Daily Self-Discipline

We think of self-discipline as the key to living a better life, but is this true? And if it is, how can we become more disciplined? That’s what this article examines: what self-discipline is, how it works, and how you can build it.

If you’re going to increase your self-discipline, you first need to understand what self-discipline is. It seems obvious, but I’ve found that many people don’t even have a self-discipline problem.

Sure, they may think they do. They’ll say things like, “If I had self-discipline, I’d go to the gym every day.” Cool, but is lack of self-discipline really the reason you don’t go to the gym?

To find out, let’s define self-discipline. Self-discipline means acting in accordance with your thoughts, not your feelings. It’s your ability to do something regardless of how you feel.

Now, let’s contrast that with motivation. Motivation is your desire to do something in the first place.

To illustrate the difference, let’s look at a common fitness goal: running a marathon. It sounds impressive, and you figure that doing it will help you lose weight or get in shape or get more dates or something like that.

You find a training plan online, and you start following it. But after just a week, you give up.

Why did you fail? If you failed because you couldn’t force yourself to get out of bed early to run every day for an hour, then the problem is self-discipline.

But if you look a bit deeper, you might realize that you never wanted to run a marathon in the first place. You liked to idea of it, or the idea of having done it, but not the reality of doing it. In this case, the problem was never self-discipline; it was a lack of motivation.

So before you decide to increase your self-discipline, you should be sure that your issue isn’t a lack of motivation instead. Remember: motivation is your desire to accomplish a goal. Self-discipline is your ability to follow through on that goal even when you don’t feel like it.

Got it? Cool. Then assuming that the issue is self-discipline, let’s move on how you can get more of it.

There are lots of different qualities that are needed to contribute to someone’s happiness, well-being, and achievements.

However, the most important quality needed to sustain long term results in all areas of your life is self-discipline.

These Habits and Exercises Will Help You Build Iron-Like Resolve and Self-Discipline. Do you make goals, yet get discouraged when your plans don’t work? We all know that person who seemingly was born to succeed. Fitness, health, business, they achieve all their goals. You want that success, and know you can get it... but how? Everywhere you turn, there are obstacles that block your path.

Self-discipline is a worthwhile skill to build. But if you rely on it for everything, you’re not going to get the life you want. Honestly, self-discipline is overrated. Instead of developing the discipline to resist temptations, you can just change your habits.