THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A DISCIPLINE PERSON
If you have really read this week’s article up till today, I am so happy for you and want to congratulate you. Why, you may ask? Reading to this point is an attestation to the fact that you are indeed interested in becoming disciplined and you like to know what the life of a man who is disciplined looks like.
Dear, I will tell you that indeed, there are certain qualities and features present in the life of a person who is disciplined. It does not matter whether one is male or female, young or old; living in a developed or developing nation, discipline has universal applicability. It does not respect or answer to the color of your skin, it is not restricted by age, in fact, it does not respond to any particular religion, it is applicable to every one under the sun and every society. Proverbs 22:29 says:
‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.’
Diligence in business requires discipline and it is a principle, whether you are a Christian or not, African or European, when you are disciplined enough, your business will blossom and you will stand before Kings and people who matter in the world. Check up the stories of Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote, Oba Otudeko, Wole Soyinka and many more. You don’t even have evidence that they spend all their days in the church praying and fasting, rather they set about their business with discipline and today, the world stands up for them for the impacts they are making in their field.
The Story of Alaboh Antonia
Perhaps, you want to learn from the story of Alaboh Anthonia who sat for WAEC six times, but today, she is a DELSU first class graduate. Anthonia was the second best graduate from Delta State University, Abraka, in the 2014/2015 academic session, and she graduated from the Department of Mathematics with 4.70 CGPA but the beginning was not that easy, she had to engage discipline.
According to her, growing up wasn’t easy at all. She was nine years old when her parents divorced, so as the first of three children, she had to assume the role of a mother for her siblings. Of course she faced lots of stress and had to cope with numerous house chores, balancing that with her academics and having to do the things she wasn’t used to before.
During her secondary school education, she was not particularly an exceptional student as her position was 21st out of the 50 students in her class. However, as an undergraduate, she became more disciplined and was either in the hostel, in the class receiving lectures, in the fellowship or sometimes in the library. She established a timetable for reading for about six hours, two hours each during the day, in the evening and in the midnight. Gradually, she became addicted to the library.
Being a studious student did not stop her from serving God and being involved in fellowship as she was a member of the choir department as well as prayer, evangelism, home cell and academic units. She was even made the director in her 400 level and was among the committee that organized the first national mathematics conference hosted by her school as the exhibition coordinator. At the end of it all, she came out with a first class degree in mathematics. Wow! And she said something very important while advising students. Listen to her:
‘My advice is that they should be determined; live a purposeful life because today’s input determines tomorrow’s output. They should believe in themselves, think big, don’t assume they know certain things; they should be sure they know, and above all, know God’.
Friends, can you imagine that. A young woman, who went in for a degree in mathematics and came out with a first class in Nigerian University. So what excuse do you have? You see now that you have no right to blame the educational system, your academic institution and your lectures for your failure. Discipline can take you to any heights. That is established.
Dear, in the life of the lady above and in the life of any disciplined fellow, there are certain things you will see in the manner a disciplined person thinks and behaves. In this article, I am interested in bringing to the fore, such qualities, emphasizing how the life of a disciplined man is not a function of his location or color.
I consider the following as some of the general characteristics of a person who is disciplined. A disciplined person:
- Starts a task and completes it irrespective of challenges.
- Ensures he puts in required effort and works hard.
- Suspends pleasure till after work.
- Invests rather than spend.
- Gives part of what he makes back to the society.
- Is trustworthy.
- Follows a routine
- Relies on God rather than his abilities
- Appears ‘too tough’ to others
- Makes himself accountable.
I like you to go over the above characteristics one by one and juxtapose your life with them. Are these characteristics evident in your life? Can you boldly say that if people around will describe you, these features will be mentioned? If it is no, then you already know you must take practical and consistent steps and actions to align yourself with these truths and install discipline into your life. If your answer to the above is Yes, well, it tells you that you have to keep doing the simple/difficult things that brought you thus far because discipline is not an end in itself; rather it is a means to an end. If you have become successful in your endeavor through discipline, you cannot afford to relax and allow indiscipline, that is like signing up for a great fall.
To be continued Tomorrow, don’t miss it.
Excerpts from the Book “THE POWER AND FORCE OF DISCIPLINE FOR TRANSFORMING LIVES AND NATIONS”. #DSABOOKS
This book can be found on dsabooksplanet.com and Amazon.com
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
