Sometimes to achieve great goals all it takes is a little self-discipline. An article on discipline and how to increase it.
"The price of discipline is nothing compared to the price of regret."
Robin Sharma.
Mamma mia… this is really fixed! 'Mo if he talks about self-discipline as well! Did they throw the “Full Metal Jacket” videotape at his head when he was still a creature ?!
La discipline è freedom. You may not agree with this statement, and no doubt you will not be alone. Still, having self-discipline it allows us to achieve objectives (in education, work, sport, nutrition, financial matters) that make us free… free from vices, from our limits and from the limits imposed by others.
But what does it mean have discipline?
What is self-discipline
Having discipline means… doing what we think, without reacting to how we feel. Having discipline means ... replacing "should" with "want". Having discipline means… being willing to make some small sacrifices in our present to build our future.
You have a good level of self-discipline he:
- you continue to carry out your own project, even when the enthusiasm of the first hour is gone.
- you find the motivation to go to the gym, even when all you want to do is stand in front of the TV.
- choose to wake up 1 hour earlier in the morning to work on your dream.
- you don't let small distractions take you out of focus when you need to be productive.
- train your resilience and do what you know you need to do, even when life throws a hook.
Self-discipline has always been a skill that I had to work on and if I had had more in the past, I would probably have achieved goals that today I regret. But in these years I have learned 2 or 3 little things about discipline and if this morning I went for my daily run, I owe it to self-discipline.
If you also have discipline problems, the good news is that they can be overcome… the bad news is that you will have to grit your teeth in the early days. So here are the best tips for me to developself-discipline.
How to develop your own discipline
- Know yourself. I admit this advice is very motivating-rampant-I-would-sell-my-grandmother too. But the point is, if you don't know what you really want, you can't develop the discipline to get it. Define your goals and possibly write them down somewhere.
- Be aware. To have self-discipline you have to be aware of what you are doing right and… wrong. If you continue to behave badly without realizing it, how do you think you can develop your self-discipline? Try to think about your habits and imagine what their impact could be in 5 years. Maybe you are a smoker, or maybe you are overweight, or you keep spending your money drowning in debt.
- Put some effort into it. Writing goals, repeating motivating phrases, visualizing success, well… they're all bitchy if you don't put in the effort. When you decide to reach a goal, make up your mind and possibly implement a system to track your progress. Remember: "we only improve what we measure".
- Be brave. Do you think it is a piece of cake to increase your discipline? It is not. There will be times when doing what you set out to do will be difficult, annoying, even painful. To overcome these moments you will need to have courage. But I guarantee you that the small victories you will conquer day after day will make your discipline iron.
- Listen to you. The biggest enemy of your self-discipline is that little voice that keeps buzzing in your head: "I still sleep 5 minutes ...", "I'll go to the gym tomorrow ...", "a little more on Facebook and then I start working / studying … ”(Sooner or later Facebook sues me !!!). If you want to train your self-discipline, all you have to do as soon as you realize you are mentally saying one of these phrases is to follow Mr. Nike's advice:
“Just do it.”
Some useful tools
As always, in the GetPersonalGrowth Blog you will find practical examples of personal growth. So here are some tools for you to increase your self-discipline day after day.
- The 30-day technique. This technique, as simple as it is effective, was brought to the headlines by Steve Pavlina. But how does it work? Simple, get a new habit and commit to respecting it for at least 30 days. No matter how hard it may be, stick to your commitment for 30 days. If after 30 days you have noticed the benefits, continuing will be a breeze, otherwise you can let it go without feeling guilty.
- Streaks per iPhone. Streaks is an iPhone application that allows you to record your progress day after day by placing a nice X on the virtual calendar. One motto: "don't break the chain!" (do not interrupt the sequence).
- Joe’s goals. Joe's goals has the same logic as Streaks, but it's a web application. It means that you can log your progress directly on your PC or Mac.
And you? How do you train your self-discipline?
