Your Guide to Self-Actualization by Gay Patricia Matheson

Author:Gay Patricia Matheson [Matheson, Gay Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781664108561
Publisher: Xlibris US
Published: 2021-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

Go deep. Be honest with yourself. Check to see if your values and opinions are truly yours or the result of a “program.”

If you find some values and opinions are really a result of programming, do the self-exploratory work to come up with what’s truly yours.

Chapter 10

Discipline

Some people think discipline is a dirty word. Nothing could be further from the truth. Discipline is an absolute choice, and it’s your ticket to freedom. Discipline is magical in nature because once you create the settings, then it’s as simple as following the yellow brick road to your goals.

I remember when I first got out of school, and I wanted to be “free.” I traveled around with hardly any money, taking each day as it came and searching for adventure. Of course, having little money really curtailed what experiences I could partake in. My friend Greg, on the other hand, was disciplined and started working and planning his future as soon as he got out of college. Within a few years, he was traveling around the world with a friend of his because they had the money to do so.

Greg had a myriad of choices at his disposal and, I am sure, had much more exotic adventures than I was having at that time. I began to contemplate what freedom actually meant and what it would take to be really free. Discipline was the answer. I wasn’t really free if I had limited choices, and if I didn’t have discipline, my choices would remain limited. I started to look at discipline with new eyes, as a vehicle of opportunity. It wasn’t restrictive. It opened up new vistas of possibility.

Discipline can turn your every action into solid gold. My client Paul was wound really tight and very reactive, especially in relationships. He was a great guy, yet because of this reactivity, many people who loved this man left him. I encouraged him to develop the discipline to start mastering his moods, to begin a meditation practice, and to develop a philosophy of glass half full rather than glass half empty. In about six months, Paul’s energy was completely transformed.

He felt good, looked at the bright side of things, and was able to maintain a loving relationship.

After a year or so, I began to notice Paul’s energy unraveling, the barrage of negative thoughts, the quarrels with his partner. “Are you doing your practice?” I asked.

“No,” he replied.

I didn’t really have to ask. I knew the answer already. His energy spoke volumes. For this man, the discipline of keeping up the practice we had established was the key for him to get the life he wanted. When he fully realized this, he disciplined himself to implement his practice once again. And things got good again.

Sarah, a client in her twenties, hated her body. “How much are you willing to do to change your body?” I asked her.

“Anything,” she answered.

That’s the kind of answer a therapist/life coach wants to hear because that shows determination and commitment, which, in turn, propels clients to success.

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