Self-Discipline: 23 Powerful Secrets You Need To Know
To achieve anything you’ve set out to despite the Recession
Imagine yourself on a hot summer day while you’re walking around the city…
Suddenly in a window pastry shop, you see an irresistible cake and you think, “wow, it would be delicious!” There is no chance to change your mind because it’s love at first sight. So without thinking twice, you open the shop’s door and buy it even though you’re on a diet.
Or think about the countless nights you had a coffee break before going to bed, even if you know that it will keep you awake. (I love coffee at night!) Have you ever done it?
And lastly, how many tasks have you started and never completed because they were challenging and you felt stuck?
Well, these are right some examples, the list could go on and on but it’s enough to explain the topic.
One of the options I’ve mentioned above sounds familiar, doesn’t it? If so, don’t worry, you’re not alone, all of us go through moments like that, me too, especially if I am in a bad mood.
But why did that happen? Well, the reason was a lack of self-discipline.
What Is Self-Discipline?
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment”
( Jim Rohn)
Self-discipline is a learnable skill. It is the awareness of taking action. It’s staying focused on the tasks you have to do, even when you don’t want to do them or when you are not in the right mood to put yourself at work.
Not only, but it’s also the ability to put off instant gratifications, stop following the easy way and things you know, and start working on the hard way, opening yourself to the unknown with courage.
Here are 23 powerful secrets you need to know to become strongly self-disciplined to achieve your most ambitious goals.
Let’s get started…
Secret #1: Set Clear Goals
You can’t achieve any goals if you don’t have a clear idea of what goals you want to achieve. The first step toward your goals is to think carefully about what you want to accomplish in life.
Take your time, and choose a place where you can sit down and listen to your inner voice. Be honest with yourself and write your answers down.
The next step is the most important…
You have to think about what you are willing to do to achieve your goals. Are you ready to fully commit yourself to working on them with discipline without giving up in tough times?
Well, if your answer is yes, congratulations! You can move on to the third step, taking action.
Visualize your goals, write them down, plan each action you must take to reach the outcome you have established, and start working on your most important goals consistently.
Secret #2: Take Massive Action
The worst thing that stops you from achieving what you want is fear. This feeling prevents you from acting with self-discipline.
When you fear something, your mind chooses for you, so you go for things you know and that makes you feel safe.
But the only way to achieve what you want is to overcome your fears and open yourself to new things because there is no growth in doing things you know, the same things lead to the same results.
If you want to grow you have to be willing to go out of your comfort zone not only physically, but also with your mindset disciplining yourself by taking massive action even when you are deathly scared to go in a new direction.
When I talk about taking massive action it doesn’t mean that you have to go for something without a plan or a direction. Definitely not! You must build an action plan before taking any action and jot down what you want to achieve carefully.
Everybody goes through bad moments where staying focused and committed is impossible. And not only, but in these moments, taking massive action, without discipline and the right mindset, is pretty hard.
I know this situation very well. You feel awful, unmotivated, doubting yourself, your goals, and everything you believed in.
And I also know it is hard to win such a terrible moment, but trust me, hard doesn’t mean impossible, and having the right discipline to come back on the right path will pay you in the long run.
Secret #3: Distance Yourself From Negativity
To overcome these unfocused moments, you only need to take a break and distance yourself, for a while, from everything that puts you down, even people.
Relax your mind by breathing slowly for at least ten minutes a day and repeat yourself: “I believe in myself,” “I believe in my goals,” “I can achieve anything,” and “I’m worthy.” So you can remove any negativity around you that can heavily influence your thoughts.
With breathing exercises, you can recover your balance and remove any kind of negativity.
Now ask yourself:
- Why you started
- How your goals are important
- What you’ve overcome until now
- How do you feel when you are productive?
- Where do you want to go
And when you feel focused again, you can go back to working on your goals with the right mindset. The best way to prevent these unfocused moments is to set daily goals, not more than three per day. That also prevents you from losing your focus again and from messing up your schedule.
Remember, daily goals lead to weekly goals. Weekly goals lead to monthly ones that lead to yearly outcomes until you reach the life you want.
