This week's Pep Talk Blog: Discipline Does It"

It was a beautiful Colorado fall Sunday morning and I’m slowly driving – should have biked I know – the eight blocks south of my home to the gym. Suddenly, my path is blocked: the fourth Denver Marathon is weaving through the neighborhood. “How far into the race are they?” I asked the police officer directing traffic and safeguarding the runners. “They’re about halfway.” he answers with a grin.

Idling in my car, waiting for them to pass, I thought of my own marathon experiences, I’ve run three: Big Sur, Vancouver and Boston. I watch the runner’s expressions 13 miles into the journey: some look fresh, others not so fresh and a few look like inwardly they’re asking, “What the hell made you think this was a good idea?”

My mind drifts to the hours of work each participant has devoted to preparing for a marathon. It takes a tremendous amount of sacrifice. It makes me think of training runs with my marathon buddy, Dr. Andy Johanos. I always thought it was pretty smart to be accompanied on 18-22 mile workouts by an emergency physician.

And then my mind wanders, as the policeman finally waves me through the intersection, to what this moment is really all about: discipline. These runners are wonderful examples of the power of discipline, defined as: “training that produces a particular skill.”

Discipline led to many hours of running and produced a particular skill: the willingness to try, and hopefully fulfill, the not-so-easy task of running 26.2 miles.

As I near the gym, the word “discipline” is vibrating my bones. As the Comeback Coach I talk often about “courageously eliminating any self-destructive behavior that’s preventing you from expressing yourself in healthy and productive ways.” That takes discipline. I go on to ask, “What are you putting in your bodies, your minds, who are you hanging out with? Are they raising you up, or dragging you down?”

It’s about having the courage to train our minds, bodies and souls to gain a particular skill. It might be running a marathon, quitting smoking, drinking in excess, losing weight, remaining faithful in our relationships, spending more time with the kids, working smarter at business. The venues change but the strategy’s the same. It takes discipline.

Life is a marathon, a long journey. This week, let’s promise ourselves to take action in “training that produces a particular skill” in an area we know could use improvement. Trust me, the sense of accomplishment you’ll experience will rival that incredible feeling marathoners experience when they cross that finish line, exhausted but victorious.