Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 02:00 AM PDT

Being rich takes discipline. I mean, there are a couple of ways that people can get rich without being disciplined. They can, on the off chance, randomly purchase a single lottery ticket and suddenly become a millionaire. Or, you could become a youtube celebrity overnight, or even stumble across a backpack full of gold. It could happen, it just most likely won’t. Instead, most wealthy people are disciplined. They are disciplined with their money, for sure, but they are also disciplined in other areas of their life. You rarely find extremely rich alcoholics or shopaholics. Most rich people understand moderation, and restraint in all areas of their lives.

Physical Discipline

If you want to be rich, you have to be physically disciplined. You need to be able to walk through a shop and avoid going through the most tempting of areas. You need to be able to get yourself out of bed in the morning, get into the shower, and go to work. You need to be able to give your body exercise when it needs it, and restrain yourself from eating or drinking too much. It is not as if all your money will disappear if you suddenly decide to order in pizza one night. Far from it. However, if you are unable to resist yourself from picking up the phone and asking for delivery, then it won’t be long before your bank account is drained. You must be disciplined.

Emotional Discipline

If you want to be rich, you have to be emotionally disciplined as well. You need to be able to walk into a mall even while upset, or angry, or tired, and walk out without making impulse purchases. You need to be able to separate your life decisions from your emotions, even when it is difficult. You need to be able to give yourself time to process those emotions before you make a rash choice that ends up costing you time, or energy, or money, just because you went with “what felt right” at the time. If you can’t control your emotions, you won’t be able to control your spending. It’s not that you’re not allowed to cry at movies anymore; far from it. However, if you are unable to resist the tugs on your heart strings long enough to avoid purchasing yet another fancy workout machine from the Shopping Channel, then your money won’t last long. You must be disciplined.

Mental Discipline

If you want to be rich, you have to be mentally disciplined. You need to be able to walk down the street without comparing yourself to everyone that you meet. You have to be able to stop yourself from imagining a better financial life that is unobtainable. You need to force yourself to have realistic expectations from the future. If you want something, financially, there is most likely a way to get it. Most answers, however, are full of long and slow paths that are no fun for anyone. You must be disciplined enough to realize that there are no quick and easy solutions for most of life’s problems, and you have to be disciplined enough to stick to the path that will get you where you want to go. It is not as though you are no longer allowed to dream about vacation homes or expensive scotch; far from it. However, if you spend more time dreaming than achieving, your goals and dreams will falter, you will lose motivation, and you won’t achieve success. You must be disciplined.

If you’re like me, you want to be disciplined. But it is hard. There are so many temptations and dreams and desires, and it is hard to be physically and emotionally and mentally disciplined all at once. It is hard, but it is worth doing. If you want to be disciplined, don’t try to conquer everything at once, it is just too much. Instead, pick one small thing to be disciplined at, like not eating fast food, or saving $50 a week, or focusing on one small goal for the week, and do that for a month. Then pick something else and do that for the next month, while trying to maintain the first one as well.

Do you want to be rich? Are you disciplined? How have you achieved your discipline?

Exploring Discipline originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on August 17, 2011.