A Concept to Challenge Your Status Quo
"Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most." – Abraham Lincoln
Imagine standing in front of two doors every morning: one leads to immediate comfort, the other to long-term success. The first door is tempting, shaped by emotions, distractions, and fleeting desires. The second? It’s a harder path, but one that builds unshakable momentum.
For leaders, the choice is clear: stop making daily decisions that are vulnerable to our feelings or untethered creativity and start making universal commitments - non-negotiable standards to adhere to.
Think of it like the “75 Hard” challenge—a program built on non-negotiable daily actions. Instead of deciding each day whether to prospect, exercise, or focus on growth, you commit once. This single decision eliminates emotional negotiation and creates mental clarity.
In our business, this could mean setting a standard like: “Every weekday, I will add one qualified person to my pipeline.”
Mike Tyson once said, “you have to train your mind to be stronger than your feelings or you’ll lose yourself.”
When you remove flexibility from critical habits, you free yourself to focus on execution rather than deliberation.
3 Strategies to Implement Today
1. Predetermine Your Non-Negotiables: Identify one core activity that directly impacts your business. Make them mandatory.
2. Predetermine the “emergencies.” Since there are more important things than our business it stands to reason that there ARE valid reasons we would choose to not make that commitment on any given day. Avoid the negotiation by predetermining what could arise in the areas I value more than my business that would require my attention. (Ie: faith, family, health, or wealth)
3. Track Relentlessly: Use visual tools like calendars or apps to track streaks. Seeing progress builds momentum and confidence. Each day you tack on creates a deeper loss aversion: when missing a day is more painful than continuing the streak by adding one more day.
BONUS: You’re building a habit. And just because you’ve made the “one decision” to commit to this daily non-negotiable doesn’t mean you will be elusive to threats. So, have objection handlers for YOURSELF for when you might find yourself in a weak moment considering breaking the streak.
By eliminating decision fatigue and emotional interference, you’ll build discipline and confidence—qualities that compound over time. This consistency is what yields the compound effect of your activities.
