Remind Yourself of Your Most

It is easy in the beginning of the new year to gather up our strength and find the discipline within ourselves to take the steps necessary to reach our goals. Things are fresh, new, the slate is clean and the days, weeks and year before us hold within them the promise of possibilities. All it takes is one weak moment, one cave in to the flesh and to skip our ‘scheduled’ to do items, and there goes our discipline.

Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most

-Abraham Lincoln 1865

Maybe that is one of the reasons I love these words. Every day we are challenged to practice discipline not just a couple days into a new year. Each moment of our lives new chances, new opportunities to do something other than the path we have decided to follow crop up and tempt us towards a better option. Abraham Lincoln was right, discipline is choosing between NOW and MOST. Discipline is staying the course or altering the method to reach the end instead of being tempted by the fresh, new, shiny thing that presents itself. There will always be something better, smarter, faster, more sexy, more practical than the thing we want most. The challenge is in making the choice each day for the long term MOST rather than the short term NOW.

All of this requires that we even know what we want. Not just for today but for the long term MOST portions of our life. Sure things can change, of course circumstances drive us into different situations that may alter our wants and needs. Life is nothing if not all about change. So knowing WHO we are, WHAT we want, and HOW we want to get there is important to us as the foundation for driving our decisions. When we know these things, or have a glimmer of an idea, THAT is when we can release the NOW and focus on the MOST important things.

Each tomorrow will hold within it a new NOW that is a fabulous option, and on some days that option is the best choice…assuming we know what we want long term. Which brings us back to discipline. Being able to make solid decisions for our lives means knowing and evaluating, giving up the NOW for what we want MOST. Ask anyone who has reached one of their long term goals and they will tell you that what matters MOST is what is most important. Maybe today you will want to take some time to remind yourself of your MOST.