|
|
| Quote |  |
|
 |
|
"The passion that you feel is God inside of you beckoning you to take the risk and be your own person."
-Wayne Dyer |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Wow, I was watching an interview with actor Gary Oldman on TV last night (it aired on the Bravo Channel) and Oldman said something incredible.
In case you aren't sure who Gary Oldman is, he's been in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (as Dracula), "Immortal Beloved" (as Beethoven), and "JFK" (as Lee Harvey Oswald). He played the detective in The Professional. He's had roles in The Fifth Element and Lost in Space. His reputation as an actor is that of "intense."
During the TV profile about his acting career he returned to the acting school he attended during his youth. During a small group chat session with students, he was asked the question, "Did you learn things at this school that helped you succeed later?" Oldman's response propelled me off the couch and running to my note pad. "This is a great time and place to learn discipline. I was the first from my year to write my sheet. I was the first from my year to get my photo. I was the first from my year to send my photo and sheet out. I was the first to go on a casting call. And subsequently, I was the first from my year to get a union card," he said. "It's not that I had anything more than others from my year. It's that I was diligent and ambitious."
How is Your diligence?
diligence: constant, careful effort; perseverance; speed and haste.
How is Your self-discipline?
discipline: orderliness, control, efficiency
Diligence and discipline have the fearsome ability to create success. Since I just saw Star Wars I'm picturing diligence and discipline as two Jedi knights mowing down an army of robot warriors. Nothing creates results like Diligence and Discipline.
Ask a champion body builder.
Ask a monk.
Ask an Olympic athlete.
Ask a concert pianist.
Ask a sleight-of-hand magician.
Diligence and discipline can transform you into anything you desire. I read an interview with musician John Mellencamp wherein he said, "Anybody can write songs, anybody can paint. It's not some big God-given talent. If you listen to my first record, you'll wonder, 'How did this guy last in the music business for 20 years?' I'm very tenacious. It goes back to that line in Cool Hand Luke: You're gonna have to kill me to get me to quit. That's me."
The secret to awesome diligence and self-discipline? The secret lies in these two truths: Little diligence - little results, little rewards; Big diligence - Giant results, Giant rewards.
The best advice I ever received about diligence came by living example. Greg LeMond, three-time winner of the Tour de France cycling race, explained why he is diligent in his daily training, "There are many times I wish I was playing 18 holes of golf instead of training in miserable cold weather. But in the final analysis, I'd rather win the Tour de France than play 18 holes of golf. That's why I do it."
In the final analysis, is there anything you'd rather accomplish than whatever it is you're currently doing to pass the time? Discipline yourself, my friend. In the words of Bernard Baruch, "In the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves."
Until next week, be greatfull. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
