Self Discipline: How To Develop The Habit And Why It Is Important

Hey loves, today we are looking at self discipline. On my last post The Eight Keys To Success , discipline was one factor that most people struggle with. As mentioned, self discipline is one of the important ingredients and keys of success.

What Really Is Self Discipline?

Self discipline is the ability to control ones feelings and overcome ones weakness. It is the regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement. It allows you to stay focused on your goals and enables you to stay in control of yourself and of your reaction to any situation.

Self discipline is making yourself do things when you should even if you do not want to do them. It is the ability to control yourself and make yourself work hard towards your goals. It isn’t a character trait you are born with, it is a habit you practice over time. It simply is the ability to control and motivate yourself to stay on track.

Why Do We Lack Self Discipline?

Self Discipline is a learned practice. There are a lot of reasons why we can lack self discipline the major one being procrastination and I’ll like to add laziness. Think about it, what is the major reason why you procrastinate? Is it because you don’t feel like doing anything or because you are too lazy to do anything?

When you procrastinate too much you will find it difficult to work towards your goals. Stop putting things off or postponing those tasks, do them now.

Other reasons why we lack discipline are lack of will power, motivation and goals. I’m not even going to lie, you won’t always feel like working towards what you want, some days you will just want to take weeks off doing nothing but if you are disciplined you can pull through. When you have goals that you are working towards and you have the drive and determination to achieve them discipline will help you keep going and consistently show up.

Why Self Discipline Is Important If You Want To Succeed

• It is one of the important requirements for achieving goals.
• It gives you the power to stick to your decisions and follow them through without changing your mind.
• It makes you more efficient and effective in your daily goals.
• It makes you committed to your excellence.
• It enables you to hang on and not give up despite challenges.
• It enables you to put off your immediate wish or comfort in favour of long term success.

10 Powerful Ways To Master Self Discipline

1. Know your weakness

Everyone has weaknesses, even the toughest person has something they are scared of, the most skilled person has something they can’t do. Know your weakness and tackle them. If yours is laziness or procrastination, find out ways to tackle them. When you know what the problem is as to why you are not disciplined, that is the first step in solving the problem.

2. Resist Temptations

Everyone has their guilty pleasure. You have something you find difficult to resist. It could be eating those chocolates and ice cream while you’re supposed to be dieting, it could be sleeping while you’re supposed to be in the gym or chatting when you have something to do. I’m really guilty of chatting when I’m supposed to be busy, most times I’ll be like, let me just reply this chat and then I’ll start and before you know it I’m replying all and holding on to the next juicy information I can get. 🤦

Resist the temptations no matter what they may be and choose to work towards what you are supposed to do. Do not postpone and procrastinate, just do.

Discipline is when we postpone the pleasure of today for the benefit of tomorrow.

Dr Sunday Adelaja

3. Take Small Actions

Don’t rush it, you don’t get to the finished line at once, you take small steps that leads you to it. Continuously take action, slow progress is still progress, keep going, keep showing up despite the difficulties and setbacks. When you are disciplined, you will hang on, show up and not give up.

Success doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional about it and that takes discipline.

John C. Maxwell

4. Don’t Wait For The Perfect Timing

Is there even a thing such as perfect timing when it comes to getting something done? What exactly is stopping you from starting now?

You don’t have to start out grand, just do. You’ll keep on growing when you start. Don’t wait till you have the most expensive equipments before you start that YouTube channel, if what you have is enough by all means just start, DO. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time for you to take action. Start now!

5. Practice, Practice, Practice

If you’re trying to get something, you have to keep on practicing until you get it. No athlete just wakes up to go and run in a championship without practice, no singer performs without rehearsing. Don’t give the excuse that you are not an expert yet so you don’t want to start. Well nobody became an expert without practicing, without taking continuous action each day to get what they want.

So start practicing, those skills that you are learning, when are you going to practice them? This is a question I often ask myself but thank God I’m working towards that already.

Success is nothing more than a few discipline practiced everyday.

Jim Rohn

6. Cultivate A Growth Mindset

Be open to improvement. Change your perception about willpower. Be determined to succeed and to do all it takes to succeed. Don’t sell yourself short, don’t think you can’t do it. Read book or blogs , watch YouTube videos or listen to podcasts. Learn, discover ways you can be the best you can be and get to where you need to be .

Motivation gets you going but discipline keeps you growing.

John C. Maxwell

7. Create New Habits

You know those habits that you have that are not serving you right? Get rid of them. Develop new habits. Habits that will help you become better. Cultivate a reading habit, cultivate the habit of waking up early to go and take that morning jog or exercise, create the habit of showing up every time.

Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.

Abraham Lincoln

8. Build Your Self Discipline

Learn to control yourself and your emotions. Learn to motivate yourself and keep going. Learn to do things at the right time when they are needed to be done not when you feel like it.

We must all suffer one or two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment.

Jim Rohn

9. Set Clear Goals And Have An Action Plan

It’s so important to set clear goals that are ABC and SMART. It’s not just enough to set goals, you also need an action plan and you can have all this and will still not achieve anything if you don’t execute the plan by taking action. When you have goals, it gives you something to focus on and when you have something you are focused on that you really desire, you will have the drive, determination and discipline to deny yourself some things until you get that which you could only dream of.

10. Get A Mentor

Everyone has someone they admire or want to be like. You can choose to learn from them, read their books, watch their YouTube videos and listen to their podcasts if you can’t have direct access to them. If you can have direct access to them then that’s great. We all need someone to move us in the right direction.

Comment below, why do you lack discipline and how have you been able to stay disciplined?

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