Identifying. Specifically here I’m referring to learning who you are—who God designed you to be—and then living out of that truth throughout your life. This is the discipline of faith. Figuring out what you believe about the eternal and why you believe it and then putting faith into practice is vitally important. It will be challenged so many times. The author of Ecclesiastes writes, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come.” Such wise advise. Knowing what you believe—nailing it down without reservation—will help you weather the storms of life that surely come to all of us. As a believer, knowing God’s approval of you will help you believe in yourself and your abilities and empower you to take the God-sized risks you may look back and regret if you don’t. This discipline also helps you develop the discipline of prayer—seeking wisdom from God. When you fully recognize the value of being “in the family of God,” you are more likely to cry out regularly to “Abba Father.”
Giving. Just as saving is an easier discipline if you begin early, so is giving. Whether it’s time or money, I now realize the value there is to me in helping others. I have practiced this one throughout my adult life, and it is one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I highly recommend starting this discipline early before the world and all its demands takes the ability from you.
Resting. Those in their 20s now seem better at this one than my generation was, but for those who need it—start resting now. Work hard. I think that’s a biblical command and a good virtue. But the older you get and the more responsibility that comes upon you, the harder it is to find the time to rest. It needs to be a discipline.
Life-planning. Creating a discipline of stopping periodically to ask yourself huge questions will keep you heading in a direction you eventually want to land. Questions such as—Am I accomplishing all I want to do? If not—why not? Where should I be investing my time? What do I need to stop doing—start doing—to get where I want to go? In what areas of my life do I need to improve? These can be life-altering questions. Ideally, we should ask them every year, but at least every few years this is a healthy discipline to build into your life—and the sooner the better.
Honoring. This discipline is honoring the past—learning from those who have gained wisdom through experience. When you’re young you can be guilty of thinking you know more than you really know. It’s not until you get to a certain age—certainly I’m there now—where you realize how much you don’t know. There is always something to be learned from another person’s experience you don’t have. This one seemed to come to me naturally, because I grew up most of my early life without a father in the home. I craved wisdom—especially from older men. But I cannot imagine where I would be in life had I not developed the life-long discipline of wisdom-seeking early in my life.
Coaching. Pouring into others is a great discipline—and should begin early in life. In my 20s I didn’t realize I had something to give others from what I had already learned. Imagine the impact of a 20-something person investing in a middle or high school student—maybe someone without both parents in the home. It wasn’t until I recruited one of my mentors in my mid-20s and he said, “I’ll invest in you if you invest in others,” that I began this discipline. I wish I had started even earlier.
It’s probably not too late for most who will read this to start most of these. Most of them, however, become more challenging the older you get.
Someone will wonder how I chose the order of these or if some are more important than others. There may even be push back because I started with one about money. I get that and it’s fair. Obviously, one on this list is MOST important. In my opinion, it would be “Identifying.” All else is an overflow of that one. But had I started with it, then the natural question is which one is number two, and number three, etc. Whichever one would have ended up number 10 could seem less important. I think all of them are important, so I didn’t prioritize them.
Any you would add to my list?
