The Self-discipline Refers to a person's ability to implement those actions that he believes Achieve specific objectives .
Self-control, willpower, determination, diligence, resolution... All these terms refer to the same meaning.
What makes this ability special is that it manages to mediate a set of opposing thoughts about the action to be performed, so that thought Which ends up winning is to start the activity.
Put another way: when we have to perform an activity that requires our self-discipline to do it, in our head appear two Opinions:
I must do it, I have proposed that I would do it and if I want to achieve my goals I have to get myself to perform this action.
I do not feel like doing it, right now I can do something else and leave the activity for later, it is not necessary that I do it.
This is the premise for self-discipline, if we do not have to do an exercise of self-assertion to carry out the activity or the Activities, we will not require our willpower.
So, doing the tasks that our boss sends us at work is not self-discipline, since whoever is convincing us to do this task, we are not Ourselves, is another person.
However, when the person in charge of convincing us to do something is ourselves, we will need the self-discipline to do it.
During childhood and adolescence self-discipline plays a minor role in our lives, since we usually have a"boss"who is the Responsible for forcing us to do the activities.
We go to school because we are assigned by the teachers, we do the homework when our parents tell us and we pick up our room when They scold us for having it messed up.
However, in late adolescence and early adulthood, we began to need self-discipline to perform a large number of activities.
Our parents will not be so over, so we will study if we decide to do it, we will work when we have enough strength Will or we will perform domestic tasks if we deem it appropriate.
So when you stop being a child, self-discipline becomes the central axis that will control your way of functioning and will dictate things that You do and you do not do
Self-discipline will become that part of you that modulates your activity and most likely decides your future.
Therefore, it clearly plays a fundamental role in all of us, and many things in our life will depend on whether we have it or not.
10 steps to being self-disciplined
Do you struggle to do things, procrastinate too often and think you have little willpower?
If you are a person with little self-discipline you may think that you are like this and that you can not do anything to him, but this is not so.
It is not something that is born or not born. It is a thing that is worked or not worked.
If you work it will increase, and your operation will be governed by your willpower. If you do not work, you simply will not exist, and When you want to convince yourself to do something that is not to your liking it will cost you horrors to do so.
But how can we build willpower?
1-Understand self-discipline
The first step you must take to build self-discipline is to understand what it is.
And is that many people think it is a Personality trait , A quality that is acquired genetically, and that there are people who have it and People who will never have it.
If your thinking is focused on that direction, the first thing you have to do is understand that this is not so.
Self-discipline is not something that arises out of nothing, it is not a virtue that there are people who carry in the blood and that, unfortunately, you do not have it. It is something that is created and built on oneself.
Obviously, there will be people who will cost less to have self-discipline and people who will cost more, but we all have the ability to have it, and everyone We must work to develop it.
No matter how self-disciplined you are, you have nothing in your brain, in your body, or in your personality, that prevents you from starting to build your willpower Today.
And that is that self-discipline is like a muscle. If you train it, and you invest time and effort in working it, it will grow. If you do not, it will never appear in you.
So, get rid of any thoughts you have about your inability to have it because it simply is not true, you can have it if You put desire, interest and effort in constructing it.
2-Convéncete
Once you are clear that you have the ability to build self-discipline, the next thing you have to do is convince yourself that you want Start having more.
If you do not have it but you really do not find any need to start having it, you do not have to continue reading this article, since You will not be able to increase it.
And is that motivation is probably the main promoter of self-discipline, so if you have no reason to increase your strength Will, it simply will not increase.
Make a list of the times you thought you would want to have greater self-discipline and what the reasons were.
Note the disadvantages of not having self-discipline and what advantages it would take to develop it.
Make a list of what your purposes are and why you want to achieve them. The reasons why you want to build it will be your gasoline at Long all the way.
For example: I want to build self-discipline to be able to finish my university studies this year or to start my own business within 6 months.
3-Analyze your time
Humans have a habit of living with autopilot, and sometimes we may not have self-discipline but we do not realize why It costs us so much to have willpower.
Analyze what you do during a day and for a whole week. Make a list of all the activities you do and then analyze which of them are productive and which are not.
How many hours a day or a week do you spend watching TV? How many hours do you spend for hobbies, entertainment or just not for anything?
It is very important that you analyze your schedules in detail and detect which are those time zones in which your lack of Self-discipline
If you work, the slots in which you find yourself developing a work activity you can not use to increase your willpower, But the hours that you invest in watching the television or the free time that you have, yes.
