I believe that we have control over our brains. I'm not talking about things like digesting food, or telling your heart to beat. That stuff is on auto-pilot, and I'm fine with that. I'm talking about the things that instinctively pop into our heads all the time that our minds overrule. I am terrified of heights, but I manage to overrule that fear and fly, by reminding myself just how safe flying actually is. I get anxiety over all the things that could go wrong, but I still get on board because I know how good the engineers are that designed the plane, how good the safety regulations are, and how great you have to be to become a commercial pilot. I believe that I am in control. It may take practice, but I believe we can over come most mental road blocks. You can ask others what you need work on, but getting an honest answer might not be that easy. What kind of friend would sit there and tell you your flaws? In order to figure out your road blocks, you might have to sit down and just be honest with yourself. Besides, you can't fix a problem unless you actually believe that it's a problem.
For me, a big mental road block has been my lack of discipline. Without discipline, nothing else matters.......it's what keeps us on track to achieve our goals. Things pop up all the time that try to knock me off my path, but I believe that I can ignore all the distractions and focus on learning, if I try hard enough.
Becoming great requires such a high level of sacrifice and dedication that I need to change the way I use my time. The reason that I do this is for my family, so I will not use that time. There is, however, time before work, during lunch, and after my son goes to bed. With such little time, I can't afford to waste any of it on useless things. I need to be disciplined enough to complete my daily checklist before wasting any time.
Another road block is that I'm a step-skipper. I like to skim through a lesson and immediately go and try to apply it. I need to be more disciplined and learn each step before moving on to the next. I also need to practice more before doing anything for real. So until I'm perfect, I need to practice.
The last area that I need to work on is that I am too quickly defeated. Not that I think I'm a failure and stop trying, I just assume something doesn't work and stop. I try different systems or strategies, and if they don't work immediately, I find a new one. If I stick with something, however, I might get better. Part of the strategy not working could be because of my step-skipping. It is important to stick with things even if you fail early because it is amazing what you can accomplish in a relatively short amount of time. You may not see the immediate results of yesterday or today's hard work, but when you start combining them you get better and better. and you will see it eventually. I need to keep learning and keep practicing.
I truly believe that discipline comes from within. Sometimes things do come down to "just how bad do you want it?". If I want it bad enough, I will make time to study, practice, and complete all of my daily tasks. I will also learn each lesson before moving on to the next, and see it through start to finish. While I am learning I will practice on demo accounts and get perfect before moving on to live accounts. Finally, I will stick with it even if I fail at the beginning. Becoming great is a long difficult process, but it will never happen if I don't stick with it. I guess I will find out just how bad I want it.
To keep my mind on doing what it takes, I have my checklists, notes, and pictures to remind me. Reminders, however, are worthless unless I act. In the end, it will be because of me if I succeed or fail......no one or nothing else.
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