Diligence and Discipline: The Price for Financial Success
Financial Discipline: Part Three - Proverbial Wisdom
“Prices just keep going up”, says everyone, everywhere, every day …
Unless you live in a cemetery (which begs the question), I’m sure you have experienced “inflation”. That is, the cost of daily living continues to creep North, but for many, income lags behind.
Nothing new here.
It’s a problem as old as money itself. However, we must do more than just complain about it to stay ahead of the curve.
So, what can we do about it?
Well, there are actually only two basic options to consider:
Earn more
Spend less
It really is that simple.
But, as we have all learned at some point in life, simple is not always easy.
When combined, these two strategies can supercharge our financial picture in life. But, it will take Diligence and Discipline.
I wrote a similar post a few months back:
Diligence
The stumbling block for many is that both earning more and spending less take diligence, let alone discipline.
Sadly, in today’s culture, diligence and its counterpart, discipline, are dirty words.
Merriam-Webster characterizes diligence as “steady, earnest, and energetic effort”.
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. - Proverbs 27:23
Diligence can be described as determined perseverance.
As Proverbs 27:23 intimates, it takes effort to continually know where we stand financially. Not necessarily hard effort, but consistent effort.
We humans tend to gravitate toward the easy way. Like a stream of water, we seek the path of least resistance.
In the case of financial laziness, if we do not know where we stand, we will be living with the false assumption that we are “doing OK” when we actually don’t have a clue.
No doubt you have heard the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss”.
Maybe with some things.
However, ignorance of the state of our financial affairs is NOT ONE OF THOSE THINGS.
Proverbs 27:23 urges us to “be diligent” about knowing where things stand. That is, to put effort into it:
Be detailed
Devise a tracking plan
Create a budget and stick to it
Constantly review and revise
This takes diligence.
Discipline
And that brings us to the second point. While diligence defines our effort, discipline provides the framework that keeps us focused.
Discipline - Self-control; a system or set of rules governing conduct or activity.
Jim Rohn, one of my favorite life philosophers said:
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”
If we don’t discipline ourselves early to do the hard, unpleasant, and sometimes tedious things, we end up suffering unwanted things later in life.
Another piece I wrote in April was about looking back and seeing how God’s providential hand prepares us for each new step in our lives. It concluded:
But, as Providential as things may have been, it didn’t just happen. If we had not been diligent and disciplined in learning from the past and applying what we learned to prepare for the future as best we knew how, things would have turned out much differently.
Your can read the whole piece here:
Providence sits at the intersection of Preparation and Opportunity Streets.
Yes, I truly believe God is at work in people’s lives to either reveal Himself or to draw us closer to Him.
He gives us opportunities, but we must be prepared for them. That is where discipline and diligence come into play.
In his essay, Compensation, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote -
The law of nature is, ‘Do the thing, and you shall have the power: but they who do not the thing have not the power’.
In other words, we must discipline ourselves and be diligent to do what is necessary to achieve the desired results. It is simply the principle of reaping and sowing.
The Gospel of Luke records this parable:
And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. - Luke 8:4-8
The question is, What if the sower had quit after the first, second, or third attempt?
To achieve the results we want, we must “do the thing” as Emerson puts it. The places in which we find ourselves as we go through life are a result of how we handle the opportunities presented to us along the way.
As we put in the work (mentally, emotionally, physically), diligence and discipline become second nature. Similar to what the army refers to as “muscle memory”.
Remember -
Do the thing, and you shall have the power - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Read Part One
and Part Two
As always, thanks for reading. Until next time, my friends …
Thanks Cork, well written and thought out as usual.
I think there is something else we can do- we can be humble before we do anything...
Diligence often leads to pride in our ability to do things, but "God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble." (Jas 4:6)
It is by humility that we gain favour with God and learn wisdom, that teaches us how to do things in an efficient manner, so we don't work too hard and end up killing ourselves, and making everyone else wish we dead too!
Humility means we listen to God, and consider his law as the guide of our lives, then we will gain great favour and with both God and man:
My son, forget not my law; but let your heart keep my commandments; for they shall add length of days, and long life, and peace to you.
Let not mercy and truth forsake you; tie them around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart; and you shall find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. T
rust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.
(Prov 3:1-7)
I loving this series of articles! This is timely for me. Thank you for writing them.