It detects well the hours in which you realize unproductive activities since we will use that time to work the selfdiscipline.
4-Plan your goals
Discipline does not work without goals, just as cars do not start without a motor.
So, before we start building it, we must What goals we want to achieve in doing so.
Use the previous exercise and visualize what time of day is best to start Build self-esteem .
For example: Monday, Tuesday and Friday I have 4 hours in the afternoon that never go to any productive activity, I will use at least one hour each Those days to start building self-discipline.
Once you have done this, your self-discipline will no longer be a vague concept, you will have a day that you must begin to test yourself.
5-Specify your goals more
Once you have marked a few days to start testing, you must specify more your goals.
It is about taking your agenda, mark those days and those slots that you have selected previously, and in each write the activity that You will do.
It details as much as you can that activity, so that when the key hour approaches, you know what it is that you are going to realize.
Annotation"I will study"would be too vague a concept for your self-discipline. Instead, note"I will study subject 1 and 2 of subject x"will help you Mentalises more than you will.
The more specific the better, since your awareness of what you will do will be greater and the chances that you will be higher.
Likewise, it is advisable to start with specific objectives and activities and not very durable.
In this way, it will be easier for you to achieve the goal and you will ensure that your self-discipline has begun to be built.
6-Recognize your barriers
As you get your"mini goals"it is important that you identify your barriers and your distractions.
How is this done?
Very easy, analyze the stimuli that normally make your self-discipline fail.
What makes me want to do something when I want to do something?
They can be a multitude of things, but when you stop to think about it, you will surely identify what they are:
Be watching TV, stay with a friend, be at my partner's house, go down to have coffee...
Keep in mind all the barriers you detect, because when the time in your agenda gets closer you will have to avoid these distractions.
7-Go increasing little by little
We have started with very simple activities and objectives, so that it is very easy to get them and overcome your barriers more easily.
So, as you complete all the activities marked on your agenda, you will have to increase them gradually.
You must do it slowly and fully adapted to your abilities. If at any time you see that you can not increase, be calm, and continue with The goals you had at that time.
Self-discipline is something that is built slowly, you will not get it from one day to the next. You should work it little by little, but making sure that You meet the goals you have in each moment.
8-Remember your commitment
As you increase your goals and weekly hours to build your willpower, you should be aware of possible Distractions.
"It's already 18:45, in my agenda I said I should start doing it at 18:00, I've forgotten and by the time it's better I do not and I leave it to morning…"
If this happens the enemy's thinking of self-discipline is appearing, and at the same time you will be failing to fulfill one of your goals, a fact that Could reduce your motivation And spoil everything.
To avoid this I recommend that you put an alarm on your mobile every time you touch meet some purpose.
In addition, it is useful to accompany this alarm with some reinforcing message such as:"I am improving every day""I will continue to work on my self-discipline" "I'm on the right track to achieve my goals."
9-Date Rewards
It will be much easier for you to meet your goals if you put your rewards.
Likewise, if you get used to performing those activities that you like as a reward for your effort, you will enjoy them much more.
There is nothing better than going to the movies on a Friday afternoon being aware that you have already finished the work week, or going to have something with friends on the day That you have fulfilled all your goals.
Score a reward for each week that you have fulfilled all your goals. You will see how well you feel and how you motivate yourself more to never fail your Appointment with self-discipline.
10-Be benevolent but consistent
Be kind but consistent with yourself.
Meet your goals, do not leave tasks half-way, Focus your attention , Do things well, do not relax, do not reward yourself if you have not earned it, but…
You do not have to go from zero to one hundred in a moment, give your time, you see at your own pace, and if one day you do not get a goal do not punish yourself and make sure you do not To fail with the neighbor.
And how do you have self-discipline?
References
- Self-discipline in ten days. By Theodore Bryant Human Behavior Specialist. Http://www.decidatriunfar.net/.
- Coll, C.; Palacios, J and Marchesi, A (Eds) (2001). Psychological Development and Education. 2. Psychology of School Education. Editorial Alliance.
- Pintrich, P. R. and Schunk, D.H. (2006). Motivation in educational contexts. Theory, research and applications . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Prentice Hall.
- Sternberg, Robert, J; Wendy W. Williams. (2002). Educational Psychology . Boston [etc.] Allyn and Bacon cop.