X is for X-Factor: Choosing Principles over Preferences

“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”
— Abraham Lincoln

Everyone talks about work ethic (including me on the previous Mindset Monday!), but what separates the great from the good isn’t just effort, it’s consistency rooted in principles.
Your X-Factor isn’t talent or hype — it’s your ability to choose your principles over your preferences. In other words, to follow through on your values, not your mood.
The Discipline of Excellence is built on self-control, habits, and routines. It’s following through on what you’ve committed to, even when you don’t feel like it.

🔍 Self-Awareness: Check in with yourself: “Do my daily choices reflect who I say I am or just how I feel in the moment?”

Your X-Factor starts when you recognize that preferences shift, but principles anchor. When your actions match your identity, discipline becomes a decision, not a debate.

🧭 Strategy: Start each day by recommitting to your non-negotiable principles.
That might be…Showing up early ~ Getting in extra reps ~ Keeping a great attitude ~ Following your routine, no matter what.

Great strategy isn’t just about discipline, it’s about alignment.
Your principles should reflect who you are and who you’re becoming.
Preferences shift. Identity stays.

🚀 Action: This week, every time you feel like skipping a rep, coasting, or cutting a corner, pause.
Then ask:

“Am I choosing preference or principles?”
And then: Choose your principles. Every time you do, you cast a vote for the person you’re becoming.
That’s your X-Factor. That’s the Discipline of Excellence.

Closing Thought

Your X-Factor isn’t loud. It’s not always recognized.
But it shows up in the small, invisible decisions that build consistency, confidence, and long-term success.
Stick to your principles, especially when it’s not easy.
That’s how you lead yourself. That’s how you lead others. That’s how you earn the results you want, in sports, school, work, and life. And that’s how you become the kind of person your goals require.