The development of self-discipline is a method of solving tasks. Self-discipline is one of the tools of personal self-development, as a means of achieving a goal.
Self-discipline is the ability to move forward, stay motivated, and act regardless of how you feel both physically and emotionally. You demonstrate this when you deliberately choose something better for yourself and do so despite distractions like hard work or adverse conditions.
Self-discipline combines motivation and willpower, as well as persistence, the ability to follow through on one's intentions, and hard work.
How to develop self-discipline
Psychologists explain that an undisciplined person is deprived of: the right to decide freely, to acquire abilities and skills. Example, learn musical literacy, learn foreign languages.
Self-discipline directs a person to certain steps that are important in life.
Check yourself if you are able to work on yourself, increasing your self-discipline.
1. Self-analysis.
On a piece of paper, you list your ambitions, dreams and life goals, the direction of your mission. Self-analysis will help you understand: who you are, your values. The basis will be the right decision, not your feelings at the moment.
2. The work of the subconscious.
Self-discipline is disciplined by the subconscious mind, it gives a signal about the correctness of your actions. Sometimes a person performs an undisciplined action, not noticing the environment and their reactions.
Examples: talking loudly in transport, biting nails, cursing with censored words.
With the constant development of self-discipline, the subconscious excludes all undisciplined actions, monitors your behavior, highlighting values and goals.
3. Attitude to self-discipline.
Mandatory fulfillment of the intended goal, this is how self-discipline develops. A person develops internal obligations.
Example: Walk with the child every day, read a fairy tale at night, get up at 6 o'clock in the morning.
Non-fulfillment of obligations relaxes a person. Failure to fulfill one obligation is enough, it will cause failure to fulfill the second, third, .... Such a moment can be observed at work, at home, in relation to friends.
4. Victory and courage.
Do not set goals for difficult tasks that are not feasible for you. Sometimes passion and mood push you to reckless actions. It is the courage to admit that actions have not been done that disciplines a person. Great courage to face difficulties and pains. Having won a victory in life: self-confidence, courage will increase your self-discipline.
5. Soothing training.
Sometimes it is useful to talk to yourself, in the form of an internal dialogue: calm yourself down, encourage yourself. Your "inner voice" will fill you with goals, call for courage, and help you accomplish tasks. Example: visiting the dentist.
Why self-discipline?
As a rule, in a mandatory disciplinary society with its industrial, labor, military and other other disciplines, the legislative functions of developing rules and the executive functions of monitoring their compliance are divided and assigned to different people who have a sufficient level of competence and trust from the authorities.
With conscious discipline (which is self-discipline), the bearer of such functions is the person himself: "and the reaper, and the cobbler, and the Greek on the pipe." After all, he himself must determine the rules of the game for himself in order to achieve certain results in his life.
In fact, a person becomes the master of his destiny and achieves the desired results by developing and improving the skills of self-organization and self-control at a growing level of personal responsibility for any events in his life. The development of the ability to self-discipline contributes to the solution of this task.
In addition, in my opinion, the development of self-discipline allows you to better understand your true, so to speak, innermost desires and aspirations, as well as to search for possible ways to achieve them and choose the most optimal one.
If we proceed from the dual nature of man, then in essence, the material body of a person is a tool for satisfying the desires and needs of his soul, just as, for example, a personal car acts as a means of fulfilling the driver's desire to move from one point of space to another.
And if you take into account that the physical body often tends to the opposite of our soul, because it does not want to part with its comfort zone, then it becomes clear why it is so difficult to change your established habits and usual actions.
Most often, the desires of the human soul are based on the desire for the common good and find strength thanks to the conscience of a person, while carnal desires are determined by the individual egoism of a specific personality for additional benefit and self-affirmation in life.
How to develop self-discipline: 5 simple ways
Probably the most important thing for anyone to know about self-discipline is WHY YOU NEED IT. Probably, a question mark is appropriate here, because you will be able to accept the path of self-discipline only when you honestly answer the question: why do you need self-discipline and do you need it at all
Understand yourself and learn your weaknesses
No person can manage his life if he does not know himself, his strengths and weaknesses.
