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

To many of us, even the word “discipline” can conjure up all kinds of negative emotions including mental images of a ball and chain and de-motivating thoughts of boredom and repetitive, mundane tasks. However, there is a great paradox between discipline and freedom.

It is human nature for us to long for freedom to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. But what if I told you that it is only with discipline that we can experience freedom.

Discipline drives us to do the things we may not want to do but need to do in order to achieve the results (freedoms) we desire. Stephen Covey’s book, The 8th Habit poses some interesting questions when it comes to relationship between discipline and freedom. Ask yourself this,

Do you have the freedom to play the piano?
            No, because I never had the discipline to practice.

Do you have the freedom to go on a cruise around the world?
No, because I didn’t have the discipline to save.

Freedom is the ability to have a goal or a dream while having the discipline to transform it into reality. There is much truth to the age-old adage, “Nothing in life is free.” Challenge your thought processes when it comes to discipline and understand that freedom comes from having great discipline.