IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-DISCIPLINE IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS?
ARE WE FOLLOWING SELF-DISCIPLINE?
Self-discipline….this term sounds familiar, right? I must be sure that the majority of people know about it, but guys! Are we following Self-discipline in our lives? Do we like to live in the comfort zone just to get away from failures? Is that pleasure or fear? Ask yourselves now before it gets extremely late! Once you learn how to overcome your fear of doing something that seems difficult to you and you are afraid of starting it so, you are fearful of being failed ahead if you have learned to fight with your fears those are developing inside you….you win!
“Everything you have ever wanted is on the other side of fear” (George Adair)
Fear of failure keeps you backwards and will never allow you to take risks in your life.
SELF-DEVELOPMENT CAN NOT BE DONE WITHOUT SELF DISCIPLINE
It is only you who could develop yourself, polish yourself and motivate yourself. No one would come to push you toward success. If today you are falling the next day you will rise. You will be definitely. All you need to do is keep going without self-doubt. This is something that comes up with inner strength (your willpower) that must be awakened and energetic.
Before diving into the depth of self-discipline, I must tell you what self-discipline exactly occurs;
“Self-discipline is associated with motivation, desire, and self-esteem (with one holding a degree of confidence in their judgment)”.
• SELF-ESTEEM
You must have confidence in yourself with an optimistic approach to get your tasks done and lead yourself. Our lord counts every step we take and rewards us accordingly. This is the perfect policy. Keep this positivity in your mind while your working journey that your efforts will never go in vain.
• MOTIVATION
Motivate yourself every day that you can do it and you will do it. No matter how many times you stumble down. No matter what hurdles come before your way. Keep yourself motivated with the vision of your future in your mind. Let me give you an example; you have just started your journey as a freelancer and you are a newbie in this field. You are getting no clients as the competition is widely increasing, therefore you are not getting any job. No problem you will attain it soon. Have patience! Don’t lose hope!
“Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the door”
For achieving Long term goals you need to be self-disciplined. People often get confused with motivation and self-discipline. I also got confused before reading a quote from Thomas Davies which showed me the difference between these two.
“Self-discipline is about leaning into resistance. Take action despite how you feel. Most extensively it’s acting by your thoughts, not your feelings”
No matter how you feel whether you feel like doing it or not you have to do it. Self-discipline is proficiency in performing your tasks and it can only be developed with great consistency. When your taking actions become your habit, subconsciously you will be doing it. For instance, cleaning the home every day is not an easy job for me. Sometimes I feel motivated and sometimes I don’t like to do it but I have to do it. I know eventually, I will be doing it wholeheartedly. Now see the difference; motivation is concerned with your desire and self-discipline is related to your ability.
DO WE NEED A FEW STEPS FOR DEVELOPING SELF-DISCIPLINE?
Yes, exactly we need them. Let me take you to those steps one by one.
1. Change your habits
Do you want to achieve something big? Change your mindset first. Forget about your goals in the beginning. Just think positive and bring a change in your mind. Like if your ambition is to be a great writer, create your perspective and recognize yourself as a writer. Believe me, folks! It would work out for you and it could do wonders in your life. With this position, you would be able to be self-disciplined, and you would be habitual in writing regularly. Day by day you will become a pro!
2. Recall yourself
Recall yourself every day why you are adopting self-discipline. Put it down regularly, on a sticky note or somewhere in your room so you would never forget and you always take out time from your hectic schedule to do your best for accomplishing your goals. Your vision should be strong in this way.
3. Grasp discomfort
Waking up earlier is harder for me. I am still working on resisting this bad habit of mine (waking up late). When we resist anything, we build-up hard our muscles and it can be developed with time. It will never build overnight. Remember it! Many successful people around the world go toward something which makes them feel unpleasant like taking cold showers or waking up early at midnight for studies. Our Lord also wants us to grasp discomfort. He calls us to wake up for offering tahajjud prayer. Only a few people can do this those who are self-disciplined and self-determined leave their comfortable place and bow down their heads because they know how it would be fruitful later on.
Psychology says
“Go with the choice that scares you the most because that’s the one that is going to help you grow”
Going toward the scariest part of your life takes out you from your comfort zone and build-up self-discipline in you.
4. Focus on self-regulatory skills
Your brain is an essential part that requires rest, exercise and a balanced diet as it regulates executive functioning and sends signals to your body for performing tasks. You need to focus on these elements first so that your brain urges you in the best way and makes your will power strong.
5. Meditation
It helps you with self-discipline. It is itself self-discipline. Though your routine is hectic, you must take out time for meditation. It helps you in recharging your mind and creating a balance between your brain and your body. As we all know life is full of tests (trials and tribulations). We all have gone through the tough times during the pandemic and suffered anxiety and depression. It is important to release negative thoughts and emotions and it also always makes us get ready to face challenges. It is all reasonable through meditation.
There are many techniques for meditation. You can search for it and do the one which is suitable for you. I do meditation through visualization. I visualize the winnings that I am receiving the award for writing the best piece of prose and poetry. I envision it every day for 10 – 15 minutes. It brings happiness to my heart and I feel good and confident.
“Meditation is probably the best self-development process”
Meditation increases the level of concentration for doing your tasks and makes you a self-disciplined person.
6. Develop good habits
At the beginning stage of any task, you face difficulty. For instance, going back to work after a long vacation isn’t easy as you have already spoiled your habit of waking up early if you resist it and urge yourself to wake up earlier eventually, you will be developing this habit again and it all happens with self-discipline.
“Habits formation strengthens you and increases your level of consistency. You persevere and continue building it with less effort.”
Final words
Starting anything is harder at the initial stage but once you follow the steps which I have discussed with you earlier and you bring them into your daily routine, implementing them for achieving your goals, you would be successful ultimately that’s my belief. Visualize your dreams and work for them by fragmenting the steps. Start from small and make it bigger and bigger with diligent behaviour and persistence. Tell no one until you get the success because 99% of people would say “you can’t do it”. It will disappoint you and stop motivating you.
I hope you might get benefits through this write-up.