5 Ways to Develop Self-Discipline
If you were to search for self-discipline on Pinterest, you’ll be faced with a barrage of scary, so-called motivational quotes. For example, Suffer the pain of discipline, or suffer the pain of regret or The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions, gasp. It seems people like to associate discipline with pain and extremes. The last thing we need right now is to feel riddled with guilt and self-loathing because we haven’t mastered total control over every aspect in our lives.
Looking at it from a different point of view, however, discipline is actually a form of self-care. Understanding what will enhance your life rather than focusing on what you should deny yourself, is a positive way of interpreting discipline and if it makes you happier as a result, then why not use it as a skill to be strengthened? Below are some ways in which you can develop your own discipline for aspects of your life that you, and only you, feel necessary to implement.
Identify and Manage Your Triggers
Taking time to consider and physically write a list of what or who may sabotage our attempts at reaching a goal is half the battle when developing discipline. For some, it might be their mobile phone when trying to focus, in which case common ways of dealing with this could be moving the phone to another room or switching off notifications. For others, it could be seeing the word ‘sale’ in a shop window, in which case you should probably keep your credit card in an ice block and only carry cash (thank you Confessions of a Shopaholic for that one).
So grab a piece of paper, write down your top five triggers and how you could potentially stop them from coming between you and your goal. Be honest with yourself and more importantly, realistic with how you can make small changes to strengthen your discipline.
Manage the time you spend procrastinating
Procrastination often causes dwindling discipline, and for some of us can be the main reason we feel lacking in the discipline department. Hands up who has fallen into a deep dark hole of scrolling through old school friends on Facebook or cute animal videos when you should be doing something far more important. Well, sometimes it’s not such a bad thing and can potentially give us the creative space needed to come up with practical ideas and solutions.
In his Ted presentation The surprising habits of original thinkers, psychologist Adam Grant states that procrastination is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue when it comes to creativity. So, managing your procrastination rather than trying to eliminate it should be your ultimate goal when thinking about developing discipline.
Why not schedule time specifically for procrastination? The Pomodoro time management technique is a great way to enhance your productivity by blocking out time for work alongside day-dreaming.
Build Effective Habits
One of the key ways to develop self-discipline is building habits and incorporating them into your routine. Many of us make the mistake of trying to implement a load of new habits all at the same time, but it’s more comfortable and more realistic to start with one or two and work your way up.
James Clear’s book Atomic Habits is an excellent resource for understanding how humans can build effective small habits, forming systems that we can rely on to harness our most disciplined self. Keep track of your new habits with a habit calendar or download an app such as Habit, tracking habits helps to build a level of accountability necessary for short and long term goals.
Image via Unsplash
Enforce a Plan that Works for You
Like with many aspects of life sometimes you need to try out several different methods until you settle on one that works for your needs, personality and lifestyle. The same applies to cultivating discipline; for some, a form of reward may help, while for others partnering up with a friend might be the answer.
Don’t be disheartened if the first method you try doesn’t work out, and in some cases, you may need to mix and match approaches to find the best one for you. Being disciplined is a constant to be maintained and not an end goal that can be quickly reached, so finding a plan(s) that can be flexible and adaptable to your changing needs will likely be the winning formula.
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod focuses on building a morning routine by incorporating six key habits that claim to transform your life. I can personally confirm that although reading it was not life-changing, it did give me ideas on how I could be more disciplined during my morning routine and in certain respects has changed the way I get things done.
Accept & Move on From Mistakes Made
If you’ve struggled to accept your mistakes in the past, Elizabeth Day’s book and podcast How To Fail will make you realise just how vital failing is to your development as a human being. We’ve all started off entirely motivated to take on a new challenge or make what we hope will be a lasting change. The funny thing about motivation though is it doesn’t last and unfortunately, is largely governed by our emotions and feelings for a finite amount of time. You can read as many books on discipline as you want and still find it challenging to stay motivated 24/7, so don’t beat yourself up!
Being disciplined shouldn’t be determined in terms of good or bad habits but like a muscle that we can tense and relax when we need and crucially, want to. Yes, feeling disciplined is great but good mental health ultimately relies on us accepting and being at peace with our decisions, taking the time to evaluate what is important for us physically and mentally. And sometimes leaving discipline at the door and watching all six series of Schitt’s Creek in a weekend is just what we need.
Further reading & listening:
The Science of Self-Discipline by Peter Hollins
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Written by: Rosanna Christou
Instagram: @rosannachristou