Discipline is the key to success

Aristotle very aptly summed up the most important virtue that all successful people possess - Consistency.

Discipline is nothing but doing the same thing again and again, in other words being consistent. Anthony Robbins said : “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”

It is easier said than done when it comes to forming a habit. The biggest advantage of habits is that it will require less effort. From my own personal experience I can safely say that being consistent brings in rewards later on in life in abundance, almost exponentially.

For those of whom have read Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers", will relate to the 10,000 hours that each of those now successful people got under their belts, very early on in their lives. For me it started as early as the 9th grade. There was a singular change that I made to my routine which was instrumental in me acing the 10th grade ICSE boards. School would start at 9 am, we had a bus which would pick us up by 8:15 am. Each morning I would wake up at the same time, heat my milk, have a bath, get dressed for school and at my desk by 6 am. I would put in a solid two hours of studying before school. I would be back from school by 4 pm. After a short unwinding I would be back at my desk at 4:30 pm. Study for another two hours and then from 6:30 pm till 8 pm, I would go play with my friends in the apartment. This routine was fanatically followed almost till the minute. I do not remember and why I did it, but I was determined to get a good score in the boards and hence something within me drove me to make the change.

Mind you, when you are doing the same thing over and over without instant results, it gets mundane and boring. The results only come later. Maybe sometimes they do not come for years. But trust me, when they do, it is always an AHA moment where you and only you are able to relate the success to THAT one change, to THAT one habit or to YOU being just CONSISTENT.

If any of you are long distance runners, you will see the image above is that of the fastest marathoner, world record holder - Eliud Kipchoge. He has completed a full marathon in under two hours. Just to give you a perspective, it translates to every 100 m being run in just 17s - Consistently, beautifully and proudly for about 2 hours. If you care to google his training plan, you will see nothing but a consistent and boring routine of 10 sessions a week and covering 170 km to 190 km every week.

I took up running as a challenge in 2012. Two of my Puma colleagues challenged me that I would not be able to complete a half marathon in under 2 hours. Without any prior training or having run even a single km, I took it up. All I started doing was waking up and running. I started slow, but eventually as the waking up and running became a habit, I started losing weight, the body became lighter, the heart and the lungs became stronger and I became faster. Eventually I won the challenge and completed the 2014 edition of SCMM in 1:48:49 hours.

When I joined StoveKraft, the first question people asked me was, "How do you manage the commute?" And my answer has always been, "Daily, regularly, on the dot without a miss". Only if I form a habit of leaving the house at the same time, will the drive become a consistent part of my day and I will reach on time. In the past year, I have never missed a day and I have never been late, despite "Bangalore Traffic" and despite the factory being 51 kms from my house. Similarly, every day in the morning is a fixed schedule of reviews with different teams on different days. This consistency and discipline has several advantages

1. The team is on the top of everything as they know I will ask questions
2. I am quickly updated and hence aware of all things important and relevant
3. Important issues are solved / debated on time and before they blow out of proportion.
4. It avoids any uncalled for meetings and gives time back to everyone to focus on their core objectives

Never missing a meeting even if it is getting together to just say that there are no major updates will ensure that the organisation is becoming efficient and hence more agile, hopefully leading to more gains.

While the image conjures up an archaic method of monitoring employees arriving in to work, this is now even more relevant towards the long term success of an enterprise. At StoveKraft, we all arrive between 9 am and 9:10 am. And we all leave between 6:15 pm and 6:30 pm. Of course there are days when people are not able to either come on time or leave on time, but those are few and far between. Largely we are a disciplined lot which has given us a lot of advantages.

1. We focus only on work between 9 am and 6 pm and do not go out for lunch, coffee or any other breaks.
2. We are able to give predicability to the family and have a clearly defined time at which we leave and at which we arrive.
3. Work and life are beautifully balanced.
4. Unlike flexible working hours, everyone being together on campus at the same time reduces any chance of missing meetings or not being able to meet the person face to face.

Warren Buffett's riches were not acquired due to an astounding IQ, but only because he was disciplined and consistent. In order to be gain financially in your life, one of the keys is to save and invest consistently. Over the years, the 8th wonder of the world - Compound Interest, will do its magic and you will be handsomely rewarded. SIPs, STPs or even a simple recurring deposit in the bank will give you much larger gains which are difficult to comprehend. Just imagine this - 1 Million seconds was about 12 days ago BUT 1 Billion seconds was about 32 years ago. This is the power of compounding.

Any successful personal relationship, be it marriage or otherwise will require you to be consistent before being anything else. People say that predictable spouses are boring, but being predictable to your spouse comes only because of understanding and trust. And those are built only if you have been consistent in thought AND in action.

I firmly believe that the secret sauce to success in every aspect of life is nothing but discipline and consistency. Here are some tips from my experience for your to get more disciplined.

1. Have a DAILY AND FIXED routine for when you perform your major tasks such as wake up, go to bed, what time you eat your meals and when you arrive at work
2. Anything you want to make a habit of, ADD it to your routine. From a new sport, fitness or even a new book to read. This needs to be in your calendar and noted
3. Start with smaller steps and use data to improve and course correct. If you want to start getting healthier, start walking for 15 mins a day, note the progress daily and slowly increase the time by 2 mins every week. If you want to set a process at work, then start with the current system and review it for a couple of weeks with the team. Slowly make small but noticeable changes and record the progress as you go along. Soon you would realise that the process has completely changed without creating any major resistance and has also become a habit.
4. Have a goal in mind and along the way have milestones for you to measure your progress and ensure that you stay on course.
5. As you reach the goal, continue with the habit and give yourself a new challenge.

Last, the consistency will never come if you do not believe in the mission. At the outset it has to be felt right within you. Someone else trying to force you to make those habitual changes will not work and you will break away eventually. So remember to believe both in the cause as well as in your ability to be consistent and the results will come.