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Lombardi ran legendary training camps. He believed that physical conditioning was the foundation of mental discipline. 'Fatigue makes cowards of us all. ' If you are tired, you cannot be disciplined. He taught that discipline is the mental toughness to execute your assignment even when your body wants to quit. 'The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. '
"Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character."
"They may not love you at the time, but they will later for what you've made of them."
"In order to succeed, this group will need a total commitment from every individual and a total concentration on ourselves as a team."
"Football is like life—it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority."
"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect and eliminates fear of the game."
"Man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
"There is no substitute for work, especially when you are trying to outrun your fears."
"Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial."
"You don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. That is how you build a wall against fear."
"I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline."
"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything."
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."
"The only way to overcome fear is to face it with relentless preparation."
"Mental toughness is many things. It is humility because it says that you've got to pay the price. It is discipline because it needs that to stay on the path."
"Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
"Excellence must be pursued, it must be practiced with all the might and soul that we have."
"Fear is the thief of dreams. Discipline is the guardian of those dreams."
"God, family, and the Green Bay Packers—in that order."
"I will demand a commitment to excellence and to victory, and that is what life is all about."
"The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is fear."
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."
"Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there."
Seeing how Vince Lombardi approaches Discipline helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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"Use this collection whenever you need Vince Lombardi's lens on Discipline."