The fact that my discipline is lame was not a discovery for me. And I began to use my strong side - self-motivation. I don't have any difficulties in looking at a task, embellishing it a little mentally (self-deception of the brain), and start enthusiastically moving towards the goals. I do the same with weaknesses - I just stay away from things that I think are stronger than me.
Change attitude towards self-discipline
Stop looking at self-discipline as a hellish torture that you will inevitably have to endure. Any person who has achieved success in any field will say that the hardest part is getting started. But when you are "on the topic", it is almost impossible to stop. It's like starting to go to the gym, the first week it's hard to force yourself to get up from the couch, and then you can't live without physical activity.
Learn to defeat yourself
When you do something you've never done before, you gain strength that you couldn't even think about before. If you stop looking at other people, and make yourself your partner and, at the same time, your competitor, then you will start to grow rapidly, to success.
There is nothing sweeter than saying to yourself: "I can do it." Nothing lifts you up like victory over yourself. Try to start this game of being the best version of yourself and you will want to discipline yourself in many areas to achieve results
How to improve the situation
Method 1 - side view
Before starting the fight against your own laziness, you need to carefully consider the problem. The fact is that we make some harmful decisions so often that we stop seeing a more useful alternative.
For example, when going to work in the morning, you can grab a sports bag with you to go to training in the evening, or you can leave it untouched or even unpacked. And even if you still hope to exercise in the evening, leaving the house in the morning without a bag, you have already decided to change your plans.
Your task is to analyze each action in order to learn to notice the moment when you succumb to your weakness. Otherwise, the brain will choose the easiest way by default.
You will also learn to understand at what moments you tend to give in to temptation, what you feel at the same time and what arguments you use for yourself. This information will help you to eradicate your weaknesses in the future - to know the enemy face to face.
Method 2 — planning again
Start a diary and force yourself to make monthly, then weekly and daily plans. Naturally, they must be carried out and a corresponding mark must be made in the plan.
So that you are not tempted to miss what is fixed in the plan, consider the punishment measures. For example, I use the accumulation method. Those scheduled things that I missed are summed up and will continue to be executed. Yes, after missing 1 workout, I already do twice as much for the next class, working out the norm. A couple of such punishments repel any hunt to violate the plan.
Method 3 - learn your weaknesses
Each of us has our own weaknesses and shortcomings, but most often we are afraid to admit it even to ourselves. I recommend learning to develop an honest attitude towards yourself. Admit your problematic habits honestly and without excuses.
Acknowledging the problem is the first step to solving it. You can start with the smallest and most insignificant flaws and concentrate on eliminating them, gradually accustoming yourself to be better.
For example, if you like to leave the dishes in the sink, putting off washing them for later, every time you do this, rub yourself. Hang a sign in the sink or reduce the arsenal of kitchen utensils - make it so that you have to wash the dishes at once. In this way, you do not allow laziness to control you and save yourself from bad habits.
Method 4 - Create new habits
Eliminated negativity must be replaced with positive, so it is worth working on positive habits. Choose your most desired goal, break it into small "pieces" and train yourself to do it one piece at a time.
For example, if you dream of losing weight or getting a toned body, start with daily mini-workouts lasting 10-15 minutes. Even such efforts will be enough to slightly adjust the form, which means that your motivation will gradually increase.
Take small steps, overcome your own fears and always keep moving forward.
Method 5 - change your prejudices
According to Stanford University research, a person can limit his strength with the help of his beliefs. Yes, if you constantly think that you do not have self-discipline, you will not have it. Your inner fear and blocks will simply prevent you from achieving what you want.
To solve this problem, you need to focus your attention in every possible way on the moments when your willpower triumphs. For example, you did not eat the desired piece of cake at night. Praise yourself for it, celebrate your success. Yes, you will gradually change your perception of yourself and remove this block.
Method 6 - don't beat the gingerbread
Plan not only activities for your upbringing, but also small rewards for victories over your weakness. Just don't choose alternative "weak" actions as a reward - it doesn't take long to get used to the bad.
For example, if you got up at 7 a.m. for a week, you should not make a reward in the form of sleep until lunch. Go to the movies, buy yourself something you want or mark your achievement.
