The Person Who is More Disciplined is the Person Who Creates Options for Himself.

The following is an excerpt on the importance of discipline from Dean Smith and his book, A Coach’s Life.

If a head coach has conviction, the most naturally disciplined group on any campus will be his athletic team because team members are used to sacrificing a certain amount of peer acceptance in seeking excellence.  I’m convinced that our work habits and tough practices instilled a certain mind-set and mental toughness in our players, and that why we avoided problems.  From 1967 to 1969 we had so many close games – and generally won them in the last minute – that our players developed a deep pride in the program.  They were committed, they worked awfully hard, and they had high expectations.  I think it prevented a lot of dissension.

“The really free person in society is the one who is disciplined,” I told our players.  What I meant was, true freedom results from having choices.”

The person who is more disciplined is the person who creates options for himself.

The person who is more disciplined is the person who creates options for himself.  An example: Suppose there were two players who like to indulge themselves off the court.  Both players were told that to make it with their NBA teams, they need to lose 20 pounds.  One player didn’t bother to lose the weight and got cut.  The other player didn’t just lost 20 pounds, he lost 25, and made the team.  So which of them was more free?  The disciplined player had a choice – to gain or lose the weight.

I believe the disciplined person can do anything, although in many way I didn’t have a great deal of self-discipline.  He can exercise restraint and make sacrifices, or he can choose to stay up late and smoke 10 packs of cigarettes.