Discipline Is The Secret Weapon To Beat Your Competition

Let's get into discipline.

Of all three.

Impacts factors we're talking about today, I think discipline might be the biggest one.

Because to me, discipline.

Is the one that says, what are you willing to say no to.

When you're tempted to say yes?

What are those things that come up in your life that may seem mundane, that are easy to say yes to, but if you say yes to them too often over too long of a period of time, they become bad habits, they start having a negative impact on your life. Discipline is about having guardrails on what you're willing to accept and what you're willing to not accept. And you don't go off those guardrails. So I want to share three with you that have had a very positive impact on my life that I still apply every single day to day. And remember, this goes back to the question I posed before I dove into habits, rituals and discipline. That is, what are you doing to give yourself an advantage on the, the competition? Discipline, number one, diet. Diet is massive, my friend. Now, I'm not going to go into any specific kinds of diets. I'm not going to go into things you shouldn't, you should eat and you shouldn't eat. But I'm going to share some simple principles I use and apply to my diet that I think have been very, very helpful for me. Here's why I share this. I see so many people right now.

That.

Are outselling a product like health insurance, and I struggle with this. And I know some people aren't going to be happy with what I have to say here, but they're outselling a product like health insurance and they're delivering renewals to these companies, you know, that are having a big financial impact on these companies and their employees paychecks. And they're going out and delivering these renewals and telling these companies that the reason your rates are going up is your people aren't healthy. And here you are 40, 50 pounds overweight.

If I were that business owner, I would look at you and say, seriously, you're telling me this.

When I'm talking about disciplines? What are you doing to put your body, yourself, your mind in the best position to win? So let's talk diet. Simple principles I use right now to make sure I am not overeating. And I'm using diet, using food as fuel, not a source of my happiness. Number one, no food after 7pm.

If you find yourself a little overweight right now, you find yourself going to bed a little sluggish right now. Check out when you're eating your last meal of the night, how close is that last meal to the time you hit the sack? I made it a rule in my life, no food after 7pm and I hold tight to this rule so, so closely that when I'm on the road and I'm at an industry conference and I'm invited to a dinner, but I feel see the dinner is not going to start until 7:30, I will accept the invite, but I will go have dinner myself at about 5:30 and go enjoy them, maybe have a drink or whatever. But I do not try to eat any food after 7pm Because I know if I go to bed sluggish because I ate too close and too much to bedtime, guess what? It is literally setting the tone for tomorrow. Number two, when it comes to diet, I am very, very, very rigid when it comes to when it comes to what I eat. When I'm on the road, I do a lot of travel for business. I'm out doing a lot of workshops, speaking engagements. When I'm on the road, I am hyper diligent about what I eat. In fact, I will share this when I have Amy book the hotel where I will be staying. I try to book a hotel if the city has it, near a Whole Foods. Why? Because I know I can go to Whole Foods, get the food I need, know exactly what I'm eating and I'm going to put myself in the position to eat the healthiest meal I possibly can. Now, when I'm going out to dinner with clients and things like that, obviously we're going out to restaurants. But again, I am hyper diligent about what I am putting into my mouth. Why? Because I am literally trying to give myself an advantage over my competition. I want to go to bed feeling good. I want to wake up feeling energized. So what I eat, when I eat and how I eat it is very important to me. The second discipline that I apply to my life. And again, if you don't believe in these and you want to do it your way, you do it what you want. I am just sharing what I do in my life to give myself an advantage on the competition. Number two, I limit alcohol again. I go to plenty of industry events where I'm seeing people drink way too much to fit in. I know exactly what it's going to do to them the next day and I know, I know what that has done to my life in the past. So I know if I limit my alcohol now. I was forced to limit my alcohol over the past few months. Given my stomach issues. But if I limit my alcohol, I know I am going to wake up every single morning fresh, feeling sharp.

