If I had to choose a single virtue to accompany me till the very end of my life’s journey, that would be an easy choice.
“Self-discipline” is for me, the most important, the greatest of all virtues and the mandatory ingredient for success in life.
It is defined as “the quality of doing what needs to be done, at the time it has to be done, whether you feel like doing it or not”.
It is the “King of Kings”, the “icing on the cake”, the “cherry on top”, the “Creme de la creme” , the “first and foremost” , the “top of the tree” and I stop it here.
I hope you can easily understand how much I value self-discipline…
Without it, I would have lost -hands down- the game of growth, to my natural tendency to procrastinate and stay within my comfort zone.
Luckily, self-discipline is a behavior which can be learned -and even mastered- through daily practice and repetition.
I would like to share with you 10 best practices for building and mastering self-discipline in your life.
1. Do the hardest thing first
Mark Twain, a famous American writer, is credited with the quote “Eat a live frog the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.“
Luckily you don’t have to literally eat a live frog every morning. The “frog” is the toughest task you have in your to-do list for the day and the one that will have the greatest positive impact on your life.
You need to resist the tendency of doing the small and easy tasks first, which will drain your energy.
Make it a habit to start with the hardest thing first and watch your life being transformed and your discipline grow.
2. Act first, think later
Making a decision is never an easy task, especially if you feel like being the rope of the tug-of-war between your procrastination and your motivation.
This tug-of-war can last for hours, days or even weeks and might leave you mentally exhausted trying to decide whether you will get off bed, perform that action, make this phone call, read that book or register to the running competition.
Mel Robbins, an american motivational speaker, suggests that when you feel yourself hesitating before doing something that you know you should do, you simply count 5-4-3-2-1-GO and move towards action.
Nike’s slogan “Just do it” embraces this philosophy and has inspired millions of people to make quick decisions, overcome fears and take risks in life.
3. Set realistic goals
In your effort to achieve your goals, self-discipline can be your best ally. Keep in mind though, that it cannot make miracles.
When setting goals in life you have to make sure that -among others- your goals are realistic. (More information on my post about SMART goals here).
Deciding at the age of 50 to become a professional NBA player is not a realistic goal and self-discipline can not help you in achieving it.
Realistic goals having high achievement potential, will produce results, boost your self-confidence, motivate you to try new things in life and build your self-discipline.
4. Be properly prepared
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail“. This quote by Benjamin Franklin denotes the importance of preparation.
Take public speaking for example. The fear of public speaking was found to be a more pressing concern than death!
Preparation -together with practice- is the key to overcome this fear. But it is not only about public speaking.
It is about having a professional meeting at work, having an assessment at school, taking an exam to obtain your driving license and numerous other daily challenges.
Preparation reduces errors, relieves stress and anxiety before important events and helps you build confidence because you will have less things to worry about.
5. Be productive not busy
Have you ever caught yourself wondering -at the end of a very long and busy day- that there was no progress at all in the goal you had set or the project task you had scheduled for that day?
I am not here to question your intentions and your hard work. All I am saying is that you don’t have to work hard. You have to work smart!
Focusing on unimportant tasks will only postpone or delay all those important tasks that have to be done. The more you keep important tasks in the waiting list the more your stress level will rise.
Learning to say no, focusing on important tasks, delegating certain tasks, checking your email less frequently and many more small habits, can guarantee better results at the end of the day.
So just before going to bed, prepare a plan with all the things you will focus on the next day and make sure that you stick to this plan..
6. Break down your work
– “How do you eat an elephant“?
– “One bite at a time“.
Eating the whole elephant at once would be an impossible task.
Starting your day having a big and demanding task ahead, might activate your procrastination, making it extremely difficult and uncomfortable to start.
Here is when the Pomodoro technique comes to the rescue. According to that technique all you have to do is to divide your “elephant” into time intervals called Pomodoros -traditionally 25 minutes in length- with short breaks in between.
While focusing on any given chunk make sure that you eliminate distractions, as mentioned later in this post. The technique is based on focus which will help you work faster and more productively.
7. Eliminate distractions
How many times have you been interrupted by a Facebook notification, an incoming email, a reminder for an upcoming event or by numerous other notifications popping up on your mobile’s screen?
The time it takes you to switch your attention back to what you had been doing before you were interrupted, can easily sum up to a couple of hours during the day.
Why losing all that time instead of investing it in more productive tasks?
It is very easy to eliminate this kind of distractions by putting your phone in silence, disabling notifications and focusing only on what needs to be done.
You can always set a specific time of the day -no more than 30 minutes- when you will focus on checking your social media, your personal email or any other notifications.
8. Remove toxic people from your life
Jim Rohn, an american motivational speaker is attributed the quote “You’re The Average Of The Five People You Spend The Most Time With“.
The meaning of that quote is that people are affected by and copy the behavior of people they hang out with.
Being surrounded by people of high standards -helping you grow and move forward in life- is the ideal scenario. But there will be cases where some friends or even relatives might prevent you from discovering your true potential and they might even try to sabotage you.
If you feel like not progressing in life because of certain behavior of people around you then make sure that you keep those people away or at least minimize the time you spend with them.
Learn to say no and try to get to know new people who have important knowledge and experiences to offer.
9. Find an accountability partner
Do not underestimate the value of accountability!! It is the catalyst of responsibility and commitment.
Your commitment to your accountability partner will become your motivation that will pull you towards your goal.
The sense of guilt which accompanies your failure to meet the set expectations, will push you outside your comfort zone.
The benefit from achieving your task is twofold.
On one hand you will feel proud of yourself for producing results and on the other hand you will establish credibility and trust with your partner.
You can even decide to elevate the level of accountability by publicly announcing your goal on social media. The pressure in that case will be bigger so you have to make sure that you can handle it before you make that commitment.
10. Reflect and correct
Do you ever spend time reflecting on your life? Reflecting on your successes, your failures and on the things that you should be grateful for?
If you don’t, then I suggest that you set aside some time and focus on your last year’s achievements, failures and lessons learned.
You might discover that you have many things to be grateful for.
The practicing of gratitude is on the top floor of spiritual self-discipline. It will help you discover your strengths and qualities and will remind you to feel content for things you take for granted like having a home, a family, your friends and your health.
Conclusion
You now have enough evidence to be convinced of the importance of self-discipline. You also have 10 best practices to follow for mastering it.
Stop wasting more time and start becoming the person you want to spend the rest of your life with..
Enjoy the journey..