I share this with you not to brag – but rather because, for me, this has been a pretty significant breakthrough that I think brings lessons I can apply to other areas of my life. For as long as I can really remember, certainly since high school, I have struggled with food and maintaining a healthy diet. For years I have known that I wasn’t eating particularly well – but dealing with it in any sort of lasting and meaningful way – has always seemed more than a little bit overwhelming. At least twice a year, I’ve discovered a new book at Barnes & Nobles, with the latest low carb or high protein or food combining “solution,” and have convinced myself that finally THIS is the diet I am going to follow. THIS one will be the answer to those extra pounds. THIS time I’m going to stick with it. I get started with a vengeance, making lists, hitting the grocery store, sorting through new recipes. And time after time, usually in less than a month, one day “off the diet” turns into 3 days, which turns into a full week…you get the picture.

So what changed? I think there was a powerful shift for me in defining what it means to be disciplined when it comes my diet.  First of all – you notice I said 90% vegan…In the past I have really hurt my chances of success by approaching eating with an “all or nothing” attitude. I tried to eat a certain way ALL of the time. For most of us this leads to feelings up deprivation that we simply cannot maintain long term. Now, if I really want a cheeseburger, I have a cheeseburger. If I go out to a restaurant or a party with friends, I don’t try to convince myself not to have whatever delicious things are being served. If I want them – I have them.

Another important aspect of my success with this diet has been my commitment to actual education. Not the latest fad…but actually finding and reading the research that has been done on the ways our bodies respond to the food we feed ourselves. I’m certainly not suggesting that there is necessarily one right way to eat. However, the key is that I have a clear understanding of why I am making the choices I am making. The more I read, the more committed I am to this change in lifestyle and the results I’m seeing right now, support the belief that I will continue to see amazing long term benefits.

What if we take these two “tips” and apply them to how we approach discipline in our businesses?

Specifically, I think that for many of us there are strong parallels between the ways in which we handle our diets and the ways we handle our money. Like being healthy, consistent money management and financial organization is not something that is going to happen automatically. It does take discipline to ensure that your financials are in order. You can’t organize those receipts or sit down in front of Quickbooks once or twice – and expect to have any last results. Still, acquiring this discipline is without question worth the effort as the rewards will certainly last a lifetime. Strong financial management and organization is the only way  you can expect to have the necessary information with which to make informed business decisions regarding your company.  As entrepreneurs we can also only  reach our financial goals and objectives if we regularly take the time to evaluate our progress, set new targets, and define the tasks required to hit those targets.

But I encourage you to look at whether you have been approaching financial management with the same “all or nothing” attitude that I mentioned earlier in this post. Are you perhaps guilty of having an image in your mind of what it means to really be on top of your financial situation – and then actually doing little or nothing because you recognize you are falling so far short of perfection? Do you dive into financial projects with a vengeance – spending hours  creating charts and sorting receipts – only to exhaust yourself and get so burned out you don’t even look at your bank statements for 3 months? How much better would it be if you tried to take more bite sized, but consistent actions when it comes to handling the business finances?

Also – have you neglected the financial education that is critical for your success? Small business owners often mistakenly believe we can have a loose understanding of money because once we have “lots of it” we won’t need to worry about all that accounting stuff. The problem of course is that it’s extremely unlikely we will ever have “lots of it” because we don’t understand the money rules and activities that will actually bring financial prosperity.

Discipline itself is a characteristic that every entrepreneur should work toward. What business partner, investor, customer or employee for that matter would not want to work with or for someone who has mastered this important quality?  Not only will you feel better about yourself, but your business will be so much more likely to succeed if you are able to develop the discipline necessary to maintain the daily, weekly, and monthly activities that keep your business growing and moving forward. But be kind to yourself. Find the ways you can steadily improve – moving towards the ideal – but not beating yourself up for the ways you fall short.

At Abundance Bound we teach entrepreneurs how to consistently take these small but powerful steps forward. Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem for more information.

