Did you ever have to finish an assignment, but avoided it to watch YouTube whole night instead? We’ve been there. Quite frankly, it’s worth it. But we'd probably not want this forming into a habit. Self discipline is the ability to control one's impulses, emotions, and behaviors to achieve long-term goals. It’s having self-control, finding the willpower, and self-regulation.
Self discipline is essential for personal and professional success. It enables one to overcome distractions, temptations, procrastination, and laziness. Self discipline also helps one to develop positive habits. You know the culprits: exercising, eating healthily, studying, saving money, and even others.
You already found out the hard way, self discipline is not something we’re born with (or at least not with tremendous amounts of it.) Fortunately with practice, it is a skill that can be learned and improved. Here are techniques that can help one to build and boost self discipline in various aspects of life:
1. Be aware. The first step to developing self discipline is to be aware of one's own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the situations that trigger one's impulses or emotions. By being mindful of one's thoughts, feelings, and actions, one can identify the areas that need improvement and the strategies that work best for oneself. For example, one can keep a journal or use an app to track one's habits and progress.
2. Set clear and realistic goals. Having a clear vision of what one wants to achieve and why can motivate one to stay focused and disciplined. However, the goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, instead of saying "I want to lose weight", one can say "I want to lose 10 pounds in 3 months by following a balanced diet and exercising 3 times a week".
3. Plan ahead and prioritize. Planning ahead can help one to avoid distractions and procrastination, as well as to manage one's time and resources effectively. One can create a daily or weekly schedule that outlines the tasks and activities that need to be done, as well as the deadlines and rewards for completing them. One can also prioritize the most important or urgent tasks over the less important or urgent ones.
4. Use positive reinforcement. Rewarding oneself for achieving small or big milestones can reinforce one's self discipline and encourage one to keep going. The rewards can be anything that one enjoys or values, such as a treat, a compliment, a break, or a hobby. However, the rewards should not contradict or undermine one's goals. For example, if one's goal is to save money, one should not reward oneself with an expensive purchase.
5. Practice self-compassion. Self discipline does not mean being harsh or rigid with oneself. It means being respectful and supportive of oneself, especially when facing challenges or setbacks. One can practice self-compassion by acknowledging one's feelings and needs, forgiving oneself for mistakes, learning from failures, and celebrating successes.
6. Seek support and accountability. Having a supportive network of family, friends, mentors, coaches, or peers can help one to stay on track with one's goals and self discipline. One can seek support by sharing one's goals and challenges with others, asking for advice or feedback, joining a group or community with similar interests or aspirations, or finding an accountability partner or buddy who can monitor and motivate one another.
7. Challenge oneself. Self discipline is like a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly to grow stronger. One can challenge oneself by setting higher standards or expectations for oneself, trying new things or learning new skills, taking on more responsibilities or opportunities, or facing one's fears or discomforts.
8. Review and reflect. Self discipline is not a destination but a journey that requires constant evaluation and improvement. One can review and reflect on one's goals and self discipline by measuring one's outcomes and results, analyzing one's strengths and weaknesses, identifying what works and what doesn't work for oneself, making adjustments or changes if needed, and celebrating one's achievements and learnings..