Discipline Yourself
Hey team. Alright, here we are again. What a beautiful day, a beautiful week. October is upon us. Pretty soon, it’ll be Thanksgiving. Well, of course, Halloween first, my boys’ birthdays, Veterans Day, and then Thanksgiving. After that, we’ll be rolling right into Christmas. All these beautiful trees behind me are going to become bare, and we’re going to have snow, rain, and clouds. Oh, yay.
Alright, I’m not here to depress you. I’m here to motivate you and get you thinking about other things. Today happens to be a Monday, so we’re talking about core values. I saw this quote, and it really jumped off the page to me. I wanted to read it to you and let you dwell on this with me this week:
“Discipline yourself so someone else doesn’t have to. It’s a form of accountability. The more accountable you become, the more disciplined in life you will be. And when you are tough on yourself, life becomes easier on you.”
Now, that’s a lot to unpack in a few minutes, but let’s talk about that for a second—disciplining ourselves. Discipline yourself so someone else doesn’t have to. I like to use our core values as a way of measuring and disciplining ourselves, staying within the guide rails of life, and doing the right thing. Being valuable—because nothing less will do—that is a purpose we have set as a company.
Having humility. The more humble you are, the more people like you. They want to be around you. So that’s a discipline worth focusing on: our humility, thinking less about ourselves and more about others.
Investment is another one. The more you’re invested in the company, the people you work with, the places you go, and the churches you hang out in, the more invested you become in other people’s lives, even at work. The more accountable you become to yourself and others, and all of a sudden, wow. Imagine what happens. You build relationships, and they strengthen. The more invested you are in your marriage or your children, the better the relationship will be, and the end result will be nothing but excellence and wonderful things.
I’m not saying there won’t be hardships. You’re going to fail, stumble, and fall. But I’m telling you, you’re going to get back up easier, and people are going to forgive you more because of that discipline in your life.
Let’s move on to transparency. The more transparent you are, the more people trust you because they know you’re a person of your word.
Resolve—when you don’t quit. When you don’t quit. Wow, imagine what happens there. When you’re not a quitter, when you’re the person they can depend on. That loyal individual they can call at 2 o’clock in the morning. That’s dependability. When your spouse can trust you with the children, when they can trust you to go out of town for a week and come back without cheating on them.
When they can trust you to spend money wisely in the home and not gamble, when they can trust you to help budget correctly and stay within bounds—not buying a bunch of hats and shoes and purses (I’m talking to you, ladies now)—when they can trust you not to go out and buy a new truck (now I’m talking to you, men), or a new pair of cowboy boots. Maybe—well, here in Portland, I don’t know how many of you guys are wearing cowboy boots, but you get my point.
I came back from Wyoming recently, and everybody there is wearing cowboy boots and cowboy hats. It’s a whole different environment out there. When people trust you because of your resolve to not quit and to keep going, they trust you to get the job done, no matter what it is. When you have that resolve in your marriage and your life, great things happen.
And our last core value: we like to eat cake. When people like to be around you because you celebrate life, because you’re enjoying life, because you’re there to support them in life—when you’re there to hang out with them when they’re having a sorrowful moment because they lost their mother, or when they find out they have cancer, and you’re there, fixing meals and doing things for them—it’s in those moments of disciplining yourself and being a part of the core values that surround you.
So, what are your core values? Do you align with Northwest Enforcement’s core values? Because this is how we live our lives. When you do that, and you’ve disciplined yourself, you’re more accountable to yourself. Life can still be tough, but it becomes a little bit easier because there are others around you to support you. They gather around you, lift up your arms, and help pull you out of the pit when you fall. They’re there for you, and it’s because of your own loyalty and your discipline of yourself. You’re not lazy, and you focus.
As we move through October, I just want to say once again, God bless you. Have a wonderful, wonderful week, and continue to think on our core values. Think about where you are in disciplining yourself and making yourself accountable to yourself and others so that life might be easier on you.
You might find it to be true. Test me in this. Try it. I believe that in a month or two, you’ll say, “Wow, Chad, that really did work.” When you do the right thing, when you think of others before yourself, it will change things.
Alright, see you next week, guys. God bless. Have a wonderful day.