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This week’s Entrepreneur University comes thanks to Jim Bouchard. Jim is America’s “Instigational” Speaker and author of Dynamic Components of Personal Power: Success the Black Belt Way! Visit JimBouchard.org to learn about Jim and how he can help you develop power for personal and professional success!
Jim shares his thought on how entrepreneurs need to stay disciplined to achieve success:
“The foundation for developing personal power is Discipline. Simple; not easy.
I almost started this article by saying, “Please forgive me if I’m going on a bit of a rant today.” Forget about it; I am going on a rant and I’m not asking for anyone’s forgiveness, indulgence or permission. These are the facts and what I’m about to share with you is the truth: period.
Lately I’ve been networking with a lot of business people and employers. I sat in on two meetings sponsored by my local Chamber of Commerce focusing on the development of a quality workforce. These people are all very concerned; so am I.
These leaders in commerce are telling me that young people today are less and less prepared to enter the workforce. While education is always a concern, the primary concern is that young people attempting to enter the workforce are not disciplined, are not willing to accept responsibility, don’t possess fundamental social skills including even a basic understanding of protocol in the workplace and many of them don’t even know how to dress for a job interview.
A major portion of my life is still dedicated to teaching martial arts and many of my students are young people. Martial arts instructors all over the country are expressing the same concerns! We’re seeing children in our programs lacking a basic understanding of respect, ignorance of fundamental etiquette, deficiency in communication skills and a disregard for authority.
Our legislators are hard at work drafting solutions to these problems. We’ve got to invest more in our schools, right? We’ve got to attract better teachers, right? We’ve got to do more to encourage our best and brightest young people to live and work in our communities, right?
Bullsh*#t!
We’ve got to teach all people, young and otherwise, that true success and happiness is built on a foundation of self-discipline and personal responsibility. We’ve got to wake up to the fact that our school systems are not designed to provide surrogate parenting. We better realize, and quickly, that if we don’t want to devolve into a complete welfare state, we better do something to reverse the social disease called “entitlement mentality.”
Success and happiness are products of personal power. To be successful and happy, you’ve got to have some sense of self-worth and self-valuation, and that’s ultimately what I’m calling personal power. You can’t gift someone self-worth, self-worth is earned through hard work over time. Self-valuation happens when you accomplish something. Success is the produce of achievement, not a prize won in a cultural lottery.
People are surprised when I cite data that shows that the greatest incidences of substance abuse, suicide and depression occur in the most developed societies. Why should this information surprise anyone? Over 80% of lottery winners end up broke! You can’t “win” success and happiness; you must create it!
Through my life as a martial artist I learned how to develop power. In the martial arts world, this process is often called “Kung Fu.” As I studied this process for my own development I realized that power is developed through motivation and discipline over time. These ideas became the foundation of my Dynamic Components of Personal Power philosophy. To create a happy and productive life, you’ve got to put in the work! You’ve got to put in the work for a long, long time!
We’ve got to once again start teaching our young people that work matters. We’ve got to teach them that they’ll spend much of their lives engaged in work; that they should choose work that matters to them and work that provides rewards above and beyond the paycheck. For years young people have been indoctrinated with messages of entitlement, selfishness and greed. We’ve got to inoculate them with messages of discipline, self-reliance and personal responsibility.
We’ve also got to take this message to some who in their youth might have missed it!
Success doesn’t start in school; the school should help develop good success habits. Success, discipline and self-worth start at home, and start within each of us. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a coach, an employer or just someone who cares; take the time to teach these values to a young person in your life. ”
Evan Carmichael
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Great post. The entitlement mentality is definitely started at home, but it’s exacerbated at school as well (grade inflation, especially in private schools doesn’t just increase grades, it makes people stop trying to earn grades). I was lucky to have a music teacher in high school who expertly taught the morals of hard work and self-discipline; I owe a lot to him for my continued success. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the norm these days.
