Mentalechoes

This year I’ve decided is the year that I want to make my break into the film and television industry as a screenwriter. I don’t doubt that I can write a screenplay that would be “good”, because I feel I’ve got lots of talent as a writer. Maybe that’s arrogant to say that, but nonetheless I reckon it’s true, and let’s face it, self confidence is a big part of success; if don’t believe in yourself, your defeated before you even start. But so is discipline! And honestly this is where I’m fucked! I am one of the laziest people on the planet! Seriously I wish some scientist would discover that there is a gene for laziness because then I could at least blame it on my parents instead of me. I’ve always been one of these people who works really obsessively at something for short periods of time. I’m really shit at sustained effort over a long period of time. To get anywhere with something though you need to work over the long term, and that’s what you need discipline for.

I was watching on MTV this afternoon The Rise and Rise of Beyonce Knowles. Now, I don’t like R&B music at all, truth be told I would rather smash my toes with a hammer than listen to it, but you have to respect how hard this chick worked to make her dream come true. She may have been born beautiful and with the potential to sing great, but that girl worked hard every day for a decade before she even got noticed by anyone in the music industry. I mean, from the time she was 8 years old, she used to get up at 6am, monday to friday, to practice singing and dancing before going to school, and then attend singing and dancing lessons after school. Then when she got to 16 she went full time on getting Destiny’s Child off the ground, working 14 hours a day with a producer for 2 years to get to the point where they were good enough to get signed. The girl really impressed me with her intensity and work ethic, and she deserves the success she has because she worked for it! It wasn’t given to her, she comes from a working class family, no that girl did it all herself.

Which got me thinking, how is it some people make it (in whatever they want to do), an others don’t? You know it’s not always the most talented person who makes it either. In fact I think I read a quote or saying about that exact thing somewhere to. Fucks me where, but basically it’s hard work that wins out over talent. But hard work requires discipline, as discipline is what provides you the lifestyle to be able to work continuously at something until a goal is reached. To understand this, I would recommend you all watch a movie called Gattaca, as it perfectly illustrates this concept. Fantastic movie too!

The New Penguin English Dictionary (the much cheaper alternative to the Oxford English Dictionary) describes discipline (noun) as: (1a) order obtained by enforcing obedience, (1b) self control, (2) training of the mind and character to produce obedience and self control.

My thought after reading this was, I’m totally fucked! Obedience! I got told by an Australian Navy psychologist that he didn’t even understand why I applied for an officer training position after university when I so obviously had a problem with authority (and obedience)! No kidding. I wouldn’t lie about my problem with authority… I’m proud of it!

I would like part 2 of that definition better if they just took out the obedience bit. Okay, maybe there is something there I can work with. Hmmm…

Padwanna’s New Definition of the (noun) discipline for those people who are shit at - and don’t like - obedience: training of the mind and character to produce self control.

That makes sense to me to look at discipline as training. I do lots of different kinds of training; running training for fitness and races; gym training for body conditioning; educational training to obtain different intellectual skills. Training is fine and I like training. You can use training to learn something you don’t know, or you can’t do right now. Maybe there is a path here then for a self confessed slacker to learn discipline. If we understand discipline as training of the mind and character then I think that makes sense enough to me to develop.

It’s funny though how having lots of motivation for something is not enough on it’s own to acheive it. I mean I think there are a lot of people in the world who wanted to acheive a goal really badly but failed because they didn’t know how to make it happen. Is that related to discipline? Maybe indirectly. There are a lot more factors involved in success than just discipline, but I do know that discipline is the foundation upon which success is built. I can thank Beyonce for that small peice of knowledge.

For me, I have reached a time in a my life when I am highly, intensely, massively (how many more nouns can I use?) incredibly motivated to reach for a dream that I have had for years and years now. But to realistically acheive it, there has to be consistent effort now from here on in where all my energy is channelled towards a set of goals. This will be something new for me because I have always been someone who drifts rather than steers. Drifting doesn’t get you where you want to go, it gets you to unexpected places; sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but it’s not much for taking you in a direction of your own choosing.

I’ve always thought of discipline as being a bad thing. Something contrary to a free spirit and creative person. But now I can see that these two things don’t need to mutually exclusive. They can be harmonised to produce an effect in a person where they maximise their potential, and give them the best chance they have of doing something worthwhile and fulfilling. And really, the happiest life you can have is one where you have fulfilled your own potential.

Padwanna!