Secret #4: Never Stop Learning
Commit yourself to be disciplined enough to learn something new every day.
Never stop learning because you think you know everything about some topic. That can’t be true. There will always be something new you have to learn to master what you do to stand out.
The more you learn the more you earn is not only a common saying but it’s true. The more you know about something and the more people see you as an expert.
The best investment you can make, which will give you a huge ROI, is in yourself. Brian Tracy talked about the importance of investing in self-development as a life-changing habit more than once and that’s the best suggestion.
Invest 3% of your earnings in self-development, every month, and year by year you become a master in your field. It will be worth the money!
Secret #5: Skills are the future
You can see it right now. The world is going through a deep transformation, a growing digital revolution, that will lead people to change their ways of thinking, living, and working. And the introduction of AI chatbots in many fields is a great example of that.
So what are you waiting for? Stop underestimating the power of knowledge, and commit yourself to learning new skills.
An hour a day every day to master your craft or learn a new skill will reward you in the future and help you to live a recession-proof life. Skills equal freedom. Today more than ever.
My word of advice: don’t listen to people who keep following traditional schemes thinking to still live in the Stone Age.
But build your path by listening to your inner voice. Everyone has his own path. And in the future, skills are going to beat traditional education.
Secret #6: Meditation
The key to your transformation lies in meditation. Practicing meditation changes you from the inside and allows you to stay focused during the whole day.
And the more focused you are, the more self-disciplined you become and you will be able to manage your tasks avoiding distractions. For this reason, having a morning routine it’s important.
Maybe it is not always possible to fulfill each morning ritual you usually do for many reasons, but skipping your morning meditation session can’t become a habit.
Consistency is the gateway to having life-changing results and not only in meditation.
Secret #7: Delay Instant Gratification
“You reap what you sow”, so if you want to achieve something great, train yourself to delay instant gratification in the short term and you’ll see rewards in the long term. Nothing easily achieved lasts in the long run or fulfills you completely.
If you want to change your life, you have to be willing to sacrifice yourself to achieve your goals.
In the beginning, it won’t be easy and I know it, but if you commit yourself with self-discipline you will be able to put in the long hours easier than you can imagine.
The hardest thing is starting. Don’t overthink…Just start!
Distance yourself from people who chase instant gratification or put you down and discourage you from keeping a self-disciplined attitude. It’s vital for your growth.
Secret #8: Love And Respect Yourself More
That’s one of the reasons why self-disciplined people achieve what they set out to.
You can’t become self-disciplined if you don’t love and respect yourself enough because that influences your beliefs and the chance to take action and stay focused during the process.
To love and respect yourself, first thing first, you have to know yourself deeply.
Start writing down your main strengths and your weak spots. Then work on your weak spots, so you can change and strengthen them. It’s a super useful exercise. I did it and it was eye-opening.
Another way self-disciplined people love and respect themselves is by taking care of themselves with a healthy lifestyle.
That means they only eat healthy foods and resist any temptations, candies and fatty foods, for example.
Most people think that skipping breakfast helps to lose weight. That’s wrong! Having breakfast every morning is the secret to keeping your weight under control, obviously avoiding any kind of packaged cakes, snacks, and things like that.
It’s healthier to eat a home-baked cake, a bread roll, or some slices of bread with jam, or some cereals, combined with a cappuccino, a coffee, an orange juice, or whatever you like, to kick off your day with the right energy but low in calories.
And having a healthy lifestyle starts exactly with having a healthy breakfast every morning. But not only. Eating three meals with two breaks during the day is essential. If you can, for your break, choose some fruit or yogurt.
So, to prevent slowing down your metabolism and have a healthy lifestyle, avoid skipping a meal.
And it’s here that self-discipline comes into play, to train yourself to be consistent in building healthy eating habits and avoiding bad ones. And don’t forget to do some kind of exercise, a walk if you don’t have too much time it’s enough.
To sum up, being self-disciplined is a great way to love and respect yourself above all else, and loving and respecting yourself is your hidden strength to become self-disciplined in everything you do, like a pro.
