Self discipline is one of the most important and useful inner powers in everyone's life. It has always been considered an essential tool for success, in all areas of life.
Self discipline can be learned and developed like any other skill. Sadly, only few take any steps to develop and strengthen them in a systematic way.
This is an area I am trying to develop myself and I turned to, Self-Discipline In 10 Days, Going From Thinking To Doing, a book by Dr.Brooks & Dr.Goldstein.
Here are a few highlights….
Self-discipline is:
Becoming aware of your subconscious resistances to action, then overcoming those resistances.
The process of coordinating your conscious and subconscious psychological elements.
1. Accept Ownership for Your behavior
This should not be confused either with blaming ourselves or justifying behaviors that are inappropriate. Acceptance implies that we assume responsibility for our actions. We don’t resort to realizations such as “He made me angry”, “She was very persuasive, and that’s why I did such a foolish thing.”2. Think before you act- Become a proactive problem solver
When I read that one, my reaction was “ya, right.. .. easier said than done.”. Most likely, we all have occasionally acted without thinking. At times it may be adaptive to do so, such as when we instinctively jump out of the way of an incoming car. At other times, no hard is done by an impulsive action.3. Be consistent, not rigid
We often witness this in people whose mood on a particular day determines their behavior and their level of self-control. Their response to similar situations varies based on how they are feeling at the moment, rather than on the reality of the situation.Time is the one indispensable ingredient of accomplishment. Everything you want to achieve requires time. The only way you can get enough time to do the things that can really make a difference in your life is by conserving time that you would normally spend somewhere else. You are surrounded by people and circumstances that waste your time and undermine your effectiveness all day long. Only by practicing rigorous self-discipline can you free yourself from these thieves of time.
