A question I answered on Quora: What is the most important discipline used to succeed at anything?

A:

The discipline of keeping your personal vision — for your life, your business, family, and everything else — top of mind.

Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Your ability to keep that aim or purpose at the front of your mind and as your most frequent, dominant thought amidst the chaos and unpredictability of life is the most important discipline for anyone.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t think about other things or focus on the task at hand when necessary (which could be every day at work or school). It means planting your goals and visions so deeply in your conscious mind that these ideas pass into the subconscious mind and run on the “underground” track of your mind even when you’re not consciously thinking about them — even while you’re asleep.

All of us face uncertainty, setbacks, failures, and unexpected events that are sometimes unwelcome and unwanted — and we have to deal with them as they are. Some of these experiences and severely challenge our belief in our goals and vision; that’s why this is the most important discipline you can develop and exercise.

The more ambitious you are and the larger your goals, the more time you’ll spend having it achieved them; the further away from them you’ll be. These times are when the vision is most needed — and your conviction in your vision must be stronger than anything that could possibly happen to you.

I’ve covered the subconscious planting process in The Mental Workbook.