KrantCents

Making Sense of Money

The 3 D’s of Success

The 3 D’s of Success

by

The 3 D’s of Success is the fourth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.  What are your goals?  I know you thought about it!  You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made!  Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where you are going.  You wouldn’t get on a bus, train or plane without knowing where it was going.

Background

Habits are routines of behavior repeated regularly and are part of our lives.  It takes twenty-two (22) days to form or break a habit.  Learning new habits or changing habits can be very difficult.  Weight loss is an example of changing habits.  You give up or change your bad habits and replace them with good or healthy habits.  This is true of personal finance, business and success.  Do you think your habits help or hinder your success?

Decision

It all starts with your decision.  You make a choice between one career and another.  We make decisions all the time.  It can be as simple as what to have for breakfast, lunch or dinner!  Decisions range from the trivial to serious life changing issues.  Serious decisions range from who you marry, how you spend your money, career or business choices to where you live.  These simple yet serious decisions can mean success or failure.  Do you think about the consequences of your decisions?

What you eat may make you fat or unhealthy.  Where you go to college may affect the rest of your life.  How much debt you pile up can materially reduce your choices in life.  Decisions are important, but they can be changed!  You can change where and what you eat, you can change how you spend your money and form new habits.  You can make the decision to form new and better habits.  It will lead to success!

Discipline

I am referring to self-discipline or discipline of oneself.  It is the ability to motivate oneself regardless how you feel.  Some of the qualities of self-discipline are willpower, hard work and persistence.  Think about all the things that you could accomplish if you had discipline?  Wouldn’t it be great to lose weight, get out of debt, or make changes in your life?  You could make more money, accomplish more or just be happier.  Self control means you can refrain from giving in to your impulses and make a better decision.

Discipline can keep you from procrastinating or overspending.  Self control will stop overacting or help you exercise more.  Discipline keeps you in the game, whether you will practice and get better or learn new skills and habits.  Discipline helps you in and out of school.  Whether you are in school or not, you are constantly learning new things and skills.  Participating in sports, learning and playing an instrument, clubs/organizations or many professions require and reinforce discipline.  Willpower and self disciple are keys to help you reach success and your goals.

Determination

If I had to state the one quality that helped me become successful more than any other was determination.  I see determination with my students in school.  The odds are against them, but sheer determination helps them persevere and succeed.  We all have obstacles in our lives that we must overcome and determination helps us get through them.  Are you determined enough to achieve success.  Tommy Lasorda, Los Angeles Dodgers Manager said “the difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.”  A sports quote seems so appropriate regarding success and determination.

How much do you want to succeed?  Successful people fail, but are willing to keep trying until they succeed.  Is that determination?  Self determination is a combination of skills and values that enable people to take control of their lives to achieve success.  It reminds me of my parents who immigrated to the United States and built successful businesses.  They succeeded in spite of the odds against them.

Final Thoughts

This is the fourth article in the series about success; I expect to publish throughout 2012.  There will be twenty-six (26) of them, one for each letter of the alphabet.  The 3 D’s of success are decision, discipline and determination.  I think everyone wants success in life; business and career; however it takes a concerted effort to reach success.  “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” Tommy Lasorda sums it up much better than I can!

I started this series because I run into so many people who have difficulty reaching success.  They want to know my secrets!  So I thought I would share them in a format that will be most helpful.  I also think this format may make it more interesting and easier to use. My goal in these articles to provide useful and interesting information that will help you succeed.  The 3 D’s of Success is now a series.

Photo by:  JD Photography

Comments

  1. These kind of post are always inspiring and I prefer to read quality content so I happy to find many good point here in the post writing is simply great thank you for the post.

    • Thanks, everyone has some level of drive, but it is determination that gets you through the tough times.

  5. Discipline and determination are very important, and traits I would recommend anyone develop as it leads to many benefits in life.

    • My wife thinks, discipline and determination made me successful. I think it is a variety of things, but those two is most of it.

  6. I think D is my favorite so far…..

    You’re head on w/ determination. When I read about how many times Walt Disney went bankrupt and Donald Trump got his head kicked in, it makes me remember to stay on top of my game.

    • Most people do not talk about their failures, but you learn more from your mistakes than your successes. My determination pushes me through the failures and obstacles that are always out there.

    • Although I think it determination trumps everything, discipline goes with determination too.

    • It certainly helps to know what success looks like and experience it, but I think just a little encouragement goes a long way.

  9. It’s amazing to me how people who are not successful believe there is some big secret to other people’s success. You hit the nail right on the head – determination is not rocket science. I remember an old Michael Jordan commercial that talked about how everyone focused on his dunks, but no one seen the incredible amount of hard work he put in every single day. There are other athletes that can jump as high as MJ, but none that work as hard.

    • That is true of a lot of successful people because they do not normally brag about their efforts. It reminds me of actors and other entertainers, they may received a lucky break, but they were ready for it.

  10. Decision and determination are absolutely key, I agree. Discipline is a bit more debatable one; whilst it is important to keep going is it better achieved by discipline or motivation?

    • Every goal has obstacles, your ability to overcome those obstacles through determination or discipline is important. How yo do it is less important to doing it. I usually refer to my dtermination that gets me through it.

  11. I think of the NY Giants in the superbowl. Persistence and determination. At half time with the momentum with the Patriots, I thought there was no way they could win. Great lesson; never give up!

  12. If I had to choose (and I don’t), I’d pick discipline as my favorite. Many people don’t reach their goals because they lack this very important element of success. If I’m to achieve my objectives, I have to create a plan and then execute it.

    I despise arbitrary rules, but I decided to operate my life within certain boundaries. Whether I’m tired, bored or whatever, I have to commit to what I’ve set out to do and accomplish my goal.

    • I find that if I break things down to smaller tasks, I remove the reason to procrastinate. For example, I hate cleaning out the gagrage, so I do 20 minutes of it periodically. It is easier than looking at hours and hours of work, I hate doing.