I’ve talked a lot about how critical discipline is to being the best version of yourself. One reason is discipline shows up in a lot of different parts of a man’s life.
One way is money. Being undisciplined with money will cause you years and years of pain. Every guy should get a plan, work his plan, plan for the unexpected when it comes to money.
Another area where being disciplined can make a huge difference in your life is your health. Do you eat whatever you want then go home and veg out on the couch with a 2-liter bottle of coke and a pint of ice cream? That lack of discipline will shave years off of your life AND reduce your quality of life. Here’s a simple way to get started developing discipline in the area of your health, take a 25 minute walk every day. Why? A study showed you can add 7 years to your just by taking a daily 25 minute walk.
But this 500 words is about controlling your mouth. Developing discipline with your words, what you say and how you say it.
Years ago I heard somebody teach on the prayer of “bind my tongue”. I don’t use those words anymore, now it’s more like “God keep me from saying something stupid”. It’s more words but a better description of my struggle with my mouth.
Back in the day I needed this to keep me from blurting out the first words I thought every time somebody did something that frustrated me. Whether it was a simple situation or a big deal, I knew the smart move was to keep my mouth shut until I knew the whole story, but to quote the great philosopher Ron White, I had the right to remain silent but I didn’t have the ability.
I wish I could tell I wanted to learn to control my mouth because it’s the right thing to do, but that’s not true. The truth is I got tired of sticking my foot in my mouth, because every time I did, I had to eat a lot of my words. And let me tell you, my words tasted like crap.
I’ve gotten better when it comes to watching what I say, but I’m still a work in progress. One key is I’ve learned to embrace silence. It’s much better to endure a few seconds of awkward silence than it is to spend the next two weeks trying to make amends for the stupid thing I said. Especially if that awkward silence is because I’m counting to 5 before I say something.
The discipline of counting to 5 before responding works and the world would be a better place if more people did it too. Not only would it dramatically reduce the number of dumb words said, the number of wise words spoken would rise exponentially. Coffee shops would be quieter, meetings at work would be shorter and The View might actually have an conversation that didn’t sound like it belonged on an elementary school playground.
So I think I’ll take my own advice and start counting to 5 before I start talking more often.