Most people see others, on social media/ TV, those who are in great shape, and have fantastic lifestyles and they ask themselves “What do they have that I don’t?”
“What is missing”?
Their brains look to add, rather than subtract to optimize circumstances.
They look for that magic fix that could dramatically change the quality of their life.
The truth is, there is no magic fix that will improve the quality of your life overnight.
So, what’s the secret of these people? Sure they have some set of principles. But that’s not the secret. Anyone can do a quick google search and find these principles. They will be along the lines of:
Improving the quality of your thoughts requires you to read, write, and meditate regularly. To be fit, hit the gym, regularly. To lose weight control your calorie intake.
Most people know these ‘success’ principles. But knowing is not enough! The secret lies in the level of their commitment. The unshakeable self-discipline.
You must take consistent action, which requires self-discipline. Self-discipline is a constant battle. A battle against weakness.
In this battle, there is no end to the fight. It is the individual choices in the day where you either become victorious or fall short.
Self-discipline is a decision!
Deciding to wake up over going back to sleep when the alarm goes off.
Deciding to go to the gym over skipping it.
Deciding to eat a balanced meal over take away.
Deciding to read or listen to a few pages from a book over scrolling on social media.
The culmination of all these individual decisions either makes you or breaks you.
You need to forge levels of restraint and build a calloused mindset to overcome the lure of immediate gratification.
However this is easier said than done for the following reasons;
1. To become a ‘new you’ the old you must die – and this is a painful process.
When people are trying to build self-discipline they often ask questions like, “how do I get up early in the morning?”, “how do I restrain myself from excessive fun food intake?”, “how do I focus on the task at hand?” etc.
You need to override that voice that tells you to stay in bed when your alarm goes off.
You need to say no to fun foods and keep them out of your environment. In doing so you are not going to continually test yourself.
You need to be uncontactable/omit distractions when you need to focus on work.
Lack of shortcuts to achieve these things is why self-discipline seems like a struggle. But know that the people who overcome these tests are heavily rewarded.
2. One of the core elements of self-discipline is consistency. Consistent efforts brings automaticity to your productive habits. Which help you reach your desired purpose.
Yet, doing something outside of your comfort zone on a consistent basis. Especially when you are starting to build your self-discipline, might feel like a burden. It is what we dislike, but you need to be determined to stick with it.
Aiming for 1% improvement daily is more than enough to transform your life, even if it doesn’t seem like much.
You have to make gradual changes every day. Because tiny progress made consistently over a long period is what results in massive achievement.
3. Once the initial motivation to get started begins to fade, then the process will become a grind. You’ll need to focus on building the habits necessary to achieve your goals. And aim for over 85 percent compliance.
Trying to achieve 100 percent compliance (perfection) is difficult because slip-ups are inevitable.
The key is to correct yourself after a slip-up and get back to it immediately.
So, be aware that the process of developing self-discipline is a long and rigorous one. Understand that you’re in this for the long haul. It’s a marathon and not a sprint.
For more help building your self discipline download my free guide – Get Out Alive.
