Self-discipline is the key to success and a company characteristic of successful people. If you aspire to be a successful person yourself, a great place to start is with instilling discipline in all aspects of your day to day life.
Acknowledging that there are hurdles that you are bound to face when you are trying to achieve self-discipline, we are going to review some of the most common stumbling blocks and ways to overcome them.
Reason #1: Giving in to Temptation
You may want with all your heart to go for a walk for an hour every day starting tomorrow. You may set the alarm at 6 AM every day to instil a sense of discipline. Things may even go really good for a week, but your consistency is challenged when you fall victim to the temptation of sleeping for “those extra five minutes”.
Those "extra five minutes" grows another five minutes every single day and eventually, you lose the motivation to wake up early. Temptation is the number one stumbling block that stops you from achieving self-discipline.
Solution – Just do it anyway! Yes, it’s easier said than done, but in this case, all you can do is drag yourself out of your bed and wash your face with ice-cold water so that you beat your temptation. Prove to yourself that you can keep your word to yourself!
Reason #2: Giving Up
This is a close second obstacle on the path to achieving self-discipline and success. You go for a walk every day, but you become discouraged because you are not losing enough weight. So, you give up because you feel that waking up early and walking every day hasn’t added any value to your life. You feel bad about yourself, and your self-esteem hits a new low.
Solution – Set realistic goals for yourself. In the above case, you felt that you weren’t losing enough weight because you had set an unreasonable weight loss target for yourself. Set practical goals that can be attained, so that you don’t give up so easily.
Reason #3: Stress
Self-discipline is indirectly affected by your stress level. You cannot motivate yourself to go beyond the line when you are mentally and physically stretched beyond your limits. You might want to wake up early and go for a walk every day, but if you feel stressed about your office commitments, this might make walking seem less like a priority in your life.
Solution – It is very important to indulge in some mental conditioning exercises such as meditation or journaling so that you feel calm and can practice de-stressing yourself. Having mental clarity and calmness is an important aspect of self-discipline.
Reason #4: Procrastination
This is the silent killer of all the stumbling blocks to achieving self-discipline. Postponing things to a later date or waiting until "the timing is right" is one of the lamest excuses that you will find today. Your doctor may have advised you to walk for an hour to lose weight, but you may convince yourself that you would start at the beginning of next month or after the monsoons.
Solution – You have to understand that there is no better time than “now”. You need to live in the present and make your today perfect so that your tomorrows are successful.
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