Lack of self-discipline can be very frustrating and can make you fail to attain your life goals. Without discipline you will just go around in circles as you try to make positive changes in life, but in vain.
Discipline does not just appear – you need to put some effort in to attain it. If you’re trying to build your level of discipline, it might not be as hard as you think. Here are three ways to help you become more disciplined.
Begin with Willpower
Discipline, just like any other activity, becomes a habit if you practice it on a regular basis. Until it becomes a habit, you might face a lot of challenges as you try to overcome other, negative habits.
One of the most effective ways of becoming more disciplined is asserting your willpower in a conscious and repeated manner. Willpower can be defined as energetic determination.
This means that you have to make a conscious choice to take a specific action or avoid taking other actions that are not right.
When you realize that your discipline is slipping, you need to remind yourself that you have the power to make a choice of what to do and what not to do. You should not allow outside influences to make that choice on your behalf.
The most important thing is to turn your attention inward and make a conscious choice about your behaviors and actions.
Keep the End Result in Your Mind
The major reason why temptation is seductive is that we focus more on what we want to gain at the moment. It is healthier to put more focus on what you stand to attain later on. You should focus more on the benefits that you gain by taking a certain action instead of the immediate pleasure involved.
To ensure that you are not tempted into taking inappropriate action, you need to remind yourself of your ultimate goal at all times. Before you take any action, think if it is really worth it, and at the end you will have no problem choosing the appropriate action.
Reinforcement and Repetition
Discipline is formed through making one decision at a time. Developing true discipline is an ongoing process, and not a one-time event. Develop a long term plan and you will not fail.
You should simply make conscious choices for yourself from time to time. By doing this, you will realize that you become more and more self-disciplined as you go along.