At the same time, do not stand still. After achieving a certain goal and rewarding yourself for it, raise the bar a little. For example, now you will need to wait a week, and 10 days to receive the same gift.
Method 7 - meditation
Meditation is one of the most common methods of self-control. Set aside about 15-20 minutes for meditation every day.
To do this, you need to take a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Try to abstract from internal and external stimuli and concentrate your thoughts on 1 object — the intake and output of air.
Do not allow yourself to be distracted by extraneous thoughts. At first it will be very difficult, so it is better to say "inhale" and "exhale" to yourself, watch how the nostrils expand when breathing, how oxygen saturates the body.
Methods of developing and strengthening self-discipline
Are you ready to change? You may already be familiar with Brian Tracy's method. He believes that self-discipline and its manifestations play the most important role in self-development. In the book "No excuses! The power of self-discipline » Brian describes the rules of personal organization and self-discipline in an understandable language. This book is for those who want to achieve their goals, for people who are possessed by a passionate desire to do more, get more and reach greater heights than ever before.
Next, we will tell you how to go from thinking to implementation, as well as reveal exercises and even secret methods of the special services for the development of self-discipline.
Self-discipline: a guide to development
Achieving goals is impossible without self-discipline. This is an extremely important attribute necessary for the acquisition of any personal quality, sportsmanship, virtuosity in art and business or, as a result, outstanding work.
What is discipline? It is the ability to control one's impulses, emotions, desires and behavior. This is the ability to give up instant gratification in favor of getting long-term satisfaction from achieving goals.
Having self-discipline is the ability to make decisions, take action, and stick to your plan regardless of obstacles, discomfort, or difficulties that may arise.
It all sounds very boring, but is it really? It is important to realize one thing: being disciplined does not make your life fresh. In the same way that the constant satisfaction of urgent desires does not make her happy. If a person differs from an animal in any way, it is the ability to postpone pleasure in order to win as a result.
Happiness comes when a person sets incredible goals for himself and achieves them with the help of willpower and discipline. You cannot be happy by constantly playing video games, watching funny videos, eating high-calorie foods, and indulging in other desires.
Self-discipline is not something we are born with. Rather, it is something that develops in us over time. In fact, it's a lot like a muscle that gets bigger when we use it a lot.
Certain factors are required to come into play. Some of them come from within, and others from the external environment. In order to start developing self-discipline, you need a very strong desire. If it is not there, the chances of pumping this skill tend to zero.
Self-discipline needs fuel, which most often takes the form of motivation and inspiration. Ask yourself the following questions: What do I want? Why do I want this? What exactly will I have to go through to get this?
The more good reasons you can identify, the more fuel you will have for long-term journeys into the world of change.
What is the difference between a disciplined person and an undisciplined one?
People who "don't take a marshmallow to get two" are distinguished by:
They fuel their passion.
When you do what you love, discipline comes naturally. The only time you need to be disciplined is when you don't like what you're doing. But even if you love your job, it can seem boring at times. That is why it is necessary to feed the passion for your favorite business.
They know how to avoid temptations.
Cakes, phones, emails and browsers can sense our will and discipline. But everything has its time.
They know how to take a break.
They take breaks, eat healthy food and know how to restore strength with exercise. Do one of these every two hours.
At the beginning of the day, they deal with the most important things.
We tend to put off the very tasks that will affect our lives. Take care of them first and the rest of the day will be much more pleasant. That is why disciplined people rarely suffer from stress - they solve difficult tasks first.
They make decisions.
Self-discipline comes down to choice. At any moment, you decide to do what you need or what you want. This happens already in the morning: sleep more and get up immediately as soon as the alarm clock rang. Prepare a healthy and nutritious breakfast or indulge in something quick and harmful. To be successful and disciplined, you need to learn how to analyze available information and then make decisions.
They work within their biological hours.
Don't fight your nature. If it's easier for you to work in the morning, work in the morning. Do what fits your internal schedule and adjust your to-do list accordingly.
How to develop self-discipline
Now that you have some clarity about what self-discipline is, let's see what techniques there are for developing it.
