Self-Discipline - The Foundation for Success

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

 Jim Rohn

No personal success, achievement, or goal can be realized without self-discipline. It is the most important attribute needed to achieve personal excellence, athletic excellence, virtuosity in the arts, or otherwise outstanding performance.

What is self-discipline?

It is the ability to control one's impulses, emotions, desires, and behavior. It can turn down immediate and instant gratification to gain long-term satisfaction and fulfillment from achieving higher and more meaningful goals.

To possess self-discipline is to make the decisions, take the actions, and execute your game plan regardless of the obstacles, discomfort, or difficulties that may come your way.

Indeed, being disciplined does not mean living a limiting or restrictive lifestyle. Nor does it not mean giving up everything you enjoy or relinquishing fun and relaxation. However, it does mean learning how to focus your mind and energies on your goals and persevere until they are accomplished. It also means cultivating a mindset whereby you are ruled by your deliberate choices rather than by your emotions, bad habits, or the sway of others. Self-discipline allows you to reach your goals in a reasonable time frame and to live a more orderly and satisfying life.

How To Develop Self-Discipline

Start with baby steps. No process takes place overnight. Just as it takes time to build muscle, so does it take time to develop self-discipline. The more you train and build it, the stronger you become. In exercise, if you try to do too much at once, you could injure yourself and have a setback. Likewise, take it one step at a time in building self-discipline. So, begin by deciding to go forward and learning what it takes to get there.

Learn what motivates you and what your bad triggers are. You can begin by learning about yourself! Sometimes it is challenging to fight off urges and cravings, so know the areas where your resistance is low and how to avoid those situations. For example, if you know you can't resist cake, fries, or other temptations - stay away from them. Do not have them around to lure you in moments of weakness. If you also know that putting pressure on yourself does not work for you, set yourself up in an environment that encourages the building of self-discipline rather than one that sabotages it. Remove the temptations and surround yourself with soothing and encouraging items such as motivating slogans and pictures of what you want to achieve.

Learn also what energizes and motivates you. Your willpower can go up and down with your energy levels, so play energetic music to perk you up, move around, and laugh. Train yourself to enjoy what you are doing by being energized. This will make it easier to implement desirable and appropriate behaviors into your routine - which is really what self-discipline is all about.

Make certain behaviors a routine. Once you have decided what's important to you and which goals to strive for, establish a daily routine to help you achieve them. For example, if you want to eat healthily or lose weight, resolve to eat several servings of fruits and vegetables each day and exercise for at least half an hour. Make it part of your daily routine and part of your self-discipline building. Likewise, get rid of some of your bad, self-defeating habits, whatever they may be. They can put you in a negative mind and hinder your self-discipline. A poor attitude can also be a bad habit.

Practice self-denial. Learn to say no to some of your feelings, impulses, and urges. Train yourself to do what you know to be correct, even if you don't feel like doing it. Skip dessert some evenings. Limit your TV watching. Resist the urge to yell at someone who has irritated you. Stop and think before you act. Think about consequences. Practicing self-restraint helps you develop the habit of keeping other things under control.

Engage in recovery, sports, or activities. Recovery is essentially the single greatest self-discipline that one could achieve. It is also a paradox, as you surrender to be free from addiction – that contradicts discipline, yet the two are intertwined as one will not happen without the other. Sports are an excellent way to enhance self-discipline. They train you to set goals, focus your mental and emotional energies, become physically fit, and get along well with others.  In addition, participating in sports provides a situation where you learn to work hard and strive to do your best, which teaches you to integrate the same thought processes and disciplines into your everyday life.

Learning to play a musical instrument can be another great way to practice self-discipline. The focus, repetition, and application required in learning to play an instrument are invaluable. Achieving self-discipline in any area of your life reprograms your mind to choose what is correct rather than easy.

Get inspiration from those you admire. Michael Jordan has always maintained that his greatness as a basketball player came as much from his willingness to work hard at his craft as his talent. His desire for discipline and focus made him one of the best basketball players. If it worked for him, it could certainly work for the rest of us.

Visualize the rewards. There is nothing more gratifying than accomplishing your goals. Practice the technique that high achievers and top athletes do. Project yourself in the future. Visualize your desired outcome. Feel how rewarding it is and the countless benefits you will enjoy. Remind yourself what it takes to get there.

The Benefits

• It helps build self-confidence.
• You accomplish more and are therefore more productive.
• You can maintain a higher tolerance for frustration, obstacles, and negative emotions.
• Allows you to obtain better health, better finances, and a good work ethic.
• You can reach your most challenging goals more efficiently.
• The more disciplined you become; the easier life gets.

To be masters of our destiny, we must develop self-discipline and self-control. By focusing on long-term benefits instead of short-term discomfort, we can encourage ourselves to develop self-discipline. Ultimately our health and happiness depend on it.

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