365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

Day 119: On Hatching the Egg

We shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.

—Abraham Lincoln

 

114

In today’s world of abundance, there’s always the next hot thing, a new

miracle solution, a cure for it all. It’s no wonder that so many people lack

the self-discipline to stick to one thing and constantly jump from one thing

to another, deluding themselves that the new thing will surely be better than

the one they have now.

If we think of pursuing your goals as being in the business of breeding

chickens, how big will your fowl empire get if you constantly smash all of

the  eggs  you  have,  thinking  that  those  other  eggs  you’ve  seen  online  will

hatch more quickly?

In  essence,  that’s  what  a  person  is  doing  when  they  are  constantly

changing their mind. An important aspect of self-discipline is the discipline

to stick to the specific strategies you’ve chosen to follow, in order to get the

results.

If  the  strategy  you’re  following  has  been  proven  to  work  for  other

people  (as  in  the  case  of  following  popular  healthy  diets,  tested  workout

plans,  personal  finance  strategies,  etc.),  switching  out  of  it  to  another  one

only because you think the other one could be better is nothing but an act of

self-sabotage.

If  you’re  currently  thinking  about  giving  up  your  current  strategy

because  you’re  tempted  to  try  something  else,  remind  yourself  of  the

metaphor  with  the  egg.  Nobody  has  ever  accomplished  anything  by

constantly  destroying  the  fruits  of  their  labor.  If  your  strategy  has  been

proven to work for many people, dedicate yourself to it for at least a year

before you even consider the thought of trying something else.

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