Discipline, Effort, and Failure

It’s no secret that achieving anything of value requires immense effort and discipline. Whether you want to become educated, master a trade, or excel in a profession—be it law, medicine, mechanics, or aviation—it demands relentless practice, learning, and dedication. So why should we expect life to be any different? Why not recognize that becoming successful at life will also require great effort, discipline, and resilience?

Success in any worthwhile pursuit is often preceded by failure. It’s a process of trial and error—red marks, failures, and setbacks—before eventual success. For example, in boxing, you often learn to endure punishment before learning to win. In long jump, you fail repeatedly until you master the technique. Almost everything in life demands great effort, discipline, and repeated failure before you can succeed.

However, there’s a significant difference between life and other structured environments like sports or education. In sports, education, or formal training, you typically have a coach, mentor, or teacher to guide you, challenge you, and help you build the momentum and discipline needed for success. But in life, there is no guaranteed mentor or leader invested in your personal success. Life doesn’t come with a coach—it’s up to you to be your own mentor, trainer, and guide.

In a sense, you are the protagonist in your own story. There’s no one else who is as invested in your journey as you are. No one is coming to save you. To succeed, you must take full responsibility for your transformation. You must be the master of your own destiny, training yourself spiritually, physically, and mentally.

Becoming great doesn’t typically happen through self-teaching alone. The process is often brutal—characterized by harsh accountability, intense repetition, emotional struggle, and physical hardship. To become a warrior, you must push through these trials. As Heraclitus put it: “Out of every one-hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior and he will bring the others back.”

This is all to highlight the reality that becoming the person you are meant to be requires a commitment to immense effort and discipline. You must become obsessed with your own growth, with shaping yourself into the best version of who you can be—if, and only if, you truly believe you have the potential to be that warrior Heraclitus spoke of.

It’s important to note that there’s no shame in being one of the 10 or the 80. Being among the nine is already elite. Yet, some of us feel deep down that we are born to be the one—the warrior, the one in a hundred.

Fear of failure often holds people back from even beginning. But more often than not, it’s not the failure itself that people fear—it’s the embarrassment of what others might think if they fail. The truth is, most people aren’t focused on your life—they’re too busy playing the lead role in their own.

We often forget that failure is part of the journey. Without failure, success is nearly impossible. It’s only through failure that we learn, grow, and refine our discipline. To succeed, you must commit to the process of failure, knowing it will lead you to the effort and discipline necessary for greatness.

If effort is king, obsession is queen, and failure is the master that forges you into a warrior. Without the combination of effort, failure, and discipline, you’ll never achieve the greatness you are capable of—and deserve to achieve.