In any walk of life, to achieve success one needs discipline. A disciplined person is one who has the ability to control and manage themselves in all circumstances and is able to follow a disciplined routine.
A disciplined individual not only achieves success in their personal life but also grows professionally as well.
However, too many people lack self-discipline; hence they never end up achieving much in their lives. The secret to success lies not only in the amount of effort you put in your work but also in how disciplined you are about it. In this article, we will highlight what it means to be disciplined.
What It Means to Be Disciplined in Life
Discipline is the ability to control and manage one’s instincts, emotions, desires, feelings, and behaviors. It requires you to be well-organized and be able to work towards achieving your desired goals in a systematic way.
Discipline is the difference between talking and doing. It’s being able to set goals and actually going for them while not forgetting about everything else that’s on your plate as well.
It’s about being able to be consistent and persistent in the face of challenges (and failures). And most importantly it’s about replacing bad habits with better ones.
It requires us to be self-aware – and be able to regulate our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors instead of letting ourselves be controlled by them. Disciplined people are aware of their feelings, what triggers them, and how to manage those feelings to be able to achieve their goals.
10 Key Strategies to Be More Disciplined in Life
1. Teach yourself to put first things first
Take time out of your week to go over your priorities and responsibilities. This will help you get organized for the week ahead, making it easier for you to live a disciplined life.
If you want to be more productive, make sure that you are clear about what needs to be accomplished each day and prioritize accordingly so that nothing important is left out.
By managing your tasks systematically, it makes it easier for you not only to become more disciplined but also to give yourself an opportunity to feel great about your accomplishments in the future.
2. Get rid of bad habits
Most people lack discipline because they have bad habits. Smoking, excessive drinking, consuming junk
Try to rethink your lifestyle and get rid of habits that aren’t serving you as soon as possible so that you can be more disciplined in the long run.
3. Be true to yourself
Another reason why people lack discipline is that they try to be a version of themselves they think will please others. To be happy with yourself and to be able to achieve your desired goals, you need to be true to yourself.
What’s the point in becoming a successful artist if you can’t showcase who you really are? So be true to yourself.
Take risks and be honest with yourself. Don’t be influenced by other people’s expectations of who they think you should be or what they want you to be like. Be true to your own identity and remember that there is no one like you!
4. Avoid negative people
Negative people can have a bad influence on you and may even encourage you to be undisciplined. They may be the ones telling you that your goals are silly, or that you can’t achieve your dreams. Those aren’t the type of people you need in your life.
Remember that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with. So be around positive, motivated, and disciplined individuals so that you can be yourself!
5. Avoid comparisons
Another reason why people lack discipline is because they compare themselves to others. They feel that others are more successful than they are be it in their personal or professional lives.
It’s easy to think that others are more disciplined than you when in reality no one has it all together.
Comparisons hurt your self-esteem and lead to poor performance. The only person you should be comparing yourself with is your past self. And be glad that you can see improvement over time. If you want to be successful, stop comparing and start working towards achieving your goals instead.
6. Stop giving up too easily
It is hard work figuring out how to be disciplined at times but, if you are a person who gives up too easily, it may help if you think about the bigger picture. Be disciplined and strive for whatever goal is important to you with determination.
Keep reminding yourself that giving up will only bring more regret in the long run and make things even harder, and more discouraging, in the future.
7. Be honest with others
Being honest with others is the best way to be disciplined in your life. Being honest will boost your self-confidence because you know that you are living up to your moral values. Being dishonest is counterproductive in the long run and you may eventually get caught.
Dishonesty increases your anxiety about slipping up, thus distracting you from the present and being disciplined. Be honest with yourself and others, and remember to live up to your moral values no matter what situation you are in.
8. Let go of negative thoughts
Having a positive attitude is a sign of discipline. In order to be disciplined, you have to let go of negative thoughts because they will likely just hold you back and pull you back into bad habits.
Instead of thinking about how difficult it is for you to accomplish a task, think about how great it will feel after you accomplish that difficult task. Think positively; this will help keep your motivation high and lead to successful results.
9. Stop procrastinating
Procrastination is one of the biggest reasons why people lack discipline. When you put things off, you get into a bad habit of procrastinating and it is very difficult to stop it once you are in the habit. When you procrastinate, you are undisciplined.
To be more disciplined in your life, be conscious of time management. Start by setting a timetable for yourself and write down the things you want to be doing at certain times of the day. You might write down things like exercising or eating healthy meals.
These simple things can be easily get put off because there is no looming deadline over your head that makes it necessary for you to do them by a specific date and time.
10. Set smaller goals and accomplish them one by one
It is easier for someone to be disciplined if they have many small goals instead of one big goal. Instead of setting a goal that is very tough and hard to achieve, start with small achievable tasks that will help you build your discipline muscle.
Over time, as you practice being more disciplined in your life, it will become easier for you to make progress towards bigger goals.
Final thoughts
It’s not easy to be disciplined and stick with a plan, but the 10 strategies we shared will help you turn that around. If you want to be disciplined in your life, choose one of the strategies we shared and make it a habit for a month.
Then pick another strategy and repeat the process. This type of approach will be sure to give you the discipline boost you need to be more successful in life.