If we truly got to hear all of the Discipline stories of the celebrities I think it would be so uplifting to the world, but we don’t. Why? Lots or reasons probably. One reason that is particularly important and one that is a phenomenon is called the ego disease. It happens when the general public doesn’t get to see your Discipline, they only see you’re outcome. Then, once you are recognized for your accomplishment, a transformation takes place in the mind of the performer.

The instant fame syndrome is such a curious and powerful phenomenon. There are now 2 small ways that I have experienced this. The first time was at Southwestern, and the second is happening now with Toastmasters. What happens is this; you put your heart and soul into a cause. You pay the price, you do all the behind the scenes work, and suddenly one day you are recognized in a huge way. People come up to you with eyes of amazement; they look at you as some kind of superhero, a God, a mystical person who has been given abilities that most people have not. You are somehow the chosen one, the lucky one, the fateful one.

The near impossible feat for every top performer or person that this happens to is to reject this praise. When you have really put everything you have into championing a cause or a mission and it finally comes to pass, you’re already naturally starving ego lusts to be recognized. Here’s the ultimately sad thing: people give you praise and encouragement when you least need it; when you’re on top.

When that happens enough times you actually start to think that you are a celebrity, part chosen one, deserving of all, the fateful one. This is what people are talking about when they say success goes to your head. It happens because people look at you with these adoring appreciative and sometimes worshiping eyes that you start to believe you are chosen and deserving somehow. The truth is though, that you’re not. You’re nothing. You are a self conscious scared little boy or girl who constantly worries about what other people think, just like you’ve always been. You’re afraid, you feel alone but now you have your little groupies telling you otherwise and it feels so good to believe them. It becomes a drug and it infects your mind.

The reality is that you got to where you are by Discipline. By paying the price, by doing what others were not willing to do. NOT because you are chosen, lucky, fateful, or somehow deserving of worship. Keeping this perspective is what it means to be humble. Anyone who has ever tasted this celebrity feeling understands that it is foe because when you leave that group you feel all your power and confidence flood away. It was a sad day when I realized I was no longer the big man on campus anymore at high school (when I went to college). Then once the new young generation moved in at Southwestern I was a “has-been” superstar just like all the rest. Here’s the thing with the World Championship of Public Speaking: whether I win or lose, the reality is that nobody really cares-except maybe Toastmasters, my family, and me. Put me in a room full of truly the greatest speakers and comedians in the world and I’m nothing. I’m a joke, I don’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as most of them. Yet in certain situations around certain people my ego will be pampered with adoring eyes. This type of recognition is a lustful drug that has a dangerous impact on your perspective.

DISCIPLINE TAKE AWAY I say all that to say this (as my mentor always says). You are not your accomplishments. You are not your awards. You are not your ego or the attention that you receive from others. That is all false. You are the Discipline that you have developed; you derive self worth from the rent that you have paid to get where you are in whatever you do, at any age of your life. That is something to be proud of, which is what makes you better than every man you meet in some way and not as good as every man you meet in another. That balances out to “you are as good as every man you meet but no better.” Let not an accomplishment, an award, a title, or a bunch of groupies ever determine your value. They are false and they will not go with you into the deepest and darkest places of your life.

Do you have a topic you would like to see me write about? Do you have thoughts on one of my previous posts? Do you have tips for all of us for staying Disciplined? What areas of your life are you or aren’t you currently being Disciplined? Please post your thoughts, you will get a response. RoryVaden is a 23 year old youth motivational speaker and comedian who talks to high school and college aged kids about interpreting the messages of pop culture and incorporating more personal Discipline into their lives.