There is a funny saying, “You need self-discipline to develop discipline.
Every person has a dream or a goal they wish to accomplish, but not everybody succeeds in their endeavors. For instance, if you are someone who wishes to get fit, you will need self-discipline to get where you want because that is what will give you the motivation to get up and work out or continue that diet.
When you have your goals laid out and focus on achieving them, you need to have strong self-discipline to get you where you want. It will encourage you to keep working and tackle all the distractions coming your way. Moreover, there are different ways that you can incorporate into your personal and professional life that can help you get disciplined
If you are someone who thinks they have discipline in their life, you can use these tricks to build and make your self-discipline more consistent.
Being Disciplined Doesn’t Mean Suffering
You must have heard people saying that when they tried to discipline their lives, it felt like suffering to them. Although this is not entirely correct, when you are on your journey to achieve self-discipline, you encounter many tough challenges that sometimes break your spirit.
Having self-discipline does not mean you have to punish yourself to get where you want. Some people give themselves punishments when they are unable to complete their tasks, they do this while trying to discipline their life. But in reality, they are not disciplining their life; they are acting to justify it by being hard on themselves. They often use discipline as an excuse for being tough when they make mistakes.
Habits Can Help Create Discipline
It is said that habits define a person; while having good habits can take you places, bad habits may make you unhealthy or lethargic. But can habits help you be disciplined?
Changing habits or creating new ones can take you 21 days. As per studies, people who want to include a certain habit in their lives, like waking up early for workouts, need to set alarms and do it for 21 days in a row. On the 22nd day, you will feel that you no longer need alarms as a reminder.
Similarly, if you want to bring some level of discipline into your life, you need to start turning them into habits. For instance, if you wish to get a clean workstation instead of a messy one you leave at the day’s end, you need to spend a few minutes every day for 21 days on organizing your files and desk at the end of your shift. After a while, you will see that it will become your habit to keep your desk clean and more organized; since you turned this task into a habit, you won’t even notice that you have been doing it unintentionally.
Reward Yourself for Keeping Promises
When you accomplish a task you have been dodging for a long time, you must reward yourself after its completion. Why, you ask?
When you start on your journey to self-discipline, you make many promises to adhere to when you see success. Try adding little rewards next to those promises. Once you achieve your goal and reward yourself, you will feel more motivated to do your tasks further with even more dedication. It is like giving yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.
Don’t punish Yourself for Setting Goals
If you reward yourself for doing well, should you punish yourself for doing poorly? Well, that can be a problem. You might avoid punishing yourself by changing your goals or ignoring things you did wrong.
For example, if you were trying to be disciplined about your weight and had a big lunch with a client, you might forget about the meal and focus on the client. Your brain tries to avoid things that might cause discomfort.
Consequences Make Self-Discovery and Growth Meaningful
Failure teaches you a lot of lessons, when you fail, you give you hint that your journey of self-improvement and self-discipline is still ongoing. No matter how much you push yourself, if you are not willing to change yourself, you will fail at things, and you won’t get disciplined. Self-discipline can be achieved by practicing even when you fail.