How to Improve Self Discipline
Just like most personality traits, characteristics, that we have, the level at which people possess them varies from person to person, and that’s no different than with self-discipline. This is why in life you get people who have no issues with cracking on with the work that they have to do, and other people can really struggle to even get going. What’s positive about this, however, is that self-discipline can be taught and practiced, and ultimately improved. The reason why this is important is, besides helping you to focus and manage things like your emotions and actions better, having a high level of self-discipline can help in many other areas of your life as well. One of the biggest fears that many people have when it comes to dealing with people, work, relationships, almost just about anything is that they feel out of control. When you feel out of control in tricky situations, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed by them and so begin to overthink the problems. Of course, the best way to stop this from happening is to be in, or at least attempt to be in control of that situation. Now, it’s going to be impossible to be in control of every situation given the amount of variables there might be at play, but that doesn’t stop you from trying. Think of it this way, if you’re about to take multiple exams, like A level mocks, you might start worrying about which ones you should prioritise for study.
Should it be the subjects that you enjoy and you’re good at, in hopes of gaining really high results? Should it be the subjects you don’t like and are rubbish at to improve their results? Should you do a little bit of everything? Plus of course, you’ll be worrying about what’s going to be in the exams. In this situation, it’s very easy to think that all the control is out of your hands. But it’s not. You just need to be self-disciplined. You might start thinking that there’s too much to study, and that you’re constantly studying the wrong thing. But if you have self-discipline, and you’re able to study consistently, without distractions, without changes, without losing focus and doing something else, then you can minimise that anxiousness that you once had, purely through being disciplined, and making sure that you do what needs to be done. Have a listen to our action learning talk.
This is just one example, but regardless of what situation you find yourself, getting it done, even if it seems scary to tackle, is the first thing to do if you want to feel some sort of control again, and this comes through self-discipline. And what’s great about this, is that when you do this, you can actually improve other parts of your life. It all works like dominoes. It acts as a knock-on effect. If bad things can affect one thing, like worrying over your exams, becoming overwhelmed, feeling out of control, not trying and underperforming, then the same thing can happen positively. If you do the work, you can learn more, you can understand what might be asked of you, you perform and you succeed. Right there, is an example of how through self-discipline, and making more of an effort by systemising your time into study and then rewards blocks, you can go from feeling totally lost, to gaining control, reducing stress and fear, all the way to achieving your goals making you feel happier.
And this is all done, with the help of self-discipline. But what can you do to be more self-disciplined? Well, there’s many things that you can do, but if you’re particularly unmotivated, immeasurably lost and completely unsure, then here’s a few things that might help you out:
GOALS IN SIGHT – Our minds are complicated organs. With everything that’s going on up there, sometimes the best thing to do is take out the vital information. What I mean by this, is that when you’re trying to achieve something, it can often become overcomplicated and confusing because our brain is applying unnecessary information. What might be beneficial for you, is to take those goals and write them down in their most basic form. If you want to open a business, write down ‘Start your own business’. If you want to be able to cook, write down ‘Learn to cook’. Whatever it is that you want to achieve, simplify it, because our brains are constantly trying to do the opposite, and when it’s simplified, it can become a lot easier and manageable to achieve successes, given that there’s fewer complications that you’re subconsciously adding to the mix.
SMALL THINGS – If we take opening a business as a goal that you want to achieve, the likelihood of that happening just by clicking your fingers, and have it be a successful business is virtually impossible. Instead, rather than giving up hope, set yourself smaller, achievable goals depending on your position. If you’ve had a great idea for a business at school, then maybe study business at school or online or at college, and try to get good grades. From there, you might want to go to university, or start a very small localised business from your house. You might try to get a job in a business that can help you to learn. The choice is yours to make, but having achievable goals within your reach, can push you forward to getting the main one. The thing to remember is that accomplishments promote work.
WEAKNESSES – A key thing when improving your self-discipline is knowing what barriers lie in your way. If you go into anything blind in life, no matter what it is, when the difficulties arise, and they will arise, it can be a lot more difficult to overcome them. The reason being, is that if you’re unaware, that sense of losing control and being out of your depth can occur a lot quicker. Knowing what might trip you up is a sure-fire way to give yourself a chance when they happen. Your use of proactive discipline is what you’ll need here, because without it, your weaknesses could get the better of you.
END GOAL – Finally, you’ll want to remember why you started in the first place. The worst thing that can happen is for you to put in hours upon hours of work, fall and rise back up time and time again all for you to forget what motivated you in the first place, and where you wanted to go. Your end goal is what put you on this journey, so quite simply, don’t forget what it is. When we are coaching students for their studies, or executives in a company, the first aspect we ask for is a goal, a SMART goal, what do you need to get out of the coaching sessions, and specifically what do you need to leave this session with, what is your take-away for today’s coaching session? With the goal in mind you can find the pathway to achieve it – and that is the important bit of this jigsaw – YOU can find the pathway to each and every milestone goal, objective, that you set you mind to. Being self disciplined is about working SMART, not necessarily hard.
Self-discipline requires effort. It can be difficult to motivate yourself, especially when it comes to something that you don’t want to put yourself through. But it’s needed. It’s necessary. For you to achieve success, you’ll want to be in control, and the way you do this, is by being self-disciplined.