1 Quote, 1 Story, 1 Action

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn

The Oracle of Omaha

Warren Buffett may be the most boring person alive. He reads all day, and legend has it that he reads a whole annual report each day. He does not party, unless you consider bridge games a party. His schedule is routine; some would say monotonous. He does the same thing every day, and has for seventy years.

Buffett and his boring life would never be known or celebrated if he had not amassed such an immense portfolio of cash-flowing investments, earning him an astounding $157B net worth. Aside from what he refers to as luck, Buffet has earned this spot by one primary strength: discipline.

People say Buffett’s lucky because he’s incredibly rich. Yet, he says he is lucky because he gets to do what he does every day. Buffett has said that he dances to work every day because he loves his job. But here is the thing. He also says that anyone who gets to do what they love each day is just as lucky as he is. Imagine that. Any of us could be as lucky as Buffett.

Forced Discipline

​So do you need to stop what we are doing and suddenly buy shares of the next generation value stock? I argue not. Instead, right where you are: at your job, with your family, with your responsibilities, you can create your luck. How? With discipline. 

The discipline to do your best work. Discipline to make a masterpiece out of your products and services. 

Martin Luther King said “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets, even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should street sweeps so well that all the hosts of heaven and Earth will pause to say, ‘here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well done.”

Is Buffett lucky because he stumbled upon a lucrative career and took advantage of once in a lifetime opportunities? Of course he is. But so can you be lucky, right where you are. Buffet did not force his opportunities, but he did force his discipline. The discipline to live a boring and routine life, finding small celebrations along the way, all in effort to realize his vision of owning good companies at a great price.

What will you do this week?

This week, will you give your best? Will you take on that project at work and execute it with excellence? Will you have those tough conversations? Will you make your kid’s practice and keep your phone in the car? Will you avoid the temptation to trade in the boring purposeful work for the fleeting fun?

Like Buffett, if you create a lifetime of this discipline, you are on your way to an incredible legacy. That is purpose.

Stick with it.

​RRII

---

Get my new book, Business in the Bible

Biblical Success Principles for Leaders and Organizations

---

Receive the Empowerment Newsletter