Strategic Discipline Blog

When did you decide who—or what—you wanted to become?

Reading The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life reminds us that Buffett didn’t stumble into success. His envisioned future took root at age ten, during a trip to New York City with his father. Buffett recalls telling him, “I wanted to see three things: the Scott Stamp and Coin Company, the Lionel Train Company, and the New York Stock Exchange.”

That visit proved formative. Buffett met Sidney Weinberg, one of the most influential figures on Wall Street, who surprised the young boy by asking, “What stock do you like, Warren?” Weinberg may have forgotten the moment, but Buffett never did. Someone important had taken him seriously.

What truly captured Buffett’s imagination, however, was lunch at the Stock Exchange. There, he watched a man roll a custom cigar—handmade, leaf by leaf—for a member. Buffett had no interest in cigars, but his mind worked backward. If someone could afford to employ a man for such a luxury—even during the Great Depression—this place must generate extraordinary wealth.

In that moment, a vision was planted.

Buffett carried that vision back to Omaha and began pursuing it systematically. Financial independence mattered to him because it meant freedom—freedom to work for himself, to decide how he spent his days, and to live life on his own terms. He didn’t wait for perfect conditions. He aligned his actions, habits, and systems with the future he envisioned.

Warren Buffett created the life he imagined as a child—long before “working from home” was even a concept.

In my previous blog, "A Lifestyle Is a Process, Not an Outcome," I shared this truth: goals don’t become a reality without systems and consistent action. Vision gives direction; systems make progress inevitable.

Without an envisioned future, your environment will always control you. With one, you are in control. As we say in Change Your Mind. Create New Results: The best way to predict your future is to create it.

Buffett’s story isn’t about luck or brilliance alone. It’s about clarity, consistency, and commitment.

So let me ask you:
What’s your envisioned future—and what are you doing today to bring it to life?

That’s where real change begins.

At Positioning Systems, we help leaders and teams break free from the familiar past and intentionally build envisioned futures—personally and professionally.

If you’re ready to rewire your thinking, elevate your emotions, and create new results for yourself and your organization, explore NCS – Change Your Mind. Create New Results.

Challenge yourself.
Challenge your team.
Challenge your business.

👉 Contact us today for a free exploratory conversation—and begin becoming the hero of your own story.

Let’s create your envisioned future—together.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

One of Warren Buffett’s most consistent success habits is reading—and it began early.
At eight or nine years old, he discovered How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, a book that would shape how he communicated for the rest of his life.

Buffett didn’t see it as inspiration. He saw it as a system.
Feeling socially disadvantaged, he wanted a repeatable way to connect, influence, and relate—without improvising every time. Carnegie’s principles gave him a learn-once, use-anywhere framework.

True to form, Buffett tested it, tracking results when he followed the system—and when he didn’t.

In our next blog, I’ll share that story and the lesson it offers you:
What system are you using today to become the person your envisioned future requires?

Building an enduring great organization requires disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action, superior results, producing a distinctive impact on the world.

Discipline sustains momentum over a long period of time, laying the foundations for lasting endurance.

A winning habit begins with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics, and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Let Positioning Systems help your business achieve these outcomes on the four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized businesses ($5M - $500M+) scale up. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing! Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

NEXT BLOG – Change Your Mind. Create New Results: Why Warren Buffett Treated Influence Like a System