There is no exact recipe for a joyful and fortunate life. We all come from different walks of life, after all. And that means that the number of steps to get to success varies for every person depending on a lot of things, including his social status. But if there is one quality that begets sustainable, long-term success in all aspects of life, it is self-discipline. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to be more disciplined.
Self-discipline is like a superpower. Whether in terms of work ethic, diet, and finance, self-discipline is the number one must-have trait needed to accomplish your goals.
I noticed that when I developed some self-discipline, I was able to do more than the bare minimum. I started eating healthier, meditating, and writing more. Self-discipline helped me get rid of my bad habits.
When you are self-disciplined, you do not allow your choices to be dictated by feelings and impulses. Rather, you make rational decisions based on facts while taking into account your long-term vision.
And since it is the beginning of a new year, you can turn your life into whatever you want it to be. A new year means you are given a blank slate to start anew. My suggestion is that you take advantage of it. Learn how to be more disciplined so that you can establish good habits, break the bad ones, and improve your control in your life.
If you want to learn how to be more disciplined, why not give these practices a shot?
1. Be disciplined by practicing a fresh start each day.
Every morning, you are given the chance to wipe the slate clean of whatever happened yesterday and the other days before. Keep in mind that a terrible yesterday is no excuse to be sullen today.
Instead, ask yourself every morning: what would I like to do to make this day incredible?
As you are going through your day trying to make it incredible, it’s normal to get distracted or caught up in busywork. If that happens, all you have to do is take a breath and imagine that the next moment is another blank slate.
Start again and find appreciation over the fact that you get to start again.
2. Control your emotions from hot to cool.
We all have two brains — well figuratively. The first one is the logical brain and the other one is the emotional brain. The logical brain helps you think clearly, so you can make objective and logical decisions. On the other hand, the emotional brain is what makes you feel high and low. It urges you to take immediate action based on your feelings.
The question is: which one should you pick if you want to be disciplined? That’s right — the logical brain.
If you want to learn how to be more disciplined, you need to make decisions out of logical reasons rather than out of impulse and feelings.
But of course, you need to acknowledge the fact that you have feelings. Acknowledge it and move from hot emotions to cool. Be honest with yourself and revert your thought process to the logic-self.
3. How to be more disciplined? Get rid of temptations.
It’s way easier to be disciplined when you abide by the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” When you remove all the temptations and distractions from your environment, you can better focus on working to improve your self-discipline.
Are you trying to have better control of your eating? Toss the junk food. Do you want to focus while working? Might as well turn off your cell phone.
But if you are still having trouble, I suggest that you download the SelfControl app on your computer. SelfControl is a great application that lets you block your own access to distracting websites for a set period of time.
4. Visualize your outcome.
Did you know that our brain can’t tell apart real and imagine memories? That’s why, when you imagine something vividly, your brain assumes that it actually experienced it.
It’s amazing how something so scientific can play an important role in your goals. By visualizing positive outcomes, you enable yourself to feel the positive feelings associated with that outcome. It makes it easier for you to take actionable steps toward your goals.
5. Don’t wait for the “feel right” feeling.
To improve and develop discipline means you have to deal with the awkwardness and unease that come along with it. For one, you have to change up your normal routine.
If you truly want to know how to be more disciplined, you have to do it now rather than wait for the moment when it feels right. Once a behavior becomes a habit, you will stop using your decision-making skills. Everything becomes auto-pilot. Your brain will start resisting the habits it used to be accustomed to in favor of what it’s now programmed to do.
6. Be disciplined by setting achievable rules.
Develop your own priorities and rules based on what works best for you. Create a strict schedule, so you can track your time down to the minute. You can also post your goals on social media if you want to get motivated by peer pressure.
But before setting priorities and rules, you have to get the fundamental psychology right. How can you do it? Well focus on these tactics:
- Building habits rather than focusing on motivation
- Always acting with a calm mind rather than emotions
- Make things more challenging instead of optimizing them to be easier
Try to observe your routines and plan how you can implement these tactics in other areas of your life. And apply it as well to other areas you care about the most.
This year, why not strive to create a year of meaningful growth? These practices on how to be more disciplined will help you make it happen.