For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
Are you asking, how to be a disciplined person? Self-discipline starts with the ability to control your behavior. That means motivating yourself to do what you need to do and stopping yourself from doing things that are bad for you. The “ability to control” is just the start, though, and real discipline is when you have trained your mind in such a way that you consistently get the behavior you want.
A while back, I went to a graduation party for my niece. It was nice. I enjoyed looking at the awards and photos of my niece’s accomplishments and talking to the other guests. I had not planned on eating anything… but then I saw them… the chocolate cupcakes generously covered in frosting. Even though I knew there might be consequences, I just had to have one. So I did and the next morning around 1:30, I woke up with a pounding headache! Truly, I paid a high price for something that only gave me about 60 seconds of pleasure. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
Here’s a quote by Charles F. Glassman, “Self-discipline is often disguised as short-term pain, which often leads to long-term gains. The mistake many of us make is the need and want for short-term gains (immediate gratification), which often leads to long-term pain.”
Discipline may appear to be a problem of willpower. However, this implies just pushing ourselves harder to do things, even when we feel miserable, or fighting temptations. It’s a good recipe for stress and disappointment. There’s a better way.
Self Discipline Tips
Have you ever stayed up all night talking to a friend? Then you know what power the mind has over the body. Sleep can be put off when we’re motivated by a passionate discussion and it doesn’t take much willpower to keep doing something when you’re enjoying it. That gives us a key to self discipline.
How to be a disciplined person? Well, try to enjoy what you’re doing and be energized. Your willpower goes up and down with your energy levels, so play energetic music, move around, laugh, and look for the interesting parts of whatever project you are working on. Once you identify your best energy boosters and motivators, make a list, and train your brain to use them whenever you need discipline.
Make things easier on yourself. If you feel stressed when you think about doing your tax return, for example, don’t think about it! Just lay out the forms where you can work on them later. Later, do just one form, and then another. Whatever the task at hand, you can find enough motivation for some small step. Start training your mind to take that step as soon as you think of it, and the next steps become easier.
Self Discipline And Self Awareness
What if that chocolate ice cream is calling your name? Sometimes it’s hard to resist temptation, right? Willpower is a nice idea, but here is a simpler solution: stop looking at it and imagining how good it’ll taste. It’s an easy lesson to understand, so train yourself to apply it habitually. Don’t keep beer in the house if you don’t want to drink it. Don’t go alone to the bar if you want to remain faithful to your spouse. Stay away from people that lead you into trouble.
Discipline doesn’t mean being immune to temptation. Go ahead and develop the willpower to say no, if you can, but why not also have the wisdom to avoid temptation? Know where your resistance is low, and don’t put yourself in those situations. Does this make more sense than fighting useless battles with yourself?
Fighting feelings is a losing battle. It’s far more effective to learn about yourself. How are you energized and motivated? Where are your strengths and weaknesses? Learn about yourself, and start using what you learn to make the behaviors you want easy. That’s the key to self-discipline.
How about you? Have you grown in this area to where you’re able to be deliberate in the choices you make? In our businesses, this might look like spending less time on social media, more time writing, or not staying up late watching a sitcom so that we can get up earlier and get more done the next day.
When it comes to how to be a disciplined person, remember that we all need to have fun and do things that we enjoy on a regular basis, but ask yourself if the price you’re paying is worth it in the long run. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not. We all get to decide for ourselves.
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