INTRODUCTION Join a gym, start a healthy eating plan, save more money, stop smoking—the list of New Year’s resolutions is endless, but how many of them are ever accomplished? According to Scranton Psychology Professor John C. Norcross, Ph.D., less than 10% of New Year’s resolutions are achieved. If you are reading this book, there is a good chance that you fall into the large percentage of people who have spent years failing to reach their goals. What is the reason for this? Why is it that the majority of us are incapable of sticking to anything worthwhile? Is failure a natural human tendency? The answer is a simple one—a lack of self-discipline! This book is about taking full responsibility for where you are now and where you want to be in the next five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years. You will develop the most important skill required to achieve the life you desire—self-discipline. Kurt Kopmeyer has spent over 50 years researching and studying success principles and has written several books about the secrets of success. One day during a meeting, success coach Brian Tracy asked Kopmeyer to explain which principles, out of all those he has discovered, was most important for success. He responded, “There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work.” Self-discipline is like a key—it unlocks the door to personal fulfillment and opens the door to the life you have been dreaming of. With self-discipline, the average person can rise further than intelligence and talent alone will take them, and the ordinary person can become extraordinary. On the other hand, an educated, talented person without self-discipline will rarely rise above mediocrity. My desire is that this book will help you do the following: e Build habits that will transform your life e Gain a better understanding of self-discipline and how important it is in your life e Take control of your habits so that you can take control of your life You are the only person capable of changing your life—no one can do that for you. The easiest way to change yourself is to change the things you do each day. If you are stuck in a rut, with the same story of failure on repeat year after year, this book will get you out of that rut if you apply the recommended principles.