Discipline & Determination

 

I am the kind of person who says KISS MY ASS if you are trying to control me...  and, I am also the kind of person who refuses to kiss the asses of bosses who try to get me to do their unethical bidding if I want to keep my job...  consequently, I have been fired 10 times during my 45 year career...  However, I am one of the best if not the best employee that you have ever had because of what I can accomplish...  so, there is a price to be paid for losing me...

In 1987, when I was 40 years old and had smoked cigarettes for 25 years, I decided to quit COLD TURKEY...  and, this is exactly what I did...

• no mental digressions
• no weaknesses to start again
• no alcohol substitutes

The reason why there were no alcoholic substitutes is because I quit drinking alcohol as well...

Do you know what it is like to drink alcohol without smoking???

I do, because I spent 12 months planning the eventual day that I would quit...  so during those 12 months, I did not smoke when one typically smokes like when drinking, after eating, after sex, etc.

So, my mind was right when I finally did it.

I quit on my 40th birthday.  That morning I woke up and had 7 cigarettes left in a pack and knew if I threw them away, I would want to start smoking again...  so, I smoked those 7 and STOPPED.

The first 6 months I gained 50 pounds because I was eating candy, especially in the car.  After 6 months and needing to buy new pants...  well that pissed me off...  so my research indicated that if one counted one's intake of fat grams, one could lose weight.

More discipline and determination...

• This discipline and determination helped me find new jobs after mine were lost.
• This discipline and determination helped me build a new life in another state after my divorce.
• This discipline and determination helped me earn a BA and an MBA while married with a child and working 50+ hours each week.
• This discipline and determination helped me rebuild my life after a severe heart attack and after having 5 lumbar disks fused.
• This discipline and determination helped me mentally deal with fighting two kinds of cancers simultaneously for over 14 years.
• This discipline and determination has helped me saved (not invest) over a million dollars during my lifetime.
• This discipline and determination helps me write novels in retirement.