“An undisciplined life never leads to productivity or progress.”

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 31). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Here is the whole paragraph.  Craig says, “Positive disciplines in a person’s life usually pave the way for myriad other positive disciplines. Certain good habits create other good habits. The opposite is also true. The absence of strategic habits generates bad habits. An undisciplined life never leads to productivity or progress. If you don’t put the right disciplines in place, one day you’re going to find yourself telling a story you never wanted to tell.

“• I was planning on it, but I never got around to it.

• I should have tried it, but now it’s too late.

• I never thought I’d end up here. I wish I could do it all over again.

• Why didn’t I at least try? Now look where I am in life.”

I don’t know what it is that you want to do in your life but the key is to start small.

Craig says, “We’re going to start small. But don’t be discouraged. Most great ministries start small. Most great businesses had humble beginnings. Even the best marriages usually start with a simple hello. In the Bible, Zechariah says, ‘Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin’ (Zech. 4:10 NLT).”

He goes on, “If you try to focus now on the last chapter of your story, you’ll likely find yourself too paralyzed to write the first page. If you try to imagine the end, it seems too grand, so distant, so ideal that you won’t know where to begin. The dream will remain just that: only a dream. That’s why we’re going to take just one small step in the direction of the dream.

“Let’s say you want to tell the story of running a marathon. Can you go out and run one today? Unless you’ve already been training for months, the answer is no. But you can start to jog (or even walk) twenty minutes a day. That’s one small step in the direction of the end of your story. If you want to preach to thousands of people, can you do that today? Not likely. But can you write one message a week to learn your way around the Bible? Of course you can! If you want to produce a major motion picture, can you do that by Christmas? No way. But you can start making short films with whatever camera you have or can borrow. You can write at least a few lines of your story.”

He says, “I like to say it this way: I will do today what I can do to enable me to do tomorrow what I can’t do today. Mother Teresa reminded us to be ‘faithful in the small things because it is in them that your strength lies.’”

And that is where a disciplined life leads to productivity or progress.  So, what small thing can you start doing today so you can tell the story you want to tell?