A discipline is doing what needs to be done or being in the right place, when needed. In other words, you can choose to be in a place that’s motivated by internal pressure or by external pressure.
External pressure comes from people around you, but internal pressure can come from yourself. You can be in a place where you’re not happy with yourself or your life, but you keep on going because you know that something has to change.
Internal pressure can come from many places: social norms and conventions, family expectations, friends’ standards, etc. When one meets a standard they have set for themself and for others, they must be able to achieve that without any help or support.
This can lead to stress and overachieving, which hurts both self-confidence and actually getting what they want out of things.
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Start with small tasks
The best way to start a discipline habit is with a single task.
In the beginning, you’ll be focused on that task — you’re trying to develop the habit of doing a certain thing, so start with something small.
And since this is a habit-forming behavior, you will continue to do the small task for quite a while. Unlike bigger tasks, which can feel tough at first, starting with a small task will make it easier to maintain the discipline to do it.
Do not worry about how much time is being spent or what the task is called – that has no importance. Only what name the behavior is called (i.e., start doing…) should be important.
Only when the behavior has been done for an amount of time should we add another name or title (e.g., I will enter my next competition under winner of…).
Build discipline by challenging yourself
If you don’t seem determined, you’re probably letting things get to you. You want to do what takes a lot of effort, but you need to keep going until you succeed.
You need to build self-discipline in order to succeed in life. There are many things that we want to do, but we don’t because we don’t have the motivation or the effort to do so.
You can have discipline when you know what steps to take before taking a step. For example, if you go out for drinks with friends after work, then firstlyyouhavetheselookalreadyto go out for drinks with friends after work, and secondlyyouhavethe ability to control how much and what you drink.
Having the ability to control your behavior is an example of building discipline. The more control you have over small things, the more effective your self-discipline will be.
Hold yourself accountable
Having a system of accountability is key to keeping yourself discipline. There are many ways to keep a system stable however. You can use family members, friends, neighbors, etc. as sources for accountability.
It’s important to use the right kinds of accountability for your situation. For example, if you have an accountability partner, then you should use an appropriate level of control in order for both of you to maintain control over the other person.
If you have no one else’s control to maintain, then you need to have a source of finance or another person to hold you accountable to in order for there to be any change in behavior.
As mentioned earlier, having a discipline-compatible environment is important. If someone doesn’t behave appropriately in your house or at your workplace, then they should leave immediately- no excuses! If someone at work disrespects you or someone at home disrespects you, then they should leave immediately so that both parties can continue their work processes.
Tell someone about your challenge
A challenge can be to do a hundred steps on the floor at once, or to tell someone about your challenge. Both of these things can be very easy nuggets of discipline to practice.
We all have habits that we try to break, but if you don’t do the step, you won’t achieve your goal. So, it’s worth trying to make this a habit that you do what needs to be done without too much thought or effort.
You can tell people about your challenge if you want to. You might not know whether you want to do this by doing the step, by telling someone about your step, or by doing a special act such as giving an interview or concert. Whatever choice you make, it will help others know you and what you have done for them.
Stay consistent
If you want something, then do what it takes to get it. If you need to complete a task, then stay consistent and consistent progress will be made.
This is important because if you try to take steps back on your path, you will fail and lose momentum. You will have to start over again from zero again if you don’t keep moving forward and staying consistent.
It’s like climbing a ladder: the first time you fall at the bottom, you have to keep going up until you reach the top – which is what being consistent looks like on your journey towards your goal.
Consistency is doing what needs to be done when things are hard or when things feel heavy. It is staying in the game when things are tough, staying in the flow when things get flowing, or taking a break when I need to take a step back.
Don’t give up
Even if you make a decision that’s the worst thing you can do, don’t give up. Stay active, keep posting, keep engaging with your community.
Even if you posted a few days ago, someone else has commented and engaged with you today. Even if you posted an hour ago, someone else has posted an hour before and engagement has continued. Even if you posted last week, engagement has continued because people are looking for something new right now.
Put yourself out there and let people know what you look like, what your interests are, what your goals are. Let people know how valuable and worth seeing you are to others.
Find your passion
When you’re older, you can look back and think of all the things that you did in your life. You can say that you were passionate in some ways, but what I am talking about now is being passionate in spirit.
You can be very passionate about things, like being active or playing sports. But if you focus on only the sport part of your passion, then you will not have the full benefit.
When you are younger, you need to learn how to take a step back and do some things that don’t make you feel as energetic or as alive as God wants you to. That’s why it’s so important to find your passion.
Keep looking for something that interests and excites you, but make sure that there is room for growth. If something needs to change, then take a step back and let it do what it needs to do.
What is worth living for?
One of the most important things to find value in life is what you love doing and how good you do it.
We are living in a time where everything is money-value-based. This is a great thing! We are being presented with the opportunity to choose how much you love life, how good you do life, and what you value most in life.
By choosing to be in a place that is worth having (and not having), we can shift our focus from what we want to want to have to a degree.
Having our desires represents something else: We are paying for them in the form of financial, emotional, and spiritual costs. When we realize that having certain things cost more than not having those things, we can shift our attention away from wanting to want!
Have you ever noticed how when people are in “losing” mode, they start focusing on what they don’t have instead of what they do have? They are still thinking about whether or not they will be able to achieve their goal when they talk to me.