Self-discipline is nothing but the art of controlling yourself. It is essential for achieving goals. How to take care of self-discipline?
The ability to control yourself, especially in difficult situations and in the face of temptation, was valued since ancient times. Perhaps that is why books inspired by the thought of ancient thinkers-stoics are becoming more and more popular. Even today, people who can maintain self-discipline are valued. Why?
It determines how much time we can use in a day for the things that are really important to us. For every person in this world a day has the same number of hours. However, some people are able to make great use of it, while others are still unhappy that “time slips through their fingers”. The key is to be able to control yourself and your time.
You can spend the whole day on undemanding pleasures, but at the end of it you’ll feel like you wasted your time. Self-discipline allows you to be more effective, which translates into satisfaction with your accomplishments
With self-discipline, we can actually change our lives. How does this happen? It has nothing to do with “magical” ways to live differently. On the contrary – self-discipline, control over your own time and behavior, allows you to implement new, sometimes small habits, which after some time become fixed and pay off with real change. This can apply to various areas: learning, saving, relationships with family or even relationships
What is conducive to developing self-discipline? It will be easier to develop it when:
It is better to go the whole distance in small steps than to stumble every step while running. and not finish the race. The same is true for developing self-discipline. It’s more successful to solidify a small change in yourself that will pay off than to hijack big and uncertain metamorphoses at once
Patience has two faces when it comes to developing self-discipline. It’s needed when something doesn’t work out and you have to keep trying without getting discouraged – that’s obvious. There is a second aspect: you need to be able to keep working on yourself, knowing that the reward will not come right away
Finally, it is necessary to work on self-discipline systematically. It cannot be forgotten even for a moment. There is no room for excuses and putting things off for tomorrow
How do we practically do what we need to do when we don’t want to? Here are specific ideas:
Everyone has slightly different “demons” that insidiously limit their time that should be used for important things. The most common are:
We need to know how to turn off notifications, log out of our favorite portal or cut ourselves off from not very useful messages that come to us from the outside world. The same goes for conversations that don’ t contribute anything to our lives. Without this, it is easier to develop your self-discipline.
Living without a set plan fosters a lack of respect for your own time. Self-discipline, on the other hand, is a way to make the most of it. A good plan for the week ahead is essential!
Postponing the anticipated reward is the essence of self-discipline. After all, you can go to a party and have a great time for a few hours on Saturday, but you can also study for a long time with an exam in three weeks and a prestigious university degree in a year or two. It’s always a good idea to visualize success in such situations – it gives you extra motivation. The party will also taste much better if you decide to celebrate your achievements
Related to the previous point is the next one – for there to be success, there has to be effort. Yes, it happens that someone gets success by luck, but it will be difficult for him to repeat such success. If you don’t want to spend your whole life hoping that fortune will also smile at you, hard work is essential.
It’s not about getting down on yourself with failures, but about approaching them constructively. To learn from them and improve your actions. Self-discipline is essential to changing your actions. And when you are able to look critically at your own attitude, you will quickly find a way to change it
