Freedom Requires Discipline

Few people reach the pinnacles of success without developing unwavering discipline.

A fantastic example is Brandon Sanderson.

He is wildly successful and prolific. At any given moment he’s working on multiple major projects — often several large novels at once, sometimes a screenplay on the side. Many of his books are the length of three typical novels. Each series involves a new world, a new magic system, a new history.

When he took a year-long hiatus because he was burned out, he rejuvenated himself by secretly writing four new standalone novels.

That level of output is not talent alone. It is discipline. Organization. Structure. Standards.

Talent builds momentum. Discipline sustains it.

Freedom is not self-sustaining. If you don’t stay on top of your business, stay focused on the direction you’ve chosen for it, that freedom you worked so hard to achieve will regress and deform.

It’s maintaining clear priorities and communicating them well.

It’s having defined guardrails.

Saying no when you should say no.

Protecting your margins and your time as though your business depends on it. The systems, standards, and rigor that created your freedom are the very things that protect it.

The structure that got you here is the structure that keeps you here.

I frequently find myself saying “What got you here won’t get you there.” This is one of the rare cases where that’s not true. Once you’ve reached this stage, you will lose it like a fistful of sand if you don’t maintain the discipline that got you here.

In the last couple weeks we talked about how choosing a direction and a future for yourself and your business is so important. If you chose your direction intentionally, restraint will win you the day moving forward.

Protect what you perfected. Defend your standards and your goals. Avoid anything that will dilute or weaken your creation.

You finally made it.

It’s no longer about grinding.

It’s about stewardship.