Self-discipline is a way to train, control and motivate yourself to stay on track regardless of how difficult it is, to overcome your weaknesses, create a healthy pattern and produce results. It is a good way to overcome our feelings.
Self-discipline is the ability you have to control and motivate yourself, stay on track and do what is right. It requires determination, consistency, and drive. It is a very essential factor when you want to get a better result, lose weight, get a promotion, manage your emotions, be productive and improve your relationships.
To be self-disciplined requires you to break a bad habit and build a new habit by making active decisions. The brain is always against change and adjusting from what it is used to. This might require extra effort to reprogram the brain.
”We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from these progress to things of greater value”. Marcus Aurelius
Importance of self-discipline
- Achieve long-term goals.
- Helps to gain both current and future successes
- It decreases anxiety
- Works on improving physical health (eg weight loss, quitting like tobacco smoking, drugs, and alcohol).
- Positively impact relationships – It can contribute to a healthy, happy, and stronger relationship.
- It helps you stay resilient, be consistent, and feel fulfilled.
Ways to Improve self-discipline
1. Start small:
Start taking small steps first. Challenge yourself but do not overwhelm yourself. This might be discomforting at first but with time, you will adjust. You might want to get frustrated and give up on the way but “keep pushing”. Remember, practice makes perfect. Be patient with yourself; you will get there eventually.
2. Work in a healthy organized environment:
Research has shown that our environment has a way of influencing our behavior, mood, and motivation. To achieve the best result and stay consistent, remove the temptations and distractions out of the way as this could decrease efficiency.
If you work or study from home where there are lots of distractions, go somewhere more quiet to focus. Try as much as possible to avoid distraction by making the necessary adjustments.
3. Know yourself:
This way you know yourself, who you are, and why you make certain decisions. All this knowledge can help you make good decisions, stick with them and avoid those that will not help us. That way, you can discipline yourself and get a better result. It also helps to create boundaries, know when to say “NO”.
“The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.” – E.M. Gray
4. Avoid Procrastination:
The thing is that if we want to wait for the right time, there will never be a “perfect time”. Whatever result you want to see, you have to start working towards it now. Improving your self-discipline might require you to change your normal routine, which can be uncomfortable. To be self-disciplined, a pattern has to be set in motion to keep you accountable and deliver good results.
5. Eat regularly and healthily.
To stay active, the brain must function at its optimum. Decreased blood sugar often decreases the result produced due to the inability to concentrate. Hunger makes it difficult to focus on the task at hand, making you angry and easily irritable. To stay on track, make sure that you are fueled throughout the day with healthy meals to stay active.
6. Be in the right frame of mind:
Inability to control your emotions can lead to distractions and wrong decisions which can affect all areas of your life including diet, exercise, work, relationships.
Success doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional about it, and that takes discipline.” – John C. Maxwell
7. Create a to-do list and planners:
Creating a to-do list and planner helps you stay organized. This helps you manage your time and use it adequately. Seeing a list of your completed and uncompleted tasks will help you feel organized, stay focused mentally, and feel fulfilled.
8. Call a Friend:
I call this an “accountability partner”. Try to surround yourself with people that will motivate you to do better, help you see your hidden potentials, and challenge you to actually start actualizing your goals. You are more likely to accomplish your goals if you are surrounded by the right influences. An accountability partner can call you and check up on you to ensure you are still on track.
9. Regular Physical Exercise
In as much as you are practicing the act of self-discipline, don’t be too hard on yourself. Take some time off, relax, take a break, and rewards yourself for the job you have done so far. Create time to read messages and reply to emails.
10. Track Your Progress
Tracking your progress helps you watch out for changes, and outline them making you feel good, proud, and productive. It also motivates you to work harder and put in more effort. You can track the positive changes and the mistakes that you have made, giving you a record that you can look back on to see the progress.
In conclusion, for self-discipline to work you have to be intentional about it. You will fail at it at some point but do not beat yourself too hard. Just keep working on improving.
“Don’t ever stop believing in your own personal transformation. It is still happening even on the days you may not realize it or feel like it.” –
Some recommended books to learn more…
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
The Power of Self-Discipline: No excuses! by Brian Tracy
