At every season of life, we want to be able to look in the rearview mirror and see a life without regret. We want to be able to celebrate healthy relationships, meaningful work, and a life of joy and purpose. In every situation, we want to know that how we lived, and what we stood for, made our world better and changed people’s lives.

Telling a no-regrets story tomorrow begins by taking a hard look at the path you’re walking on today. The path you take ultimately determines the story you will one day tell. Every path leads to a place of reward or a place of regret.

One Old Testament leader able to tell a story of no regrets was Daniel, taken in exile around 605 B.C. when King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took its young men captive to Babylon.

If you’re living as a captive in a foreign land, your life probably isn’t what you imagined it would become. Yet, if you jump to the end of Daniel’s story, you discover an unexpected twist. Despite his circumstances, Daniel was able to tell a no-regrets story — a story of faithful devotion to God, extraordinary influence and godly friendships.

How did this happen? Daniel chose the hard path. A hard path is not one most people would willingly take, but it’s the only path that leads to the story we all want to tell. In our culture of ease and comfort, hard paths sound unnecessary, even intolerable. However, be careful not to equate hard with bad, and easy with good.

Almost anything worthwhile is an uphill road. When you exchange the hard path for the easy path, you simultaneously exchange the life you want for the life you’ll one day regret.

So, what exactly does the hard path look like? From Daniel’s life, we discover two no-regret qualities of the hard path.

Self-Discipline

When Daniel was in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to his palace young men who were strong, healthy, good-looking, well-versed, gifted, knowledgeable and characterized by good judgment (Daniel 1:4).

Daniel was among those chosen, not because he hoped to possess these qualities, but because he already possessed them. He was living a life marked by physical health, continual learning, and the exercise of his gifts and abilities before any new doors swung open. In other words, Daniel became the person he wanted to be before he was given the opportunity he wanted to see.

The problem we face today is that we want opportunity handed to us on a silver platter before we get ready for it. As UCLA basketball coaching legend John Wooden once said, “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.”

Every path leads to a place of reward or a place of regret.

Before you can play the game, you have to pay the price.

That’s self-discipline, and it’s the first key to a life of no regrets. Half of self-discipline is choosing to start. The other half is refusing to quit. We all have a few things we’ve started but quit somewhere along the way. There’s a good chance those things are tied to some of our regrets today.

So, let me ask you two questions. First, what did you give up five years ago that you wish you hadn’t? Second, what are you about to give up today that, five years from now, you’ll regret? Resist the temptation to throw in the towel. Choose the hard path of self-discipline. When you do, you’ll write a new story.

Self-Control

What’s the difference between self-discipline and self-control? Self-discipline is about what you do, and self-control is about what you don’t do. You discipline yourself to do the right thing, and you control yourself from doing the wrong thing.

Coupled with Daniel’s self-discipline was the self-control to refrain from things he shouldn’t do. We see his self-control in action during the Book of Daniel's first chapter when the king assigned Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) a daily ration of food and wine. Notice how Daniel and his friends responded.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you’’’ (Daniel 1:8-10).

Why would Daniel turn down fine food from the king’s elaborate table? Because the king worshipped idols, and the meat from his table had been offered to idols. Daniel and his friends were committed to remaining ceremonially clean, and therefore they asked the chief of staff to test them for 10 days with a diet of vegetables and water.

Daniel and his friends intentionally chose self-control. Rather than indulging in the food from the king’s table, they controlled their appetites so they could remain fully devoted to God. The result? After 10 days, they looked healthier than the other young men, and continued the same diet as an act of obedience and honor to the Lord.

Again, the path you take ultimately determines the story you will one day tell. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose the hard path — one defined by self-discipline and self-control. But it was worth it. God gave them understanding and wisdom, and when they stood before the king, he found them 10 times more capable than anyone else in his kingdom (Daniel 1:19-20).

You’re on a path today — one that will tell a story of reward or a story of regret. If you don’t like the story waiting for you at the end of your path, it’s not too late to change directions. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

Self-discipline is choosing what to start, and self-control is choosing what to stop. What do you need to start today, and what do you need to stop?