to mention living longer.
Skimming over the top, just learning the basics, and then moving on – that’s what most people do. Those who become successful however, are generally very disciplined and become masters at what they do. They then gain freedoms that the average Joe simply can’t get close to. To become a high performer in your field requires discipline. But once you apply it and gain mastery, you open yourself up to more freedom in the form of new and bigger opportunities, more wealth, more say in what you do, etc. – the possibilities can become endless.
The principle of freedom and discipline also goes beyond that of tasks and experiences. It extends to the ultimate freedom – the freedom of the mind and spirit. This freedom comes from self-mastery. To obtain self-discipline and self-mastery, regardless of what is going on around you, that is highest order of freedom and that’s also where happiness lives.
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What to do next? Use the comment section below to let us know how this principle has played out in your life. And if you like the post give us a FB Like or a Retweet. Cheers!
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