Building self discipline is essential for achieving your goals and creating the impact you desire. It’s important to have clarity on your mission, vision, and values, but without the habit of discipline, you won’t be able to execute them. We all tend to avoid challenges and look for the easiest route. That’s human nature. However, whether we willingly lean into challenges or avoid them determines our success.
Building self-discipline: 4 ways to embrace change and grow
When we do the things we don’t want to or don’t have to, we change. This is how growth takes place. It all starts with taking on small challenges. Open your mind to believing that a different path is possible for you. It doesn’t have to be a challenge that others choose, like starting a diet or going to the gym. Your goal can be whatever you want it to be. It’s not about the goal. It’s about the person you become as you pursue the goal.
- Do it for yourself.
When you willingly take on difficult challenges, don’t do it to impress other people. Do it to impress yourself. Because at the end of the day, you are the most important person you can show up for and impress.
- Lean into each opportunity.
Ask yourself, “Am I ready to lean into something that I don’t have to do but choose to do?” Even if it seems too hard, learn to rely on the power of self-discipline and tap into your willpower. Take the first step and watch yourself grow.
- Embrace uncertainty and take risk
Trying new things always involves some kind of risk. So stop making excuses and try shifting your perspective. When you take a risk, you either succeed or fail. Either way, you develop your abilities, and it’s those new abilities that will help you evolve. And you won’t be alone! When you are in pursuit of becoming your best self, you inspire other people to do the same.
- Take action; don’t wait for motivation.
If you’re waiting to feel motivated before you start taking action, you’re waiting on the wrong thing. Taking action is what triggers motivation. As you do challenging things, you impress yourself and tap into the power you hold within. As you grow, your belief in yourself also grows. The pursuit of becoming the best version of yourself is the essence of life.
Remember that building self-discipline takes time and effort. Be patient with yourself, and don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up. The key is to get back on track as soon as possible and keep pushing forward.
Overcoming procrastination to build self-discipline
You don’t have to drive every moment, but you must drive your life. Self-mastery is when you do what needs to be done regardless of how you feel about it. This topic should help you move forward into a more pasturing self-mastery.
Note that morning five does not say get up, put your clothes on and run. It asks you to do five things that can help you change how you feel about yourself. When you feel some way, you will show up differently. You will be more impactful. This is another level of mastery. So you need to identify where and why you procrastinate and what you can do about it. Let’s get started.
Why Do You Procrastinate?
- Uncertainty: Naturally, our body loves to be safe and secure, and any signs of uncertainty give us the feeling of danger. We tend to procrastinate because we are unsure of the next step in its results.
- Underestimation: Another reason we procrastinate is because we think we will spend 30 minutes looking at our phone or social media or chatting with a friend when the real-time time we will spend is hours. That is why we procrastinate because there is no time for real tasks.
- Overestimation: Aside from underestimation, there is also the problem of overestimating how long you would take to finish a task. On paper, it may seem like it would take 50 hours to do your taxes when it would only take you one.
- Overplanning: Sometimes, we over-plan to the point that we don’t do the task because we feel like we have not planned enough, so instead of thinking of the final step, it is better to only think of the next step.
- Perfection: It is essential to emphasize that many people don’t do things because they are waiting for everything else to be perfect. Sometimes instead of waiting for perfection, go with the process. It is always best to fall in love with the process down to fall in love with the final destination.
What works
Where are some of the things that could work to make sure that you stop procrastinating this year?
- Create time calendars with tasks
- Attach a punishment for if you procrastinate
- Have nighttime rituals to get ready for the next day.
- Set Alarms
- Choose the one with the most priority
- Attach what motivates you
Tapping into the power of self-discipline to stop making excuses
Building self-discipline can be a difficult task initially, but it’s an important one if you want to reach your goals and be successful. Life is about trying new things and seeing what happens as a result. You have two choices: to take whatever life sends your way or to deliberately embrace challenges and change the trajectory of your life. It’s up to you. “What one can be, one must be.”
Remember, you are capable of so much more than you can imagine. In order to realize your full potential, you need to stop making excuses and know how to build self discipline. Without discipline, you can’t execute your mission.