My brain is going to feel sharp, I am going to feel good. I'm not gonna have any of those lasting effects of the alcohol the night before. Now, Amy and I enjoy a cocktail or two on the weekends, but the point is, when I am trying to be and trying to, trying to bring my A game during the work week, there's no time for that because I have to wake up every single day feeling good, feeling sharp, and I have gotta be on point for my clients. So the advice I'm giving them is exactly what they need when they need it. If I were drinking cocktails every single night, I would not wake up as sharp as I would. I would have the brain fog and I wouldn't be giving the best advice I could possibly give. And again, I want to give myself an advantage over the competition.

Now, the last thing I do as part of my discipline every single quarter is I look to challenge myself physically every quarter. I started this last summer when I signed up for.

The Hell on the Hill race race hosted by Jesse Itzler, an all day running company in, in Maine. And it was a great challenge running 13.1 miles up and down a hill, up and down, up and down for 65 laps. And then last fall, my quarterly goal was I went and climbed the Manitou Incline, which is a famous spot down in Colorado Springs. I don't remember how many steps it is. It is a mile straight up all steps. And the goal is to try to see how fast you can finish it. I did it in 33 minutes. I think the record is like 16 or 17 minutes. But it was an amazing physical challenge. So one of my, one of my goals every single quarter is to try and challenge myself physically doing something I wouldn't normally do. And why? Because it just forces me to do uncomfortable things.

Now, the punchline to all of this, whether it's instilling better habits or rituals into your life, or looking to become a little more disciplined, I didn't want to use today's episode again just to share what I do and brag about what I do. But I know it's definitely had a positive impact on me. And I think it could do the same for you if you feel like you're lacking in any of these areas. But here's the key, here's the punchline. It's about consistency.

Anybody can show up for a week with good habits, show up for a month, maybe even A quarter with good habits. I see these people who go on these diets and all you see is the social media posts about how cool it is that they're losing this weight and going on these diets. Guess what? Nine months later, look at the picture. They're bigger than they were when they started. These people that are going to the gym, first time, they've done it for a week and now they're telling the world, where are they a month from now? It's consistency. It's that work you're willing to put in off the field when no one is watching.

There's still that piece of the fat kid in me. I know that makes sure I have the right habits, the right rituals and the right discipline. Because I never want to go back to being that kid again.

Because I know the impact it had on my life when I lacked the habits and the rituals and the discipline. I know the impact it had early on in my business career when I lacked them. I know what it did in my pro baseball career and I never want to go back there.

And if you are sitting there right now.

Willing to admit that you could be doing better.

That you could be winning a bit more in business, you could be winning a bit more as a husband or a wife or a mom or a dad.

Check your habits, check your rituals, check your discipline.

This is the content that fires me up more than anything else. Because when I look at what we do as a company, what I do as a living, there is nothing that drives my passion more than to help other people reach their full potential. And when I see that they're not, and I know why they're not, it hurts, it pains me, it saddens me because I know they're just missing a few mental shifts to change everything in their life.

And when I get on my one on one coaching calls with our clients.

And our conversations actually head down the path of habits and discipline, rituals and not business strategies.

And I see what we can do to help these people change. When I hear the stories of Andy, thank you for making this career fun again. When I see somebody who's out winning in the insurance business who's now 20 pounds less than they used to be, who's feeling good, who's feeling confident because their habits, their rituals and their discipline plan are dialed in, there is nothing that gives me more joy than that. And that's what I wanted to use this episode for you today. If you feel like you are lacking in any of these three areas, you're not alone. But look in the mirror and say, where do I need to get better? What habits can I instill in my life that I can rinse and repeat every single day? What rituals can I apply it to life that give me the purpose of what why I'm doing what I'm doing? And where can my discipline be a little better? Where should I be saying no to things I'm saying yes to?

If you just apply these three things consistently, your business, your life, your relationships will change forever. And I know I am still a work in progress, but I know the positive impact have had on my life, and they can do the same for you. So you know what happens when you get clarity and you mix it with confidence, man, you become unstoppable and you go do amazing things. So go do those things today. Be well.

Sam.