Actionable information that will help you to supercharge your self-discipline to achieve great feats in life.
Introduction:
We all set many goals in life and hope that we will achieve them. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have the discipline to follow what it takes to transform these goals to reality.
Think about it; every year, we all set New Year’s resolutions with the hope that by the end of the calendar year, we would have changed different aspects of our lives.
Develop the self-discipline you require to pursue your goals, while avoiding distractions that tend to derail your goal pursuit.
When you are self-disciplined, you easily control your urges to indulge in any unhealthy or unconstructive activity that can affect your productivity, and easily stick to your mission and goal.
Self-discipline is critically important if you want to get things done in a timely manner especially because it helps you stay on the path to achieving your goals. So how can you build your self-discipline?
Why Do You Need Self-Discipline In Life?
When you are self-disciplined, you think before acting, brainstorm easily, think lucidly, focus on important tasks, easily complete all the chores you have started, and successfully carry out your plans and decisions despite obstacles, hardships, and inconveniences that come your way.
Moreover, self-discipline helps you become happier and more peaceful. A study conducted on the subject in 2013 by Wilhem Hoffman showed that those who had high self-control were happier as compared to those who lacked this ability.
Self-discipline can help you to avoid making decisions in a rash or on impulse,
When you lack self-discipline, you lack self-control. This means that when working on something, you easily get distracted and give in to your desires, urges, and feelings. You do not stay dedicated to your missions and easily lose sight of what is important and beneficial to you. Self-discipline seeks to reverse that; it helps you to stick to whatever it is you have planned to do no matter
You need self-discipline to achieve your goals.
Self-discipline is what keeps you focused on a goal even when you no longer feel enthusiastic about it.
Although self-discipline is an important element that needs to be a part of our personality, many of us lack it and are infinitely far from acquiring it.
So why is it lacking?
Self-Discipline Is Not an Inbuilt Ability
Negative Mental and Emotional Programming
Negative Environments
A positive environment is mandatory in the development of self-discipline and willpower. If the people around you are not supportive and constantly demoralize you, you will never be able to discern right and wrong,
Fear of Failure
Laziness
Low Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
Easily Falling Prey to Temptation
A Lack of Purpose
Determine Why You Want to Gain Self-Discipline
Visualize Your Objectives (Specify Your ‘What’)
“WHY” do you want whatever it is you’ve envisioned or simulated? WHY
Ponder On Why You Want To Develop Self-Discipline And Why You Want What You Want
Do Not Wait to Feel like It, Dump All Your Excuses
After identifying your goals and objectives as well as determining your ‘why’, you need to get rid of all extremely unhealthy behaviours you commonly practice: waiting to ‘feel like it’ or waiting for the right time.
Use Your Decision Making Skills
Ganglia is a portion of your brain responsible for your habitual behaviours. This part of your brain is related to memories, patterns, and emotions- all the elements necessary for making your habits.
The decisions you take are created in your prefrontal cortex. As soon as a certain behavior turns into a habit, we stop making use of our decision-making ability and start functioning on ‘auto-pilot’ instead, which is your basal ganglia.
Use Mantras
Mantra refers to a positive suggestion or chant that you create and say repeatedly. When you say something frequently, it influences your mind and thinking pattern thus shaping it in that direction.
Dump Your Habit of Making Excuses
Take Action with your Action Plan
Make Your Action Plan
You can create a tabular action plan or use Excel or MS Word to make one
Prepare Yourself to Take Some Action
Starting something at a specific time daily helps you become regular and makes you stick to that routine, which helps shape up your self-discipline
Anticipate Potential Issues and Find Strategies to Fix Them
For instance, if you worry you’ll switch off the alarm when it rings at 5am and drift off to sleep again, then a potential problem could be ‘I will probably fall asleep.’
Track Your Progress, Review Your Plan and Make Necessary Changes to It
You cannot know how well you are doing if you don’t track your progress. This means that you won’t be able to tell whether you are really following your action plan
Reframe the Mistakes You Make
Work on Overcoming Temptations
Here are a few strategies on how to overcome temptations and stay committed to your goal.
Detach Yourself from the Attractions
A good tactic to overcome your temptations is to detach yourself from whatever tempts and excites you.
Envision Resisting the Temptation
If you want to control your intake of sugary treats, you could visualize yourself picking up a candy bar, enjoying its aroma, and then putting it away.
Weigh Immediate Gratification against Long term Consequences
One great way of overcoming immediate gratifications is to think about the worst-case scenario for giving in to the temptations.
Distract Yourself
Research shows that doing something enjoyable or anything that keeps your mind occupied can help you fight your temptations easily. For instance, you could go for a walk, call a friend, or help your sibling with a chore the moment you find yourself becoming attracted to your temptation
Motivate and Nurture Yourself
Self-discipline isn’t only developed by removing temptations from your life, making the right decisions, following your action plans and dumping excuses. There’s something else you need to do as well: nurture yourself and keep yourself motivated.
Motivate Yourself
Make sure that the reward isn’t something you are trying to resist, but is something that encourages you to stay dedicated to your goal. For instance, if you have lost 5 pounds, then instead of treating yourself to a piece of cheesecake,
Take Care of Yourself
Stabilize the Glucose Concentration in Your Body
low blood sugar level is closely related to diminished self-discipline. That’s why you are likely to give up on your quest to losing weight if you starve yourself. Hunger actually makes focusing hard in addition to making you grumpy and pessimistic.
Sleep Well
Getting enough sleep (about 7-8 hours of sleep) can help you develop self- discipline.
Drink lavender tea twice a day, especially an hour before sleeping.
Dim the lights
Sleep on a Comfortable Bed
Overcome stress - Stress is known to negatively influence self-discipline i.e. if you are stressed, you are likely to have a hard time staying self disciplined.
Get enough sleep
Exercise regularly: Exercise helps regulate any hormonal imbalance that triggers stress and insomnia. Additionally, exercise boosts the production of serotonin, which is a mood enhancing neurotransmitter and reduces the levels of cortisol
Exercises for Developing and Boosting Self-Discipline
Give Up Your Seat
Although this seems like a polite gesture, it is actually putting your self-discipline to test. If you can control your impulses of saying no, then you will be one step closer to becoming the version of yourself that you want.
Do a Chore Right Now
Are there dirty dishes lying in the kitchen sink?
Don’t postpone that task. Say, ‘I can do it’ and get up then do the task.
Taking immediate action helps you overcome laziness and consequently improves your self-discipline.
Make a Big Change to Your Routine
You’ll feel cranky for the first two to three days, but you need to keep going and by the time the fifth day arrives, you’ll feel good about yourself. This will give you the courage to make bold changes in your life in a disciplined manner.
Choose Stairs Over Elevator
These practices help you slowly discipline yourself, give up your unnecessary desires, and control your emotions, which is very important in your quest to building your self-discipline.