Do you ever ask yourself this question: how can I have more discipline in my life? The key point is that self-discipline starts in your mind. And if you want to get anywhere in life, it is essential to acquire it first and foremost. Like a muscle, it gets stronger with exercise.
It is not fun, but if you want to progress, it is the only way. Exercising self-discipline is where all success starts. But the truth is that human beings are lazy and instead love to do what is easy and fun, rather than what is demanding and challenging. Our decision making centers mostly on how to avoid pain and obtain pleasure.
Your Mind:
The human mind is the most undisciplined organ. Thousands of thoughts pass through your mind daily, via social media, the news, and the ideas of the people we meet every day. We are confused with an overload of information.
It is during the first hours of your day, that you can better organize and discipline your mind to think and focus on what is important.
Before allowing the world to master your life, you can learn to master your thoughts and you can accomplish that through meditation or prayer. As well as exercise and reading the right content to inspire and calm your body and soul.
The change in your mindset:
Starts when you first decide what you want from life, understand the price you will have to pay to obtain it and decide that you will go for it.
Only then can you start changing other areas of your life: your finances, health, relationships, anything you want, you can change or improve.
You can develop a healthy mindset and learn all the qualities to have an “I can do it” attitude. You can study and learn how to overcome your self-limiting beliefs, work to increase your finances, and accomplish anything you want from life.
But if you don’t master self-discipline, you will fail, as learning and growing require a considerable amount of hard work, trying, executing, and doing.
The real power is in the execution of ideas. That is the mindset you need, a self-disciplined mind that doesn’t argue or negotiate with itself, but does what needs to be done and does not look for excuses to quit or procrastinate.
Social media:
Distraction is your enemy. Self-discipline allows you to control what distracts you from what is important in life.
And it has nothing to do with technology or social media alone; it has been a problem since the early days of humankind and is a topic that Seneca (born c. 4 BCE) wrote in his book on the shortness of life.
Self-discipline means that you understand that Instagram, FB, and social media, in general, are fighting for your attention to sell you a product, service, or brand.
First of all, you need to give your attention to what will add value to your life. Leave browsing the net, checking email, and social media for after you have done what is essential first.
I think this is the most important test for your mastering of self-discipline. We want to be distracted, but we need to understand that such practices won’t take your life to the next level.
What are the benefits?
Progress! Short and simply put. And let me remind you that one of the key points in being happy and fulfilled in your existence on this earth is when you know you are making progress in one or more areas of your life.
With self-discipline, you will reach your goals faster than those who struggle without a well-defined strategy. Because it boosts your self-esteem, It helps you to accomplish your goals and develops your character.
Your success will be guaranteed - you will accomplish more in your lifetime- You will be paid more, promoted faster, or start your own business more successfully- You will have great self-confidence and self-respect, in short:
“Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness”.
How do you start
1- Decide & commit: Starting is the most challenging step. Start the day with the question: What is the one thing I am committed to doing, learning, or accomplishing today?
2- Hold yourself Accountable: Many things will get in the way. You will get sick; you will travel, have extra work, and social media will distract you. But if you are genuinely committed, you will do what needs to be done.
3- Develop a system: Track your progress, keep a journal, or ask someone to remind you and keep you in check. Learning to measure your progress is a great habit to follow.
4- Be realistic in the setting of your goals: Nobody changes in one day. Brake your goal in small doable steps and increment it as you get stronger in your will power and discipline. Goals must not be unrealistic or unattainable.
5- Consistency is the Key: You can’t expect to dabble and get results. But even if you do a little act, but do it consistently, you will be amazed at the results! Incremental growth and progress is the name of the game.
6- Know your “why”: What is your dream, idea, vision, and why is worth fighting for it? It will get tough, it will be difficult, you will face challenges, and only a strong “WHY” will give you the determination to fight for your future.
7- Delay Gratification: Have you ever heard of the Marshmallow experiment?”. The main lesson is that there is excellent value in sacrificing something today for a more significant future.
Practicing delayed gratification shows that you are bigger than that. That you have an excellent vision for your life. You are willing to do what it takes to reach your goals and dreams. It is not always easy, but it is imperative.
8- Don’t be afraid to make sacrifices: Successful people make sacrifices. They save money, work hard, do whatever it takes in the short term to enjoy more extraordinary things in the future.
9- Develop self-esteem: When you discipline yourself to attain your goals, your self-stem goes way high. Endorphines go up, and you feel good about yourself. This feeling creates momentum, and it developed faith in your potential as a human being. The more you do it, the higher you go.
10- Self-discipline is a success habit: The more you do it, the better you become at it. The opposite is also true. Seeking pleasure, comfort, taking the easy way out, and quitting also becomes a habit that you have to live for the rest of your life.
11- Self-discipline is the common denominator for success: Successful people make a habit of doing what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.
12- Clear thinking: Self-discipline helps you have clearly defined goals and outcomes which are vital for your happiness and success in life.
13- The quality of your thoughts: Will determine the quality of your life.
14- Courage: Self-discipline will help you defeat your fears. People are paralyzed by the thought of failure only because they think they do not have what it takes to succeed. Self-discipline is the first step in conquering that fear.
15- Health: Through self-discipline, you can design your ideal body and looks. Because you will have the power to do whatever it takes, without quitting halfway to accomplishing your goal.
16- Financial stability: Self-discipline will make you rich. As you will be strong enough to succeed in not getting in debt, earn your desire income, and save for the future.
17- The power of hard work: Self-discipline will make you mentally and physically fit for hard work, which is the main quality of millionaires. The harder you work, the luckier you get.
18- Knowledge and wisdom: Self-discipline will help you study and learn more to acquire the abilities and skills you need to succeed in any area of your life.
19- Persistence: Self-Discipline will teach you the main secret of life: persistence. Very successful people are not more talented or intelligent than you. They just have mastered the art of perseverance and never giving up. They have a strong work ethic and discipline.
20- Will-power: Self-discipline will maximize whatever little will power you have. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but don’t delay taking action, otherwise, your convictions will get weaker as the day goes by.
21- Meditation: Did you notice how Asian people are usually much more disciplined than the rest of the world? Meditation comes from the same part of the world. It lowers your stress, improves your focus, and helps you cultivate strong discipline.
22- Focus: Self-discipline will help you focus on the right things: What you have, what you can control, and living in the present. You will start focusing on what adds value to your life, rather than wasting your time living in the past, worrying about the future, or what you don’t have or can’t control.
23- Exercise: When you push yourself to one more rep or one more mile, and you push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you are exercising not only your muscles but self-discipline as well. You learn to not negotiate with yourself, but to do what needs to be done, whether you feel like it or not.
24- Identify the obstacles: You will develop clarity when facing real challenges that stand between where you are and where you want to go. You develop specifics ways to achieve your goals and learn to overcome the challenges.
25- Take responsibility: A responsible person can act independently and knows how to answer to his behavior and is willing to accept responsibility for those actions. This quality makes you a leader among men, as people can then trust you and know they can depend on you.
Vitin Landivar