Six-step process
This technique is good because it does not leave white spots and allows you to methodically and consistently kill your listlessness.
Step one: Determine what you want.
The first step in this process is to be clear about what you want to achieve. Self-discipline can be strengthened only if it is aimed at something concrete; "Something specific" in this case is a desired outcome, which can come in the form of a goal, habit, or change of any kind.
To get clarity on what you want, ask yourself:
- What do I want to do, who do I want to be and what do I want to achieve?
- What new habit would I like to develop?
- What behavior would I like to change?
- What do I want to focus on right now?
Step Two: Describe what changes are needed to do this.
Once you're clear about what you specifically want, it's time to describe your desired outcomes in terms of the behaviors you need to achieve them.
The solution to any task that we set before ourselves requires a certain set of behaviors / habits that need to be instilled in ourselves - only this will help to achieve the goal.
Think about it and ask yourself: what behavior and habits do I need to develop to achieve the goal? The fact is that it was not enough just to decide "I will stop drinking." You need to change your behavior completely. For example, now on Friday you need to behave differently. Or at parties. Everything will change, not only the process itself. If you cannot calculate what behavior you will need to develop, the probability of relapse (breakdown) will be very high.
Your personalities before and after the change are different. You will become a different person (although it depends on the extent of the change, of course). Ask yourself:
- What kind of person will I be when I reach this goal?
- What qualities will I need to develop?
- How do I need to think about myself, about my life and goals?
The answers to these questions are important because the development of the discipline requires a new model of thinking.
Step Three: Find Role Models.
Let's find role models. These are the people who have already achieved the goal you are trying to achieve. Colleagues, relatives, loved ones, celebrities - anyone. Ask yourself:
- Who is doing this now?
- Who successfully achieved this goal?
- Who has perfected this habit?
- Who has the necessary discipline to do this?
- How and why can I learn from this person?
If you know such a person, go and talk to him. People are usually willing to talk about their successes. Also read books about those who have reached the heights you dream of.
Step Four: Identify the obstacles.
All previous steps are relatively easy. It will be difficult when obstacles start to arise. If you are wise, you will prepare for most obstacles in advance, and not try to act impromptu. Ask yourself what obstacles will arise when you start moving towards your goal?
Let's go back to the first step and remember that first of all we must clearly decide what and why we want. If this step is missed, then it will be easy to knock you out of the saddle.
Therefore, you should once again write down why you want to achieve the result. Remember that the more good reasons you have to achieve the change, the greater the chances that you will succeed.
Step five: Develop an action plan.
Since you are still just learning to be disciplined, the plan should not be too ambitious. At this stage, you need small victories. They provide motivation, joy and allow you to be proud of yourself.
Two principles of creating an action plan:
- You must set clear time frames.
- You have to divide big tasks into smaller ones.
Step Six: Report to yourself.
Tracking progress helps a lot to stay fresh and not turn the change process into a routine. It is easier for you to stay focused, see the distant goal and motivate yourself.
Leo Babauta's method
A popular blogger engaged in self-development claims that if you do not instill discipline in yourself, after some time you will have to pay the price in terms of health, finances, concentration, peace of mind and order. This is a skill that should be practiced in the near future. Here are the tips that Babauta gives to those who have decided.
Find motivation.
The first question: how to find the motivation to start? Most of us don't want to think about developing discipline, let alone take a bunch of action to do so. The very thought of her practice is horrifying. We know it won't be very pleasant. At least at first.
Motivation can come from analyzing your life and understanding one truth: what I'm doing isn't working. Ignoring problems only makes the situation worse. Trying to be disciplined by half does not save. If you have no willpower at all, it can hurt.
So, the pain. An excellent motivator! If you live the way you used to live and it causes pain, then you can think: "Since I'm so bad, why not try to change myself? It definitely won't get worse."
Take small actions.
One of the best methods of developing discipline is to take small actions. You should not train on big projects, start small.
Are you writing an article? Set aside 20 minutes and work without distractions. Want to post an ad? Enter five sites and place it. The point is to finish several things. But consistently.
