Discipline is all about doing what you said you’d do – nothing more, nothing less.

You can try and overcomplicate it by creating lists and getting stressed about what you need to get done, but that’s just creating excuses.

Do what you say you’re going to do. If you fail, break your tasks down into manageable tasks. Do the small things daily and you won’t have to worry about discipline. It’s now one of your habits.

I came across this phrase the other day and it’s the perfect way to summarize your approach to superstar peers, you know the ones I’m talking about. They can do no wrong, they get the best assignments and seem to have the same skills but are ahead of you. It’s easy to hate these peers, but that attitude gets you nowhere.

Instead of hating, you should reach out to these peers. You can learn from how they conduct themselves, how they think and go about getting things done. The senior leaders at your company clearly like the way they conduct themselves, so why not get an up close view?

Put your ego in check, ask them out to lunch and start building a relationship with the high-flyers in your organization. One of them just might become your boss one day. Even if that doesn’t happen, you’ll instantly turbocharge your network and have powerful role models to learn from.

Don’t hate, gravitate toward the superstars if you want to become one yourself.

If you’re on vacation or it’s a company holiday, do your best to really take the day off. Don’t check your email if you absolutely don’t have to.

If everyone else in your company is offline, so should you. Being constantly on leads to burnout. You’ve worked hard and deserve some down (and unplugged) time.

I’m re-reading Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins. There was a line in the first 50 pages that I just had to share with you. He says “mastery takes as long as you want it to take.”

Tony recounts how he became a great speaker by booking speaking engagements three times a week. His coworkers booked gigs once a week. In the span of two weeks, he would have given the same amount of talks that his peers would give in a year’s time. Over the course of a year he would have a decade’s worth of speeches.

That decade’s worth of talks gave him a mastery of public speaking in just one year. If you’re wondering how to get to the next level, faster, you might employ this tip from Tony.

What critical skill do you need at the next level? Find a way to rapidly increase your practice of that skill within your organization. It could make all the difference in getting to the head of your class and mastering the skills that matter most.