Discipline of the Mind

Defined: Mental self-control used in directing or changing behavior, learning something, or training for something.

Discipline is doing what needs to be done to see the vision through. Passion without discipline won't get the job done.

Discipline is willpower embodied. - Stephen R. Covey

What does discipline look like for us? It's putting in the time, it's actually sitting down and putting our words out there, it's drafting, it's revisiting, it's pondering, it's realizing that it's almost too much, and then still putting in more effort.

Albert E. N. Gray, an insurance executive, spent his life trying to find out what successful people do to reach their goals. He found that the most successful people "formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do".

What are the things that failures choose to do? One could continue the list beyond: giving up, going home early, not bothering to form relationships with the people around them, being self-centered, doing the bare minimum, never reflecting, never seeking new information, never asking for other's opinions and thoughts, never sharing, never setting goals, never making plans, etc.

What are the opposite of all of those things that failures don't like to do?

1. Make the time.

2. Make goals.

3. Decide that the end result is important enough. Is it? Yes, it is. Make a choice. Choose.

4. Make a strategic plan.

5. Find others who share your vision. Create a vision together.

6. Find the most exemplary models to emulate.

7. Disallow negative talk. Choose not to listen to the naysayer.

8. Embrace and connect with your teammates.

9. Share. Share ideas, information, fears, dreams, hopes, and promises.

10. Evaluate progress toward goals.

11. Reflect on and record what works.

12. Find inspiration, and inspire.

13. Dream MORE, HIGHER.

14. Make yourself change your way of thinking about and doing things when you acquire new information contrary to your old beliefs and habits.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. - Maya Angelou

15. Align your capabilities and possibilities with your goals. Ask yourself, "Can I do this? Can I achieve my dream, my goal?" If the answer is, "Yes," then do what needs to be done.

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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the road less traveled by, And, that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost

Getting the Job Done

Focus and Execution – Focus deals with what matters most and execution deals with making it happen.

Focus being the act of modeling (living by the principles you value) and the act of pathfinding (doing the strategic work, setting the goals, deciding on values)

Execution being the act of aligning (aligning structures, systems, processes) and the act of empowering (enabling individuals and teams to translate the goals into day-to-day work - unleashing human potential).

Attention to Details

Coach John Wooden valued attention to details. When he was the coach of the winning UCLA basketball team, he would tell the players that there was a certain way he wanted them to put their socks on. He wanted them to first roll the sock over the toes, then ball of the foot, the arch, and around the heal. He wanted thme to pull the sock snug so there would be no wrinkles. Why did he do that? Because if a player practiced for hours with a wrinkles in his sock, he would be more likely to develop blisters. Players with blisters don't play as well as players without blisters. If a coach could have some control over whether his players developed blisters, why would he overlook that? It's a small detail, and yet Coach Wooden recognized that a small detail like that should be given attention, as it could lead to bigger things. Another thing that Coach did was to insist that his players keep their hair short. Long hair might affect visibility. Also, the persperation on long hair might get into a player's eyes or on the ball. When players asked him if they could keep mustaches, Coach realized that although mustaches wouldn't interefere much with the game, mustaches might lead to players asking about sideburns and goatees, and on and on. So, no mustaches. One more thing, when players joined the team, they would tell Coach their shoe size. He, however, would bring someone in to measure their feet. He knew that a properly fitted shoe was important to performance, so why neglect the detail of making sure that the growing kid had the right shoe size. Attention to details may be a pain, and yet the small details add up to larger things.

Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.

(Covey, 271).

“No company can deliver on its commitments or adapt well to change unless all leaders practice the discipline of execution at all levels. Execution has to part of a company strategy in its goals. It is the missing link between aspirations and results.” – Ram Chanran and Larry Bossidy

Balance

The Native Americans say that in the West we get things wrong - we receive with the mind, analyze with the spirit, hold with the emotions, and give the body. They believe this causes imbalance because we limit ourselves to what we can logically understand (when we receive with the mind). Then we try and sense the right course (when we analyze with the spirit). We hold onto our emotions our of fear and this causes us to block up, and then we try to show our love and affection by giving physical things as gifts. They say we should open ourselves up and receive with the spirit, so we see all the possibilities. Then we should analyze with the mind, hold with the body, and give with the emotions (Ping, 74.)

Self-Control

There is something liberating in controlling one's self in times where emotions may tend to rise to the surface quickly. There's something freeing, like, "I won't be pulled into this and react in a way where I'm not fully in control. I don't need to get emotional. I can control my emotions. I can decide when and where I will choose to get emotional." This isn't to say that emotions are negative. Emotions are powerful. Emotions can connect people. Emotions can move people. Emotions can propel people to overcome seemingly impossible challenges. Self-control allows one the chance to decide how and when to share and express emotions.

Self-discipline in students

Giving students choices, giving them a say in how they can learn and experiment with new ideas, giving them the freedom to interact with others without predetermined rules and guidelines allows them the chance to make their own good decisions.

"We cannot expect children to accept ready-made values and truths all the way through school, and then suddenly make choices in adulthood. Likewise, we cannot expect them to be manipulated with reward and punishment in school, and to have the courage of a Martin Luther King in adulthood." - Constance Kamii

And while reward and punishment that are externally manipulated undermine efforts to faciliate the development of self-discipline in students, offering multiple opportunities, experiences, and expectations for students to fail or suceed at achieving is a crtical role of what teachers, coaches, mentors, and all educators need to do for students, so that students can find their own pathways to "choosing" their own methods to making good decisions.

Giving students a safe environment to both succeed and fail is critical to this. Providing only one without the other ends up providing a far less effective framework to developing habits of mind. Without the thrill of sucess coming from your one's own efforts and without the experience of failing at efforts, students will not internalize the desire to keep developing and enhancing their methods toward building their own self-control and self-discipline.

So reaching for excellence and encountering failure are experiences that we should actually look forward to coaching our students through. A student who experiences success or failure without the guidance of another are often left missing out on one of the most teachable and important moments in the life. It is the debriefing and reflection that we can do with students about focus, execution, attention to details, balance, and self control, that ultimately help students reform and reinforce their own habits of mind in more powerful ways.