One of the main reasons why we are all so undisciplined is that it brings discomfort. We like familiar, familiar, comfortable things. So instead of getting down to work, we play video games and watch useless videos. This escape from inconvenience destroys our lives.
Think about how these small changes will affect your life five years from now.
It's time to tell myself: I stop running away from problems. You have made a decision to introduce a little discomfort into your life, you have come to terms with it. You know that you will finally be able to do the right thing and in the end it will produce amazing results.
Set the time.
We usually think like this: "Either I will work hard for a few hours now, or I will rest." And even if it works, you will be unhappy. But in most cases choose rest.
The best way to deal with this problem is to decide that for the next 10 minutes you will only do this thing. Or do nothing. This is the technique of writer Raymond Chandler: “Write or do nothing. I find this method works well. I either write or sit idle.
Why does it work? Because you gave yourself the right to choose. And it turns out that boredom is worse than work.
Enter interval training.
Rules of interval training:
- Make a decision to develop your discipline.
- Give yourself a task to focus on (reading, meditation, work, drawing).
- Set the timer for 10 minutes. This is a period of time during which we need to do the right thing, even if it is not very pleasant for us. Gradually increase the number of minutes to 15, and then to 20.
- Don't do anything other than this business.
- When the time is up, take a break for 5 minutes.
- Repeat the entire process.
This is a very simple but effective technique. In this way, you can involve yourself in work.
resist temptation
This is the one technique you absolutely need to master in order to become disciplined.
Temptation is something pleasant that entails something that we want here and now. It takes the form of a sofa with a TV, a sweet bun, a stormy weekend, messages on social networks. On the other side of your life are long-term goals.
Temptations here they are, hand in hand. And the long-term goals are so far away - they still need to be achieved. Moreover, nothing will prevent you from reaching this goal if you give in to a little temptation.
But we all know how it works and what it leads to. This is the only enemy that must be defeated. Here are some tips on how to do it.
Study your weaknesses.
Know yourself. This is the first place to start. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Likewise, your determination to do what is right is most likely to break where you are most vulnerable. What are your weakest areas?
Learn to anticipate temptation.
Think of situations where you might face temptation. Mentally rehearse how you will resist if temptation comes your way.
Strengthen your beliefs.
Remember your principles and values. About your dreams and desires. You know that if you succumb to temptation, you will lose. Is it worth it?
Find a support group.
You can avoid many temptations in life if you find friends who share your moral beliefs. He who walks next to a sage becomes wise himself.
Avoid circumstances that will make it difficult to resist temptation.
Nowadays, the most tempting place is the Internet. Here you can do everything: have fun, buy, sell and fool around. Therefore, never go online just for the sake of it, but only for a specific purpose that will move you forward.
Books
Self-discipline simply requires that you read the following books cover to cover:
- "Self-discipline in 10 days, or how to go from thinking to doing" Theodore Bryant.
- "Learn to say no" James Altucher, Claudia Altucher.
- "Eat a frog! 21 ways to learn to keep up » Brian Tracy.
- "There are no excuses! The power of self-discipline » Brian Tracy.
- "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.
- "How Strong People Solve Problems" by Ryan Holiday.
- "The Development of Willpower" by Walter Michel.
- "Don't put it off until tomorrow. A short guide to fighting procrastination » Timothy Pichilemu.
- "Willpower. How to develop and strengthen "Kelly McGonigal.
- "Be the best version of yourself. How ordinary people become outstanding » Dan Waldschmidt.
- "The magic of the morning. How the first hour of the day determines your success » Hal Elrod.
- "On the edge. A week without self-pity » Eric Bertrand Larssen.
Self-discipline is the ability to enjoy boring, routine things. Anyone will be happy like a child if every day is a new adventure, if everything is not the same as yesterday. But the greatest people know how to make themselves want to do boring, but correct things, every day.
Find something new in the ordinary and surprise yourself every day.
Why is it necessary
Everyone now knows what motivation is, everyone is waiting for it, everyone is looking for it. Someone goes to trainings and says that motivation is bullshit and you need inspiration. All this is true, BUT! Motivation is a temporary phenomenon. Inspiration is unpredictable! And self-discipline is either there or not, and if it is, then it is constant and controlled!
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