What comes to your mind when you first hear the word Self Discipline? 

Word ‘Self Discipline’ can bring a lot of ideas to our mind, especially when we are trying to make remarkable changes to our lives.

Perhaps, it invokes images of being punished, pushed out of comfort zone, or something incredibly difficult to maintain. However, truth be told, self discipline isn’t about making life hard on yourself rather it makes everything easier when done right and consistently.

Self-discipline should be about aligning your energies in the right direction. Everyone has the capacity for it; it’s just that some people practice it regularly in all areas of their lives, while others do not.

The basic rule of setting self discipline is prioritizing what needs to be done first and leaving everything else for later. It’s similar to organizing your feelings, tasks, thoughts, and actions. Grasping self-discipline implicates doing things you might not want to do but are anyway necessary to be done, and resisting taking actions that you shouldn’t do despite of any amount temptation.

For example, some days you might not feel like working out at the gym, or go for a walk in the park; there are times when such feelings persist for more than just one day. This is the warning sign that you need to program your mind to get to the gym or wherever you work out, push yourself more on such days to ensure you don’t get comfortable with not working out. Similarly, in other case, you might crave something that’s unhealthy. Power of self discipline is in resisting that temptation (or any certain temptations), even when your mind keeps going back to it.

To put it in simple words, self-discipline is managing your actions through conceptual strength regardless of your emotional state. To be successful at anything in life, this one ability without a doubt needs to be skilled.

Why is Self Discipline Important?

Anyone who aims to achieve anything significant in life needs to be completely committed to disciplining their emotions and actions. The ability to control urges that don’t lead you toward your goals or success is self-discipline.

Given below are some important aspects that will help you understand why it is important to hone self discipline.

• Goals Achievement – Self discipline enables the possibilities of achieving any set goals, be it personal or professional when consistent efforts are put in.
• Enhanced Focus – Self discipline helps you pay attention to the betterment of the tasks at hand without getting distracted.
• Developing Good Habits – Self discipline helps in developing and maintaining good habits over time when you are consistent with enhancing this ability.
• Enhancing Self Control -Self discipline helps with instincts and better judgement in any given situation.

How to Develop Self-Discipline?

Think of this ability as a muscle. Now what happens when you train a muscle regularly? It grows stronger. You know very well that it won’t happen overnight, but consistent efforts you’ll be closer to growth. Developing self-discipline requires a similar approach. Let’s make this even easier to understand with this step-by-step guide on developing and maintaining this skill:

1. Eliminate Temptations

If for some reason you aren’t supposed to eat Sugar (in my understanding you should refrain from consuming it under every circumstances, however not everyone would think or be able to remove it from diet just like that but), you can’t avoid them if they’re stocked in your fridge.

Similarly, if there’s a habit or an emotion that you need to reduce or remove, don’t try to fight it; eliminate it from your life altogether. You have to be able to identify your triggers and find ways to escape them.

2. Attain Healthy Habits

We aren’t born with any ‘Habits’, we learn them along the way; first from our parents, then our teachers, then our friends, then our peer. Today Social media plays major role in shaping the way we think or behave. In short, we learn from what we see, we hear, we understand, some contemplate and some blindly go with the flow. So it’s important to surround yourself with positive influences. Keep your thoughts pure and aligned with your goals. Let’s look at some ways to build healthy habits:

– Read Books (my personal favourite): There is nothing like filling your mind with motivating, positive, educational content books. Books are our best companions, they can take us to places we could never imagine, they could impart wisdom in such way we would never have received otherwise. I can list a few books that I adore such as ‘the power of subconscious mind’, the power of one thought’ ‘the secret’- these are self-help books, also adding my own to this list is ‘Gratitude- Power of embracing the present to shape the future’ and the list goes on.

You can choose the genres you like, for me it’s either Self-help books or Thrillers, Mysteries.  But they help in big ways than one can account for. Remember, books are food for Soul.

– Eat Right: Very important just like books are food for soul, nutrients are vital for our body. Choose nutritious foods over junk food as much as possible, try to incorporate Fruits and Salads in your daily routine. Avoid drugs and overconsumption of alcohol.

– Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of clean water has proved its benefits in more ways than one can come across. Our body is made up of over 75% water, in the forms of blood, perspiration, digestive juices etc, it is incapable of storing water for a longer duration, therefore to make up for losses from urine, skin, lungs, we need to keep giving it fresh supply every other hour if possible. Drinking 3L water a day is termed normal and anything less, does not quality ‘being hydrated’ bracket

– Avoid Negative Conversations: We meet a lot of people in our daily lives, some people are for good for your soul that just by looking at them once will make you feel rejuvenated wherein some people are just not good for you. If your energy feels low or depleted by being in one’s company, that’s a warning sign to keep away from such people, or at least reduce together time and avoid lengthy conversations. Engage with positive people who uplift you. And be one who can uplift others.

3. Take One Thing at a Time

As human we have tendencies to look at everything as win-loss, but what we don’t understand is that everything takes time. We have to have that patience and peace in knowing that if we are consistent at what we are doing, things will fall in place eventually, and we will achieve desired results for sure. So first advice is don’t try to do everything at once. Because excess in anything can disrupt your progress.

For instance, if you’re trying to lose weight, it won’t happen over-night or immediately. It will need your to be consistent with your workouts, and disciplined with your eating habit. It will definitely show results with time. Let’s see how we can manage our tasks in simpler ways:

– Break Down Goals: You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with wanting to do everything at once. So, keep a calendar, a timer and a journal to see that you are dividing your goals into smaller, manageable and achievable tasks. If you can’t meet them in time, it’s fine, make another time-table for that task, don’t give up though. Because sometimes things turn out better when we sleep on it and give it some space before coming back to them.

– Set Realistic Goals & Timelines: This is extremely important when you want things to get done in time and with perfection. You have to be realistic and fair when you assign a timeline to a task. If you think any particular task or project might take an hour, keep that bracket open for an hour and a half, that way, you’ll be able to complete the task within timeline stress-free as you won’t be pressed for the deadlines.

– Take Time-out: If you are on a task which is time consuming, it is crucial that you take at least 10 minutes every now and then to clear your head and re-energize yourself. Also, in my experience, when you move even for a little bit from one place to another, you start thinking out of the box ideas.

4. Push Yourself

You have to be your best critic. Don’t let your mind trick you into making excuses of any kind. Challenge any excuses that may arise and in any case stay on your path. To build confidence, start with small challenges, such as:

– Morning Routine: Avoid checking your phone for the first 30 minutes after waking up especially for NEWS or Social Media. This simple rule can significantly improve your mental health by keeping negative social media at bay and keeping your mind fresh throughout the day. Rather try dedicating the first 30mins to 1 hour of the day into writing affirmations, gratitude, or journals; doing yoga or meditation.

As you successfully follow any one routine, add more challenges. Gradually, you’ll find self-discipline becoming easier.

5. Set Goals and Plan Accordingly

When you have clarity of what you want, it becomes easier to achieve it with consistent efforts. Have your ideas jotted down on the paper, make notes, plan schedules to complete the steps. Have a clear vision of the end results. Your visions turn into reality when you put your mind completely into it, let your vision have emotions attached to them. Feel in your heart the content of achieving the final step and you’ll see, somehow, magically everything will start coming together.

Simple ways on how to set effective goals:

– Define Clear Objectives: Know exactly what you want to achieve.

– Create a Detailed Plan: Outline the steps you need to take.

– Stay Consistent: Work on your plan regularly without giving up.

– Be Flexible: Adjust your plan as needed without losing sight of your goals.

365 Days with Self Discipline

To make self-discipline an integral and regular part of your life, you need to apply it essentially in numerous areas of your daily activities. Some suggestions as follows:

Daily Routine

– Rise Early – When you wake up early, you have clarity of delegating your tasks as per the allotted timeline. You have the gift of extra time as opposed to those who sleep in till late mornings. When your day is planned and organized, it gives your day a purpose, which in return makes you feel content and accomplished.