Secret #9: Set Boundaries
Being disciplined also means being able to set boundaries in your life, stop being a people pleaser, and learn to say “no” more often. You are your priority.
You can’t be available 24/24 and 7/7 for anyone and take care of any problems of the World. You’re not a superhero with unlimited superpowers! You’re a human being and you only have to be your own hero.
Time is limited and you need to value your time and respect yourself by setting boundaries for yourself and people or activities that make you waste your time.
Secret #10: Shape Your Character
The first step to becoming more self-disciplined is to believe in yourself, and your goals, and think about the person you want to become.
Then start working on yourself every day to shape your character based on that person, being yourself no matter where you are, working especially on your emotional intelligence to become unwavering.
In the second step, sit down at your desk and put your thoughts on paper. Organize them, and then ask yourself:
- What are you willing to do and sacrifice to become that person?
- Are you strong enough to live your life without caring too much about what other people think, keep trusting your vision, and keep going for your goals?
- What do you have to change today to get closer to the person you want to become?
Next step, write your answers down, think about your future self, and start working hard to become that person, no matter what happens around you. That’s what self-disciplined people do every day.
Secret #11: Be Your Big Fan
No one claps you at the beginning. No one understands your vision. No one helps you achieve your goals. It’s the hard truth!
The earlier you understand and accept that, the stronger you become. It’s not easy, but you have to accept that.
Also remember that criticisms are part of the game, the further you go the more some people will try to stop you or discourage you with their judgments. Don’t listen to anybody but keep going.
Self-discipline is exactly that. It’s to keep going even when no one supports you, nobody believes in you or your goals, and discourages you with doubts that should stop you. Don’t care!
Honestly, if you listen to them by caring too much about what people think or say, you’re wasting your time. Let go, it’s not relevant to your growth. Focus on yourself, be your big fan, and move on.
Secret #12: Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
The worst thing you can do is compare yourself to other people. That’s the first reason many people never achieve great results. They move their focus from what they want to achieve to what other people achieved.
And that’s a huge mistake because everyone has a different purpose and path. Some people start earlier than others, and it’s ok, but that doesn’t mean that you are a loser. Some people fail to try, and others never fail because they never try. As I’ve just said, each path is different.
It’s a fact that every expert was once a beginner. Experience comes from working on what you do consistently. Consistency implies staying focused on what you do with self-discipline.
So stop losing focus by comparing your beginning with people who are almost at the top. You can’t become an expert if you never start. And comparison makes you feel “not enough” and that stops you from starting.
Secret #13: Focus On Your Goals
“You” are your most important project, so focus on your goals. Giving up is forbidden even when you’re hitting rock bottom.
A fighter never surrenders and never loses focus on his purpose. So, visualize, believe it, take action, and keep fighting.
That’s the key to achieving what you want, and self-discipline is the one thing that will help you to keep working on yourself with motivation without giving up on distractions.
Remember, self-disciplined people, are so focused and busy achieving goals that they have no time to waste on things without importance.
A great piece of advice if you want to change your life and become the best version of yourself is to follow the leaders and people in your field who you appreciate the most.
Study everything about them, their failures, their strategies used to go from failures to success, their habits, their weaknesses, and their strengths, and learn from them.
Secret #14: Accept Responsibility
Being self-disciplined also consists in accepting responsibilities. Only this is the way to take your life to the next level.
Accept responsibility and stop blaming others for what happened, happens or it’s going to happen in your life.
Remember, some people destroy other people’s lives, balance, and inner peace only because they have previous inner problems and are living a life without a purpose.
They simply hate to see other people happy, so to feel good they hurt other people. That’s it! It’s not a problem with you but within themselves.
Self-disciplined people, no matter what happens, or who caused the problem, are responsible for their life, happiness, failure, or success, even when what is trying to destroy their balance is an external factor.
That means, you are the only one responsible for your life and if something doesn’t go the way you’ve planned or someone makes you feel like an idiot or humiliates you, or stops your growth, it’s your fault, for not having been strong and disciplined enough to avoid that.