It was wonderful watching him try so hard and as I stood there, I realized that even 35 years later in life, I too struggle to wait – and to let things happen in their own time. As I speak with entrepreneurs, I find that a common ailment amongst us, is patience. We want our efforts to pay off now! We want to see our labor unfold into immediate success. Small business owners often must work months and even years at a time before achieving the goals we’ve set for ourselves. And while it’s not quite as simple as sitting on our hands, we too must find a way to stay the course, even when things take longer than we would like.

A related lesson for entrepreneurs – one that  we also work to teach our children – is Persistence. It’s not just a question of waiting for the things we want. We must also persist in whatever work it takes to achieve our goals. And of course the work isn’t always fun and inspiring. Sometimes it’s tedious and challenging and just plain hard. And yet, if we give up when it gets rough, in all odds we won’t be long in business. Ultimately, persistence pays off. And if I can just be terribly annoying and use a favorite bedtime story as an analogy: Are you going to be the little engine who could, OR the entrepreneur who can’t?

Especially when it comes to financial education, persistence and patience are qualities an entrepreneur simply cannot do without. While effectively dealing with money is rarely something that comes naturally, it is like learning to ride a bike or anything else that’s new. If you stick with it, you will ultimately master money management and the tools you put in place to stay on top of your business financials will become like second nature.

Success rarely happens overnight. And yet, of those business owners willing and able to stay the course, most look back with gratitude for the patience and persistence that brought them across the finish line. At Abundance Bound we believe that these two virtues come significantly easier to those entrepreneurs who surround themselves with support systems.  To learn more about the ways we can support you in the patient but persistent growth of your business, visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com.

“The secret to my success is determined by my daily agenda – by the daily decisions I make, and the daily disciplines I practice.”– Dr John C. Maxwell

I heard that statement a few years ago, and it is something that has always stuck with me, because I fundamentally believe that it is true. Another way of saying it is that, if what and where I am today is a direct result of my previous actions, what I am tomorrow depends on what I do today. The problem is, most people underestimate what they can do today, and over estimate what they can do tomorrow.

Now, if you think about this for a minute, you will see how true it is.  You constantly hear “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  I know I say that, and then, when it doesn’t happen tomorrow, it becomes “the next day,” then the next, then the next, until either we hit a crisis and do it at the expense of something else, or we just never quite get around to it.

Let’s take an entrepreneur building a coaching business as an example: how can you get new clients if people don’t know who you are? And how can people know who you are if you’re not publishing informative articles on your area of expertise, and attending networking events to expand your circle of contacts? So how many articles are you posting on the internet this week? What networking are you doing today? But maybe you’ve got writer’s block, so you put the article off to tomorrow, and traffic is really bad tonight, so that networking event can wait.  You get the picture.

The same is true in your finances. If I am struggling with debt, what can I do to get out from under it? Can I call the credit card companies and beg for a break? Can I tear up my bills, move, and hope they won’t find me? You certainly could, but it wouldn’t be recommended. Instead, wouldn’t it be better to look for ways to generate multiple streams of income, shave some money off your expenses, learn how to pay a little less in taxes, put a solid debt plan in place, and move forward freely, rather than constantly worrying about how you are going to handle those student loans?

What expenses can I track today that can be used as tax deductions? How can I work a bit more today to earn the money I need to cover those expenses? What financial seminar can I take or what book can I read today to build the money management skills I need to take control of my finances?  How can I alter my spending habits today so that I have to worry less tomorrow?

Oscar Wilde said “every action of the common day makes or unmakes character,” and, beyond that, everything you do today affects where you will be tomorrow.

All of this is a process. No one expects you to flick a switch and suddenly have amazing organizational skills, perfect credit and financial savvy.  But there are two kinds of pain in this arena: the pain of discipline, and the pain of regret. Now, especially when it comes to ensuring a strong financial foundation, we can play now and pay later, or we can pay now and play later. The problem is, payment compounds, and increases with time and missed opportunities. So if you suffer the pain of paying now – of discipline, of doing the things you need to do long after the mood in which you said them in has gone, of paying attention to your actions today – tomorrow’s rewards will come far sooner than you imagine.

Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com and join our community of entrepreneurs, committed each moment to creating the success that they deserve.