Great article. I agree with your thoughts. My best teach in college was the strictest. She’s one of the only professors who really pushed me and required discipline. It may seem cliched: she was Japanese and insisted on teaching us in a mainly Japanese style.
I’m not sure if I agree with this. I don’t think this mentality is as negative as you make it out to be.
The reason for the entitlement feeling is because of the mass opportunity in front of young people. We are 1 of the 1st generations to truly recognize the possibility of doing what we love and not settling for anything less. It’s not about not wanting to work but wanting to work in the environment that fits us perfectly. Now that may mean not showing up in a suit for a job interview but if that is what the company protocol is and that isn’t want you want to wear everyday then there are 100 other opportunities to go explore.
Discipline is important and some people take it to far. But its a fine line of entitlement and high ambitions.
Great post – and the most focused “rant” I’ve ever read. You definitely hit discipline from every angle. Even down to the passion that lights the fire under each entrepreneur.
Without this passion, discipline becomes a dirty word and life an empty existence. I agree that discipline is not easy. But with such things as passion, purpose and vision, self-discipline becomes much easier.
I understand where Jared is coming from. At the same time, being an entrepreneur is not easy and I think personal power and discipline is vital to persevere. No matter what anyone may say, even if you are doing something you love, there are times that get you feeling in the dumps, and this discipline is needed to work through the situation.
Great subject! Without discipline we can’t go very far. It is easy to say where you want to be in years to come but if we don’t really commit to doing what it takes we will end up very disappointed having only ourselves to blame. Self-discipline, responsibility and respect are the way to be successful.
Discipline may sound like a “bad word” for some people but without it, your life will be nothing. Become a slave to discipline and you’ll have the world at your feet.
[...] read stories of young people feeling entitled to jobs, being unwilling to accept responsibility, and not possessing fundamental communication [...]
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20 amazing speakers from Italy, US and Latin America speaking about opportunities in the region.
Keynotes:
Gabriel Jaramillo, CEO Sovereign Bank – Former President Santander Brasil and Colombia
Roberto Zamora, CEO Lafise group
Barry Featherman, Founder and CEO of the Inter American Economic Council
Panel Topics: Social entrepreneurship, Expanding Business in Latin America, Endeavor in Latin America, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ventures, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Latin America Business Idea Competition, Investing in the region.
Registration is available at: http://www.babsonlatinamerica.com/forum
Wow! What a great discussion and I appreciate everyone’s perspective!
First, sorry for the slow response; I just got an alert that this article was posted by YoungEntrepreneur, and I thank them for posting it!
Next; I want to address Jared directly. The problem as I’ve experienced it is not with young people who are truly ambitious and willing to do what it takes to succeed; it’s with those who expect RESULTS without having made a contribution yet. The baseline contribution is to do the work you need to train yourself for your desired position.
I’ve worked with many young adults who demand certain considerations in pay or expect a certain position because they, by their own admission, graduated with academic credentials that they didn’t have to work hard for. Your diploma, should you earn one, is your pre-requisite; it’s not usually your ticket to instant success. It’s like being drafted into the NFL; you earned the opportunity to try out with a team, now you’ve got to prove yourself worthy to play.
And…you’ve got to keep proving yourself.
I agree with you; do what you want to do. If you don’t want to wear a suit and tie then find something else. Ultimately, you declare your own success. I don’t come from the corporate world. I’m a two time college drop-out who spent at least two lives in the music business and one in radio and television production before I ever put on a tie! What I am saying, however, is that once you choose your profession you’ve got to play by those rules…or develop enough power to change them!
The bottom line is this: We’ve all share only one entitlement; we’re entitled to opportunity. The rest is earned by hard work, discipline and focus and yes….make sure you’re playing along the way! Life balance is an essential ingredient for success & happiness!
Best thoughts to all and please join me on Facebook, LinkedIn and at JimBouchard.org!
Jim