So learn from disciplined people and start accepting any responsibility for everything in your life and if something goes wrong, it’s not the end, but a new beginning. Take charge of your life even if that means starting over and over again.
Ambitious paths are full of mistakes, and obstacles, but that doesn’t mean you must give up before achieving your goals only because of some setbacks. Absolutely not! It’s the opposite.
A self-disciplined attitude is learning from mistakes and negative moments by rewriting the path toward your goals with full authority over your life.
Secret #15: Wake Up Early
It’s proven that waking up early has countless benefits and is related to a high level of productivity. Maybe not everyone is a morning person, and that is normal.
Some people work better in the afternoon, and others have a better focus at night, but the early hours of the day are crucial if you want to change your life.
When I wake up early I am super productive, focused, and less tired. But, honestly speaking, if for some reason I turn off the alarm clock or when I miss it, my day will be unproductive and I will feel overwhelmed.
Waking up early has another positive side, the peace around you and the time for yourself. You can enjoy your coffee and your breakfast becomes a ritual that helps you start the day on the right foot.
Waking up early at the beginning won’t be easy, especially in winter, but self-disciplined people do it. And you can do it too.
If you want to change your present and create the future you deserve, discipline yourself to wake up early even when going out of bed is extremely hard.
Secret #16: The Power Of Habits
Self-discipline starts when you understand that the secret to achieving any goals is to build habits.
Decide what you want to do with your life, then start building your habits, and day by day you can lead your life in the direction of your goals.
Studies show that it takes 21 days to break an old habit and learn a new one and 66 days to make “yours” this new habit, so it becomes second nature.
But only with self-discipline, commitment, and consistency can you master any skills, habits, or whatever you want to master and become a better version of yourself.
Secret #17: Repetition Is Key
According to Zig Ziglar, “repetition is the mother of learning” and that’s true.
Repetition is the secret to mastering any habits and skills. Your goals are the result of small and daily habits repeated again and again.
If you invest time every day practicing, no matter what you have to do, learning a new language, a new sport, starting a new business, etc., you can achieve excellent results.
Think about a child that needs to learn something new. What does he do to get better at that? He practices every day, again and again. So everybody should do so to accomplish anything in life.
Self-discipline consists of being willing to repeat what you want to learn to become a pro without getting bored. Practice beats theory, it’s a fact.
Secret #18: Visualize Your Future Self
In self-discipline visualization is key. To achieve your most ambitious goals it’s important to visualize your future self and even better if you write down what you’ve visualized.
And then ask yourself:
- What are the things you have yet?
- What are the things you don’t have and that you would need to lead yourself toward the future self you’ve visualized?
- What action do you have to take to achieve what you’ve written?
Answering those questions honestly will become your little road map for your transformation.
Secret #19: Be Different
In a world made of followers, be a leader. How can you do that? Being different.
Never be afraid of being different from the crowd, never be afraid of having your personality and thoughts, and never be afraid of being “you” with all your most authentic shades.
Probably you’re thinking, what does being different have to do with self-discipline?
The answer is that only determined, focused, and self-disciplined people have the strength to stay faithful to their inner voice, and personality, and keep being themselves anyway.
Secret #20: Stop Wasting Your Energy And Time
Stop wasting your energy on things without importance. Invest your time in what counts the most for you and that can completely change your life.
For example, self-disciplined people choose their environment carefully because it’s important to spend time with the right people.
That will determine how your future is going to be. So, stop wasting your time filling your life with the wrong people.
Jim Rohn said: “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” and that’s totally true.
Most people, including myself, tend to surround themselves with people that have nothing in common, and instead of bringing value to their life, they stop their growth. I did it! And believe me, that was my worst mistake!
Again, please, choose carefully the people you spend your time with because that will shape your thoughts and will influence how far you can go in your life.
So be wise, and spend your time with the right people! I would have paid gold if someone had told me that in my twenties!
Secret #21: Read A Lot
Self-discipline helps you to understand the benefit of choosing to read a book, or learning a new skill, instead of spending hours watching TV and wasting your time.
