“You had your whole life to prepare for this moment. Why aren’t you ready?” - David Mamet.

Discipline. It’s a cliche now. Espoused by athletes, personal trainers, motivational speakers. “Discipline trumps motivation.” And it does. But discipline is so much more than going to the gym when you don’t feel like it. There’s another cliche that says that hard work beats talent. And it does, but what they’re really talking about is discipline.

Discipline, or the lack of it, colors the quality of your efforts. It permeates every decision, every choice you make. It is the linchpin of your character, the trait that determines if you possess courage in your convictions, the trait that separates heroes from cowards and strong from weak.

Some of my greatest accomplishments, my finest moments, came about after I thought failure was inevitable. That is also discipline. Staying the course when all seems lost. It is also the ability to endure short term unpleasantness in order to accomplish a goal. To put aside comfort, or pleasure, or ease in order to do something you’d never be capable of otherwise.

Discipline is what allows you to make decisions based on reason and logic rather than emotion. Emotions are valuable, but only if you’re not a slave to them. How many fights have been lost because of anger or fear? How much disaster and suffering have been created throughout history because people lacked the discipline to make objective decisions?

Tactics only work if you’re disciplined. Will you hit your corner in CQB or be sucked into the threat in the center of the room? Will you burn through your ammo in an engagement needlessly or be calm enough in the chaos to make each round count?

High level application of shooting under stress is only possible if the shooter is disciplined. It’s one thing to do a lightning fast draw or reload for Instagram, it’s another thing completely to be disciplined enough to stay present in the process of shooting in a gunfight or a 32 round field course at a major match.

Cultivate discipline. Nurture it. It may be the single most important quality to living a successful and authentic life. And in the bad days, your discipline, not just in that moment but throughout your life leading up to it, will be what separates victory from defeat, and life from death. Discipline.