How to develop self-discipline: 7 effective techniques

Greetings, friends!

There is no limit to perfection, and even fairly organized and hardworking people periodically think about how to develop self-discipline. This quality is one of the most important keys to success. Without this quality, neither talent nor luck will give the desired results. Fortunately, by consistently working on yourself, anyone can become much more disciplined and purposeful.

Today we will talk about how to develop self-discipline using 7 effective techniques. But in order for our today’s lessons to be as effective as possible, let’s figure out what this quality is and why it affects our lives.

What is self-discipline?

The ability to ignore momentary desires and weaknesses, continuing to do really important things and go towards the goal – this is self-discipline. This quality is of great importance, since our well-being and the mood is constantly changing. We may not sleep well or get tired of work. And in rainy autumn weather, there is absolutely no desire for grandiose accomplishments – you want to sit quietly by the fireplace and drink cocoa.

A disciplined person constantly makes concrete steps aimed at solving important problems. He is engaged in work, education, self-improvement, arrangement of his personal life, gets rid of bad habits and develops useful ones. Self-discipline is the ability to be guided by common sense, and not by momentary desires.

How does self-discipline affect our lives?

This quality helps to correctly prioritize things solving the most important tasks in the first place and methodically moving towards the goal. If you are determined to achieve success in all areas of life, then first of all you need to develop self-discipline, because its presence is the main difference between a successful person and a loser. With her qualities such as willpower, responsibility and self-respect are directly related.

Any person periodically has an untimely desire to relax, read jokes, browse the news, watch a video on YouTube or go for a walk. An ordinary loser in such situations indulges momentary desires and shirks away from work, and then is tormented by pangs of conscience. A disciplined person first completes an important task, and only then goes for a walk or allows himself to rest. Are you ready to do some good work on developing self-discipline? Then we begin.

7 Self-Discipline Techniques

1. Start the day right

Self-discipline must be exercised in every action. Therefore, in the morning you should get up after the first alarm clock, immediately wash your face, brush your teeth and do a little exercise, trying to keep within 15-20 minutes. People who get up for a long time and “borrow” the alarm clock several times for 5 minutes are usually less productive during the day. the street, munching a sandwich. A disciplined person is alien to the hustle and bustle, because he always plans time and is never late.

haste. Determine the optimal time to wake up, set the alarm once and never rearrange. After 2-3 weeks, your body will adjust the rhythm of your sleep, and you will be able to get much better sleep.

You can combine your morning routine into an inextricable ritual that will be unquestioningly observed every day, including weekends and holidays. This ritual may include such actions as:

  • instant wake-up call;
  • energetic morning exercises;
  • washing, brushing teeth and contrast shower; healthy breakfast;
  • 15 minutes read;
  • charges for work and exits at the exact time.

You can read fiction or educational literature. The time allocated for reading is a good “damper” reserve, which, if necessary, can be spent on urgent matters.

2. Get rid of perfectionism

Moderate perfectionism helps to get the job done efficiently, almost perfectly. But in practice, it does more harm than good. When we strive for excellence, we get stuck for long periods of time, sacrificing productivity in exchange for small improvements in quality.

Excessive perfectionism is the worst enemy of self-discipline, so we must fight it. Once again in his trap, just remind yourself that the ideal is unattainable, and you need to focus on working efficiency. Allow yourself to achieve results first, and then, if necessary , start improving its quality.

3. Imagine pictures from the future

One of the most powerful motivation techniques is to visualize the future in 5, 10 or 20 years. If you do not want to do a certain thing, try to evaluate the result of your actions in perspective. What benefits will you get in a year or five if you act disciplined today?

Think about what you can achieve in a year if from today you start working on a specific task or project, devoting an hour a day to it. Now imagine the opposite situation: what you will not have, if you do not become purposefully and disciplined in this business. The contrast in this thought experiment is a great motivator for most people.

4. Overcome Temptations

Self-indulgence and inability to resist temptations are the main enemies of discipline. Man is naturally inclined to prefer accessible pleasures, and even the most disciplined sometimes give up. The simplest solution to this problem is to remove all unwanted objects away.

Set yourself a rule not to go to social networks ( and other distracting sites) during business hours. Don’t buy junk food. Disconnect your mobile phone, check your email less often. Learn to focus on the important things and ignore distractions. This will teach you to finish things up.

5. Reward yourself

Any achievement must be accompanied by a reward. To develop self-discipline, this rule must be followed without fail. By rewarding yourself, you stimulate the dopamine reward system in the brain, which is responsible for learning and forming habits. If you have worked well for a long time, completed the assigned tasks, spare no resources to reward yourself.

6. Don’t look for easy ways

Most people tend to repeat the success of others, believing that it will be easier to get to the top along the beaten path. In fact, n Getting to the top is never easy. Any success is the result of hard work and unwavering self-discipline.

Without efforts, it is impossible to achieve an ambitious goal. Think of any famous person who inspires you. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Arnold Schwarzenegger – these people were able to achieve success only thanks to titanic work. And at any moment in time they could tell exactly what goals they face. Remember: finding the easy path corrupts self-discipline, and being prepared for the hard path strengthens it.

7. Don’t be afraid of failure

Fear of failure is a common demotivating factor. Many people take every mistake as proof of their own worthlessness, so over time they lose their determination due to the fear of failing again. Just remember that failure happens to everyone. The more actions a person performs, the more often he makes mistakes. And the top performers are likely to have made more mistakes in their lives than you.

Treat every failure as an integral part of the path to success Do not stop and continue to move confidently, adjusting the direction taking into account the revealed facts. Never regret lost profits and wrong decisions, because you did not have the knowledge that you have today. Learn from your mistakes and adequately accept every next lesson that life teaches.

Conclusion

Self-discipline is the most important skill of a successful person, which cannot be replaced by talent, no luck. Like other skills, you can develop self-discipline by purposefully working on yourself. Starting today to follow all the recommendations given in this article, you will feel tangible changes in your character in 3 weeks.