The more you feed your brain with self-improvement activities, the more your life will change for the better.
Secret #22: Limit Your Choices
Train yourself to be self-disciplined enough to limit the options when you make a decision, in everything you do daily, both important tasks and simple things.
For example, limiting the choices you make for what you wear every day it’s a good point to start to save time.
Decide the night before what you want to wear, so the next morning you’re going to be ready in less time and without stress.
But not more than three options. Too many choices are a waste of time and confuse your mind.
Secret #23: Positive Self-Talks
What you think, and what you say to yourself, will become your reality and your motivation to keep going or the limitations that stop you.
Your thoughts feed your subconscious mind that turns what you say to yourself or simply what you think the most, into reality and if you feed your brain with negative thoughts, that affects your growth and prevents you from becoming self-disciplined.
And what you accomplish depends on the level of self-discipline you put into what you do.
Learn from self-disciplined people who nourish their minds with positive thoughts, positive affirmations, and a clear vision of their goals and your life will change for the better.
Final thoughts
To have different results you have to do different things and take different actions. And how can you do that?
You can do that by learning to be more self-disciplined, going for what you want, and doing what you have to do even when you don’t feel ready or you’re not in the mood.
Clarity is crucial to achieving anything and if you aren’t clear with yourself about your goals, you can’t draw the path that can lead you to succeed in life.
So, first of all, set clear goals and then take massive action no matter how scared you are, no matter if you’re going through unfocused moments, and no matter how many people will try to lower your self-confidence.
Never doubt yourself and do like self-disciplined people who are lifelong learners. And that is the first reason for unwavering self-confidence that is essential to become self-disciplined. So if you want to achieve great results, emulate them and never stop learning.
That’s the secret to mastering the skill you already know and today more than ever the more skills you have the more you can achieve financial freedom and say bye-bye to 9–5 underpaid jobs.
If you want to stay focused and self-disciplined, meditation is a perfect choice, especially if it becomes part of your morning routine, because it helps you to start your day on the right foot.
Delaying instant gratification today will pay you in the future. Don’t follow people who choose instant gratification to avoid working on something that gives results only in the long term.
Love and respect yourself by having a healthy lifestyle, and by setting boundaries to value your time.
Shape your character based on the person you want to become, believe in yourself even if no one does it, and be your big fan supporting and motivating yourself every day, even on bad days. You know what you want, so go for it with determination.
And never compare yourself with other people because that stops you from taking action. In comparing your path with someone else’s path there is no growth. Different people have different paths. So build your own and focus on your goal to become the best version of yourself.
Accept responsibility for everything you do or don’t do, for every success or failure without blaming people, no matter what happened, because people do things for many reasons, but it’s your responsibility to demand people respect you.
Self-discipline also means waking up early to supercharge yourself and have a more productive day. But not only, but you can also have more time for reading something inspirational, journaling, working out, meditating, or whatever you want to do.
Another important thing if you want to change your life is to establish new habits and add them to your routine. Repetition is the secret to mastering new habits and building the path that will lead you to live the life you deserve.
Be strong enough to have the courage to be different. Consider yourself as a new brand. Being different is your Unique Selling Proposition that helps you stand out from the crowd.
Never change who you are to fit with your environment, but stay faithful to yourself and be yourself in everything you do.
Stop wasting your energy and time doing useless things or surrounding yourself with the wrong people. The quality of the people you surround yourself with will shape and influence your future. Choose wisely!!
Self-disciplined people read a lot. They never waste their time binge-watching TV. Be one of them and spend your time growing.
Limiting your daily choices is a habit that helps you to be more self-disciplined, saving time and preventing you from starting the day stressed out.
Last but not least, self-disciplined people feed their brains with daily positive self-talk.
It helps the subconscious mind turn what you say or think into reality, so talk to yourself as if you were your “life coach” and motivate yourself every day, especially in a bad mood.
That’s it! Here are my 23 powerful secrets to help you become more self-disciplined and focused, so you can achieve anything you want. Enjoy!
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