We know what to do.

This was David Maister’s major message when I was with him in Palm Beach, Florida this week. He was speaking at Alan Weiss’s Thought Leadership workshop there.

In his presentation, and in private conversations, Maister said there is no magic bullet.

There is even nothing really new.

You already know what to do.

The question is, do you want to it bad enough?

How badly do you want your language to be simple, powerful, and non-technical?

How badly do you want to have relationships with the media, so that you are not blasting them hundreds at a time, with pitches and releases?

How badly do you want to attract your customers to yourself?

Because if you want it badly enough — and all you have to do is decide that you do — do it.

You know what to do.

You’ve been taught it. You’ve observed it. Heck, you’ve even done it before.

But you’re probably not doing it now.

Maister said that the hard part is not the idea or the steps of the system — it’s the discipline.

You have to actually do the right things over and over to accomplish what you want.

So, what do you want?

Decide.

Then, as Maister said, “decide if you want it badly enough to do the right things repeatedly to attain it.”

That’s discipline.

That’s the hard part.