What is it that makes a person wake up an hour earlier every day to go for a walk, regardless of whether it’s raining or feels like he’s really tired? What makes a college student stay in class after lectures to cover the course content, instead of meeting up with his pals? What makes me write this article despite the fact that I have the flu and would love to take a nap? Two words: Self Discipline.
Simply put, self discipline involves acting based on your thoughts rather than emotions. Look at it as some form of investment. You sacrifice an instant pleasure in order to attain a future higher goal. In the case of our early riser, he sacrificed 60 minutes of being in his cozy bed in order to improve both his health and physique, in the long term. Our college student would have covered a lot and would be ready and stress-free when it was time for the exams. As for me, well, I may just end up being the Editor for Psychology Today magazine!
We understand more why we must build our self discipline by examining what would happen to us if we don’t. We would not be able to lose weight because we just weren’t in the mood to not eat. We couldn’t achieve our long term goals because we were distracted somewhere along the line. We wouldn’t be able to break bad habits, manage our times effectively, improve ourselves, learn new things, be successful… The list goes on and on.
The wonderful thing about self discipline is that it is inborn within all of us. The fact that we have not been using it is what has made it weaker. As we practice it more and more, it tends to become stronger. And as the famous self-help author, Steve Pavlina put it: “Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become”.
How exactly does one become Self-Disciplined? The first step is to clearly define your goals. What do you want to achieve in life? By realizing what is truly important and what is not, you can easily fish out the things distracting you from reaching your goals. If waking up 6.00 am in the morning is your goal, then staying up to watch some late night TV is definitely a distraction.
Secondly, you need strong willpower. Some refer to it as motivation. Some prefer to call it drive. Whatever you choose to call it, it is nothing more than feeling a strong urge to satisfy your defined goal. It is this vibrant form of energy that develops within you that prompts you to take action. The thing with willpower is that it is not always there. It burns out easily and once that happens, you don’t really feel the need to pursue the goal. In order to pursue long term goals, you need something that is completely sustainable, and that is persistence.
Persistence is the final ingredient you need to become a highly Self disciplined individual. Persistence is working hard on achieving your goal even when you don’t feel motivated. Persistence is asking for a bottle of water when what you would really love is a can of Sprite, because you know that water would help you lose the 5kg you’ve always wanted to shed. Becoming persistent requires that you have a very clear picture of what your end result should be. Write down how you would feel if you achieved your goal and read it whenever you feel like quitting. Your persistence will keep you going till your motivation re-surfaces again.
I leave you with my own personal motto for self discipline: “If the door to success had only one key, it would be self discipline.”
