Think of your mind as a 1)reservoir in which you have been storing up potential power. You will now learn to 2)release that power in precise quantities and specific directions. This is the essence of self-discipline.
Self-discipline calls for balancing your emotions with your 3)reasoning. This means you must learn to 4)consult both your feelings and your reason before you reach any decision.
You must control and direct your emotions, not 5)abolish them. Besides, abolition would be an impossible task. Emotions are like a river. Their power can be 6)dammed up and released under control and direction, but it cannot be held forever in check. Sooner or later the dam will burst, 7)unleashing 8)catastrophic destruction.
Your negative emotions can also be controlled and directed. 9)PMA and self-discipline can remove their harmful effects and make them serve 10)constructive purposes. Sometimes fear and anger will inspire intense action. But you must always submit your negative emotions - and your positive ones - to the examination of your reason before releasing them. Emotion without reason is a 11)dreadful enemy.
What 12)faculty provides the 13)crucial balance between emotion and reason? It is your willpower, or ego, a subject which will be explored in more detail below. Self-discipline will teach you to throw your willpower behind either reason or emotion, and 14)amplify the 15)intensity of their expression.
The Big Four
Your self-discipline will not only control your emotions and balance your reason, but also be incredibly useful in four highly important areas.
Appetite
Too much food, drink, and other outside influences - such as drugs - which are bad for your body can shorten your life, 16)sap your energy, and 17)distract you from the work at hand.
Positive Mental Attitude
PMA is the only frame of mind in which you can have definiteness of purpose. Self-discipline ensures that you use your mental attitude to attract the things you want and to 18)repel the things that threaten you.
Time
Time is your most precious 19)asset. If used correctly, it is like money in the bank. You must spend it under strict self-discipline. One of the easiest ways to do this is to schedule your time use for the next twenty-four hours, and stick to that chart. Do it once, and it will be easier the next time.
Definiteness of Purpose
The importance of definiteness of purpose had better be clear to you by now. You know that it is the beginning of all achievements when it is tied to a strong, 20)compelling motive. This is the first step in self-discipline. Even Infinite Intelligence can’t help you get where you’re going if you haven’t made up your mind about exactly where you want to go.
