Red Mike Message 3-12-25: The Discipline Divide.
Red Mike Messaging and F2 Consulting
Life is short. Drink the Bourbon.
Good morning, welcome back to the Red Mike. Happy Wednesday—I'm glad you're here.
Today's Red Mike Message is The Discipline Divide.
Motivation is overrated. It fades. It wavers. It is sure as heck not reliable. The same goes for passion. Passion and motivation sound great—and they are—but there's another ingredient.
The real difference between success and mediocrity, in my opinion, is combining that motivation and passion with discipline.
Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of this livestream. Today marks the end of one full year, every weekday—including holidays—that I've gone live. I've been delivering these Red Mike Messages consistently, without fail. Most of them are five to ten minutes, some have gone as long as fifteen (which I won’t do again). I try to keep them between five and eight if I can. Every single time. Every single day. Even on holidays, even when I wasn't feeling well, even when I was sick—because I didn’t always feel like it, but discipline demanded it.
The most successful people in life don’t rely on inspiration, passion, or even motivation to take action. They rely on their habits, their consistency, and their grit. They show up. You’ve heard me say this before: History is made by those who show up.
So, show up.
What does discipline do for you? It separates you from the crowd because a lot of people quit when things get hard or inconvenient. It builds trust and credibility because people tend to count on those who follow through.
If you're a regular viewer of this stream, first of all—thank you. You may remember that early on, I was doing this in the afternoons because that worked better with my work schedule. After I started a new job in July, I moved it to the mornings. Even through all of that change, those time differences, even on holidays or when I was sick, I let y’all know: Hey, it's going to be late tomorrow, but I still did it. I still showed up.
If you follow through and are consistent, it’s not only what people begin to expect—it also creates real results. Hard work beats good intentions every time. If you do something consistently, you're going to get better at it.
And what would this be without some pop culture references? This time, completely from the world of sports. You know—the mediocre athlete part of me with far more heart than actual physical ability. Three of my favorites:
Tom Landry: "A champion is simply someone who did not give up when they wanted to." A great example of discipline.
Roger Staubach (Captain America): "Confidence comes from discipline and training." His point? You earn confidence through consistency, not convenience.
Earl Campbell (The Tyler Rose): "There’s a big difference between being eager to win and being willing to prepare to win."
Bottom line: Discipline is not sexy. It’s not flashy. But it wins every time. Show up. Do the work. No excuses.
That’s today's Red Mike Message. I hope you found it interesting, I hope you find it helpful, and I hope you'll be back again tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be a retrospective—not a clip show, but a discussion on what I’ve learned from doing this every day for a year. I hope you’ll join me.
Please give me a like, a follow, and a share. I appreciate you all so much for being here and for helping me get these Red Mike Messages out.
I’ll see you again tomorrow. And don’t forget—
Life is short. Drink the bourbon.
Red Mike Messages are leadership and life lessons I picked up from 25 years as a public servant, 16 years as a youth football coach and scouting volunteer, and 10 years as a mediocre athlete with far more heart than actual physical ability.