Podcaster Suggests Ways to Be More Disciplined

On one of his Mindset Mentor podcasts last week, personal development coach Rob Dial brought up the topic of discipline...specifically self-discipline...and discussed some methods he has used over the years to help himself stick to the tasks he knows he needs to accomplish.  He starts off by describing discipline as taking action even when you don't feel like it...to that I respond, "No kidding!" Then Dial goes down a list of seven points to follow: (1) focus on the opportunity, not the obligation...even though you're obliged to do the task, visualize more the positive effects doing it will produce down the line. (2) Do the small things well. In other words, master the fundamentals.  (3) Design your environment to make the right action easier, eliminating distractions and temptations around you.  (4) Make your body move...Dial suggests an easy five-minute movement routine of your own design.  (5) Count down and go. Dial acknowledges that another self-improvement figure, Mel Robbins, promoted this notion with her book The Five-Minute Rule, but that he had been practicing it longer, basically rehearsing difficult activities at least as far as their beginnings and then counting down 3-2-1 and plunging into them.  (6) Explore how to make taking the necessary action easier on yourself.  And finally, (7) get an accountability partner.  Suggestions #1-6 all sound painfully obvious when I write them down here, but #7 isn't quite so clear-cut.  An accountability partner is someone chosen to, well, hold oneself accountable in certain specified areas of his or her life.  I've never felt the need for one, thank you, and moreover, think some folks use the idea in a manipulative, hurtful way. If you decide to have an accountability partner, that person should not be involved in the immediate social/professional circle you are in, in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest...I saw this crucial principle badly violated last year with two good people losing their jobs as a result, largely due to badmouthing behind their backs.  Plus, as Rob Dial pointed out in his given example, the accountability topic should be limited to specific issues. The relationship should not degenerate to where the two sides...or maybe just one...cries on the other's shoulders about the difficulties he or she may be experiencing with certain people over whom that partner has authority: that is deceitful and unethical behavior on the part of both participants. So, I say yes to nearly all of Rob Dial's presentation about discipline, but regarding accountability partners I have some really deep trust issues...

Will Colleges on the FBI List Play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament?

I was watching college basketball on TV for much of yesterday.  I saw teams like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, and Vanderbilt play...the first four are thick in the running for NCAA tournament spots.  All are among the many schools that the FBI had been investigating for paying out money to out-recruit star players over other institutions and have been put on the list of those suspected of this cheating.  And then there's Arizona, whose coach had reportedly been wiretapped as offering $100,000 to obtain a freshman standout.  The question I have is what will the NCAA do about this information as we approach the time when the NCAA championship tournament will be seeded and begin?  Will they say they need more time and let the tournament go on, even if many of the teams are tainted by scandal?  Or will they quickly act and, according to the case-by-case severity of the charges, hand out appropriate punishments even if they involve banning certain schools from post-season play?  I suspect that the first option is the one they'll take: the NCAA loves to rewrite their own history and if some of these teams are found culpable enough, they will simply go back and take away their tournament victories...as if they never happened...

I was listening to sports talk radio yesterday and heard the argument that college basketball players should be paid anyway.  But by violating the current rules, the cheating schools are gaining an unfair advantage over those who are following them...and that is unacceptable.  If they want to change the rules later to allow for paid athletes, then fine...but for now they should be punished if this is a part of their strategy to beat out other colleges when they are recruiting for the top talent...

Quote of the Week...from Henri Frederic Amiel

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.         ---Henri Frederic Amiel

Henri Frederic Amiel was a Swiss philosopher from the nineteenth century...I confess to never having heard of him until I read this quote of his just a few minutes ago.  But it is so pertinent to what is currently going on around us in the news in 2017 that I had to use it, noting the ongoing, catastrophic wave of destroyed careers and reputations afflicting so many famous men today...

What's the point in me listing them all...just pick up the paper or tune in to CNN or your favorite slanted-news channel and get the scoop on the latest casualty from usually multiple allegations of past sexual impropriety on the part of someone who had built his fortune and fame (and good reputation) over years, only to have it all suddenly come crashing down around him.  When I look at the different individuals struck with this type of scandal, the ones I feel I know a little about all have one common, unifying trait: they are all very, very proud...even to the point of being haughty...and demonstrate a sense of superiority over others.  This lack of personal humility doubtless transfers over to their sexual attitudes and behavior toward others...as if their position entitled them to do what they have been alleged to do.  That doesn't conversely mean that becoming famous and/or powerful indicates a lack of humility, though, and there are many who are not plagued by this arrogance and self-exaltation.  Unfortunately, I suspect that a lot of the offenders getting themselves called out for their past behavior have insulated themselves with "yes" people instead of having folks around who can speak the unpleasant truth in confidence and friendship to them without fear of reprisal...

There's a good scripture verse that I suggest is a good reproof against excessive pride and a guide to instead practice humility: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  Or how about this one, not in the Bible: "Try putting yourself in the other's shoes"...