Gaining in self-discipline is a trait that can take you to new levels in life. Indeed, no one can succeed nor accomplish their goals without a minimum of self-discipline. In any aspect, self-discipline can be built through practice and repetition.
When building a business, self-discipline is a MUST. No business can operate properly without a minimum of discipline. Business owners are the VERY first people who ought to practice self-discipline themselves!
In a previous post, I had outstretched how discipline is a critical component in reaching your goals. I know first hand that gaining in self-discipline can be challenging. And this post will be providing you with some tips in order not only to gain, but also to practice self-discipline, in a simple and practical way.
Establish your goals and vision.
First things first. What do you aim to achieve? Can you envision it? You can still achieve your goals without envisioning it. But it’ll be more challenging. Consider the vision as a roadmap. Or as a GPS. Without it, you’ll easily lose your way. Or get distracted. If not all of the above.
Envisioning your goals will definitely help to achieve them. It’ll give you something you can hang on. Until the accomplishment of what you’ve hoped for. Envision what you hope to achieve. Note your vision down. And refer to it when difficulties come your way.
Break down your vision into an action plan.
Having a vision is great! Most of the great things cannot be accomplished at once! Break your vision into steps. Simple and doable steps. Ridiculously simple steps. So simple that you may end up thinking “this is ridiculous”.
Once the steps become simple, make sure you work on them every single day. Even if it’s 10 minutes per day. Do it. Every. Single. Day! It takes 21 days to get used to doing something. Don’t set the bar of discipline too high at first. It might make you give up easily.
Start little. It will make your motivation last longer, until you get the first results. Then, progressively increase the efforts dedicated to achieving your goals. As faith, once you are disciplined with the little things, you will be disciplined when you increase the efforts.
Give yourself the means to gain in self-discipline.
With no means to be disciplined, it is difficult to become disciplined. The means can be an accountability partner. The means is there not just to remind you to act, but also to push (or motivate) you into taking action.
For example: I’d like to exercise by rope skipping on my roof. So, every day, I’d set an alarm and leave the rope and the alarm clock on my roof. The alarm would ring louder and louder on the roof and wouldn’t stop until I stop it myself.
In this scenario, I would be forced to go to the roof, switch the alarm off. And whilst being there, I take the opportunity to exercise for 20 minutes. Before getting back downstairs. And wait for the next alarm to ring. Every day. This works for me as I live alone.
Monitor your progress indicators.
I previously spoke about the roadmap as an allegory to your vision. Sometimes, the road map ain’t enough. One will need finer tools to measure their tracks. That measurement is precious data one ought to keep in order to track their progress.
The progress monitoring tool can be imaged as a GPS. It’ll tell you how far you have gone. And much more you ought to accomplish to reach your goal. It will indicate if you’re still on the right path or not. And therefore, it’ll give you enough feedback for you to decide what you ought to do.
If your success is not measured, it’ll be difficult to know if you’re succeeding. Refine your indicators if need be. The finer they are, the more targeted your decisions will be. The finer your indicators are, the better.
The progress monitoring indicators can also serve as a reminder as to where you’ve started. Your progress in the right direction can be and should be a testimony for people struggling too. Take the opportunity of remembering why you started the journey. This is so you inspire not just yourself, but also other people in the future.
Celebrate whilst gaining in self-discipline
Let your achievements be reasons of celebration. As small as they might be. I highly encourage you to celebrate the little victories you experience. Such celebration will make you realize that you have reached a new level, as difficult as it was.
The way you celebrate is relevant 😊. Make sure that the way you celebrate doesn’t jeopardize the results of your hard work. For example, it is pointless to celebrate the loss of 20 kg by eating sweets for like a week.
You fell short? Resume!
Sometimes, we fall short. All of us did. At least once. And it is so easy to beat ourselves up for falling short. We all have our ups and downs. Despite the best intention we may have. Regardless of our efforts. Despite our willingness to do better.
But it is important to get back up and resume after falling short. Forgive yourself for falling short, and resume. If God forgive our short comings, who are we NOT to forgive ourselves? Just acknowledge the – not “your” – shortcoming and improve.
What about you? Do you have any more tips whilst gaining in self-discipline? Did you have the opportunity of applying these tips for your business or even for your life? If yes, I’d love to read your thoughts and the results you achieved in the comment section.
This post aimed to provide you with tips to help you gaining in self-discipline. Feel free to comment and share.