6 Keys to Greater Self-Discipline

Those with great self-discipline can rely less on talent and luck. They create their own talent and luck. Developing self-discipline is like building a muscle. If you have very little today, you’re not going to have a lot next week. But that doesn’t mean you can’t develop a tremendous amount over time!

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.
Clint Eastwood

Apply these 6 tips for greater self-discipline:

1. Do tasks immediately.

We all tend to put things off until we feel like doing them. That is exactly the opposite of self-discipline. The idea of self-discipline is doing what needs to be done, in spite of whether you feel like it or not.

I think self-discipline is something, it’s like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
Daniel Goldstein

2. Start small.

If your level of self-control is low, it’s almost impossible to improve it dramatically overnight. Start with something small.

Perhaps you could start with brushing and flossing twice a day, every single day. Instead of starting an exercise routine of 90 minutes per day, start with 15 minutes.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.
Theodore Roosevelt

3. Carry a task to completion.

Most of us will stop an unpleasant task just before completion. We’ll wash all the dishes, except for that big, greasy frying pan. We mow the grass, but we’ll save the trimming for another day. We clean 90% of the garage, but that last 10 % gets put off until next weekend, and then the next, and so on.

As a point of personal honor, consider completing all tasks. Get in the habit of finishing what you start. When you start a task that you should be able to complete within a day, finish it. You’ll discover that attitude will carry over to a lot of other areas of your life.

Happiness is dependent on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness.  
Dennis Prager

4. Learn to work through negative feelings.

Negative feelings are what really stop us. We think about doing something and get that nauseating feeling in the pit of our stomach. But these feelings don’t have to stop you from taking action. Just acknowledge the discomfort and act anyway. In time, it will go away.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.
Harry S Truman

5. Create artificial time pressure.

Set a deadline for yourself and use it to your advantage. Along the same lines, a simple timer can be handy to keep you on track each day. Time pressure is very effective at helping many people to focus.

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.
Jesse Owens

6. Use your breaks wisely.

While it can vary from person to person, for most people, studies have shown that a 10-minute break every hour can improve productivity.

Get up and get a drink of water. Make a short phone call. Avoid getting distracted by something really enjoyable.

That time on Facebook can easily stretch into 30 minutes or more. Watching YouTube videos can lead to the same result. Your break should be a break, but it shouldn’t be entertainment. Avoid letting your breaks distract you from the work at hand.

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.
Napoleon Hill

Self-discipline is an infinitely valuable quality that you can use to great advantage. In most cases, you know what you need to do to be successful. The challenge lies in getting yourself to do what needs to be done. Work on increasing your self-discipline and enrich every aspect of your life.

Until next time!

Torie mathis