Building self-discipline is a process that’s never-ending. It doesn’t matter if you’re a monk who is meditating on a mountaintop or the CEO or a multinational corporation – you’ll always be encountering challenges when it comes to self-discipline.
The question you’ll need to ask yourself is – “Why am I trying to build self-discipline?”
Self-discipline doesn’t exist in isolation. It has to be applied. Where you apply it will be determined by your goals.
Below, you’ll find 7 things that most people need to exercise discipline with…
Having a daily routine is a MUST. If you live each day as it comes and in a haphazard manner, over time, your life will be a mess. It’s inevitable.
This is part of your routine, and it will help you achieve your goal. Self-discipline here will mean not skipping workouts and striving to improve on your personal bests with each session.
Ultimately, your habits will either make you or break you. Self-discipline is all about breaking the bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
You should do this gradually and it’ll be easier to make progress. Trying to do too much too soon can be extremely difficult.
It goes without saying that you are what you eat. If you’re overweight or have health issues like diabetes or hypertension, it’s crucial to watch your diet and eat what’s right for you.
Self-discipline will mean staying on track and not giving in to temptations. Changing one’s diet is one of the most difficult tasks to complete, but when done, can totally transform your health and body.
As mentioned earlier, exercising is one area where self-discipline is required. While you can lose weight with a clean diet, exercise is too important and beneficial for you to neglect.
Choose an activity you enjoy doing and get as much of it as you can. Ideally, you should exercise for 30 to 45 minutes daily. Even on days when you’re not feeling like it, self-discipline will mean going through the motions.
A self-disciplined person meets their deadlines. This means not procrastinating on your work and having a schedule to follow.
So, setting yourself tighter deadlines will mean increasing your speed and focus on the job at hand. Remember not to sacrifice quality for speed. You should be fast and still do a good job.
Family commitments or commitments to other people in your life should be met too. Do not sacrifice your family time just to build a business, or by the time your business is successful, you may not have a family.
Finding balance in life is almost impossible for long periods of time, but self-discipline will ensure that you not drop the ball in any one part of your life while focusing on your goals.
The way you spend your time will define who you are. Self-discipline will ensure that you spend it wisely rather than frittering it away on trivial pursuits.
We live in an age where people spend hours on social media, sacrificing precious time that could have been spent in a much better way.
Like Charles Darwin said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
The 7 pointers are just some of the many that you should focus on when trying to discipline yourself. If you can manage these 7 well, your life will be fantastic and rewarding.
Do start working on them today.
You’re all fired up and want to transform your life for the better. You’re willing to eat clean, exercise hard, wake up early to hustle and grind – just so you can be the winner you want to be.
The motivational video you watched the previous night made you feel like anything is possible, and you just need to make the right changes.
So, you make the changes. You eat right, exercise hard, and do whatever you have to… only to give up one week later because it’s just too hard. The juice doesn’t seem worth the squeeze.
Or are you just not aware of what it really takes to transform your life?
All too often, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. One may have the best intentions but lack the fortitude to keep going because he/she has a false perception of how tough the journey is.
Just like how the phoenix rises from the ashes, to become a ‘new you’ the old you has to die – and this is a painful process. It CANNOT be done overnight.
You’ll have to make gradual changes every day. Aiming for 1% improvement daily is more than enough to transform your life, even if it doesn’t seem like much.
When breaking the mould, it will feel like you’re fighting yourself – and you are. All change is met with resistance. If you’re broke, you’ll find that controlling your spending habits is a tough job.
If you’re overweight and trying to eat clean, you’ll have cravings for sugary foods and junk food. If you’re trying to be productive, you’ll constantly feel the urge to check your social media or binge watch Netflix shows.
Herein lies the contradiction – and it’s something you must be aware of on the journey towards becoming a more disciplined person. You’ll be battling yourself at every turn, but you will overcome the challenges and rise to greater heights.
Self-discipline is intertwined with delayed gratification. If you’re avoiding the junk food today, it’s because you’re trying to achieve a fit and healthy body tomorrow.
If you’re working on your business while sacrificing time that could be spent on entertainment, you’re hoping to build wealth and financial freedom in future.
You’ll need patience to stay the course. This is extremely hard because the process is not fun, and you need to see progress to stay motivated.
When you’re impatient, it’ll feel like what you’re doing is not working. In reality, it is working. It just needs more time.
The author, Jim Rohn, once said, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
This ties in closely with the previous point. Once the initial motivation to get started begins to fade, then the process will become a grind.
The key is to correct yourself after an error and to keep going. So, being aware that the process of developing self-discipline is a relatively long and rigorous one will make you understand that you’re in this for the long haul.
It’s a marathon and not a sprint.
Sometimes, you’ll need to change your environment to help stay disciplined. If you’re trying to build your business during the weekends when you’re free, you might wish to avoid hanging out with friends who like to hit the clubs and party hard.
If you’re trying to lose weight, your kitchen will need to be free of unhealthy food and snacks, so you’re not tempted to binge eat.
Making your environment more conducive to supporting your efforts will help ease the resistance you face when trying to build self-discipline.
Take note of the pointers here and remember that all the pain and effort will be worth it in the end. Self-discipline is the key ingredient to success.
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