– Exercise Regularly: Moving your body is crucial to shake off the low energies that build in your body and mind throughout the day, as almost every day, somehow we meet people who have tendencies of lowering our energies. So to ensure we are rejuvenated every day, movement is important, so be it gym workout, yoga or just simple walk in the park. It’s a necessity.

– Plan Your Day: When you have clear picture of how your day needs to turn out, it suppresses the anxiety and gives us clarity to complete our tasks at hand. So plan your day accordingly to ensure you don’t deviate from the goal and get overwhelmed later.

Work Life

– Avoid Procrastination – When you get any task that wasn’t on your previously set planner, make required changes to avoid cluttering them. All that extra time you were keeping aside to complete your tasks can be used here. Try to finish things as per allotted timelines to be relaxed and stress free, therefore try not to be putting task for later, rather finish them as soon as they’ve come in.

– Focus on Productivity: Your focus should be mainly on the high-impact results however try to get the difficult tasks done first, that way you will have time for the easiest ones to handle whenever possible. Plus, if you have completed the difficult task first, it gives you the feeling of achievement which boosts your confidence to finish the easier tasks in no time.

– Set Work Boundaries: To avoid burnouts, it is extremely important to maintain work-life balance. You do not want to exhaust yourself for a job which won’t think twice before replacing you. You have to set your boundaries around the time you spend for your work and with co-workers. Remember, not everyone is your friend, and that’s why not everyone should get equal amount of access to you and your time.

Personal Progress

– Keep Learning – It is never too late to start learning something new, in fact the only way to keep growing is by continuously learning new things and applying them in our daily lives.

– Reflect Regularly – Keep a journal or a tracker to check the progress of your journey. If you think you are slipping, gently bring back yourself on the track. Remember it is alright to fail, it only means you are trying, however never give up. Progress might not be seen immediately, but if you are consistent, no matter how slow you get there, you will definitely reach your goal, so keep going!

– Stay Positive – Achieving anything is only possible if you have the attitude of being positive. It doesn’t mean you won’t have down time, or you’ll not be presented with difficulty but being positive will give you the strength to stand against all odds and that is all we need to keep going.

Overcoming Challenges in Self-Discipline

Enhancing or developing self-discipline comes with its own set of challenges. But just like everything else, this too can be handled:

Building Resilience

Setbacks are inevitable. Instead of getting discouraged by them, think of them as learning opportunities.

– Identify Mistakes – Once you know what went wrong, it’s easier to bring it fix it.

– Learn and Adapt – Once you learn what is it that you are doing wrong, make voluntary choice to make right changes.

– Stay Motivated: You know the reason why you started it, keep that to be your motivation fuel. Keep going back to it whenever you feel you lack the zeal to continue.

Consistent Motivation

Keeping constantly motivated throughout the goal achievement can get tough as we read earlier. Let’s look at some tips to make things easier:

– Set Targets – Break your goals into smaller milestones and celebrate each achievement. Divide your goals into smaller section or milestones. Every time you achieve them, celebrate a little. Announce your wins to keep the boost going. You will see even people around you will push to do better.

– Find Your Supporter – You need to keep your people around, who will support you at every step, who will encourage you to do better. They will applaud for you at every win and stand by you when things get tough.  

– Visualize Success – Regularly imagine the successful achievement of your goals to stay inspired. Feel it in your heart, in your mind. Imagine yourself receiving the credits for your hard-work and patience. Imagine yourself achieving everything that you dreamt of, this will keep you going for the win and keep you motivated.

Self-discipline will never be a one-time thing, it is important to know that it takes time and efforts and consistency. You have to make constant choices which align with your goals with clear mind. Eliminating any temptations, building healthy habits, everything to be done by taking one step at a time. Challenge yourself to do better, excel at setting clear goals which you can achieve and maintain self-discipline.

Remember, Self-Discipline is about managing your actions through your mind’s strength and focus and no matter how you feel emotionally, the day your start imposing some self discipline on your life’s choices, everything will start to change for better. Your life will become beautiful and you will have clarity at everything you do. To become a better version of yourself, you need to work on yourself a little bit every day.

“Self-Discipline Isn’t Just Something That Happens Once and You’re Done. It’s A Practice.” – Emily Thompson