We call some people "self disciplined" and others we call "undisciplined." And what's fascinating is that one person can be disciplined at one thing but not at another. I know an extremely successful businesswoman who has run two different billion-dollar businesses. If you saw her in her business environment, you would say she was disciplined. However, this same woman has had an extreme weight problem for as long as I've known her, and so far she hasn't had discipline in that area of her life, even though she would identify it as an area of tremendous concern to her.

How can this happen? How can a brilliant person so strong and disciplined in one area of his or her life be so undisciplined and unsuccessful in another?

The answer is deceptively simple. Discipline always involves the act of reaching a goal, and it also reflects the level of commitment that is attached to the goal. Furthermore, our various personal commitments will be ranked in the order we consciously, or more likely unconsciously, believe fit with our life priorities.

When goals are set halfheartedly and they don't reflect our top life priorities, there should be no surprise when we display low discipline and we fail.

The vast majority of us have no grasp of what our top life priorities are. And because we aren't conscious of them, we tend to move them around very fluidly. That's why weight may seem like a high priority on Monday but be lowered to a secondary importance below taste enjoyment by Friday. Likewise, fidelity might seem like the highest priority until temptation comes in our path.

In general we allow ourselves to get in the habit of setting goals for which we are not truly committed, and then we beat ourselves up when we fail at achieving them. There is a huge difference between even a 99% commitment and a 100% commitment. Choosing to be disciplined about something means committing 100% to reaching the objective.

My great friend Wayne Dyer (author of The Secrets to Manifesting Your Destiny) is a wonderful example of what it means to be "truly disciplined." There was a time when Wayne had run eight miles every day for 21 years in a row without missing a day! That's over 7,665 days straight running eight miles a day with no exceptions! I don't know about you, but I'd be overwhelmed with the thought of attempting that. And yet to Wayne, it was a part of his day