My self-discipline comes in the form of a daily schedule. I’m at my desk by seven. My mornings are spent on creative activities and planning. My afternoons are reserved for phone calls, meetings, and reaching out to others. Evenings and weekends are for play.

My approach is that I always work before I play. However, there are times when a friend calls to invite me to join them for an early morning “recreational” activity. (I’m thinking of Harry and his boat.) On rare occasions, I will break my routine and join in. However, because of my self-discipline, I replace time lost by working Saturday morning.

Some people look at my approach and say, “How boring. You’re a slave to your business.” I don’t see it that way. I believe that without self-discipline, we accomplish far less.

The way I look at it, when we — knowingly or unknowingly — allow others to have power over us. And that stands in the way of success when it comes to starting a business.

I wasn’t always this way. My natural tendency was to be “loose” — to work when I felt like it and play whenever the opportunity presented itself. Those were lean earning years.

In time, I not only learned the value of self-discipline, I mastered self-discipline.

Some people have a really hard time with this. So they opt to have someone else hold them accountable – that is, to keep their feet to the fire. Working with a business coach or subscribing to an online accountability program help people who are starting a business set goals and objectives that are tied to a calendar.

By stating to a coach or entering a specific objective such as, “By next week, I’ll finish up on A, B, and C and make that call to Mr. Z,” helps assure that the tasks get done.

For someone starting a business, it’s good to know that self-discipline can be learned, as can working with an online accountability program. If you have a clock and calendar, and can make goals for yourself, it doesn’t take long for you to see the rewards of this serious approach to making it happen.

My fortune cookie last night read:

Better to do something imperfectly

than to do nothing perfectly.

It doesn’t matter what your endeavor. Nothing is ever or will be perfect. Nothing can be planned to the nth degree. It is impossible to predict every opportunity… every turn in the road… every competitive response.

Action and implementation are the critical components required to propel success. And nothing takes the place of these essential tools.