The Underestimated Self-Care Hack: Self-Discipline

Photo by Jen P. on Unsplash

“At the center of bringing any dream into fruition is Self-Discipline.”
– Will Smith

I grew up in an environment where discipline was seen as a scary concept for children. Where it was enforced, tears and wails followed shortly.

Now an adult, I realize there are many areas of our lives where we exercise self-discipline without being conscious of it.

What Self-Discipline Truly Is?

Self-discipline simply means consistent self-control. It is a skill that allows a person to stick to achieving their set goals and habits. Self-discipline wards off inconsistency, addictions, and the urge to procrastinate.

Self-discipline is not so much resisting temptations as it is employing tactics to avoid such pitfalls.

So why does the word put people off?

What Will Smith said:

“Often, people think of the word discipline as something negative, like when you have to discipline a child or when you punish yourself for not being disciplined enough. Discipline should not be thought of in this negative sense, but instead, we should take the punishment out of it and think of it as a choice .”

Basically, discipline is inherently a positive reinforcement to ensure the accomplishment of goals.

Discipline As Self-Care

You take care of yourself when:

You stick to the decisions you’ve made that are on par with the mental image of your successful self.

You have a better estimation of yourself when you take your goals seriously.

You reduce the longing for instant gratification and welcome long term rewards.

You accept responsibility for falling short on your commitments and resolving to be better despite the temptation to remain below average

You maintain a healthy body and mind by controlling what you consume from food options to entertainment choices.

Here are 3 simple ways you can build disciplinary actions:

1. Predict your pitfalls: Simply identify the things that hold you back, don’t keep yourself in denial of them else you repeat these habits more and more until it becomes normal for you to do. Once you’ve identified them, move on to constructing a realistic plan of getting around them.
2. Conscious prioritizing: You may be wondering if prioritizing can be done unconsciously. The answer is yes. When you choose to feed your body and mind with harmful things, you’re prioritizing an unhealthy body over a healthy one. When you decide to fall short on commitments to other people, you’re prioritizing unstable relationships to stable ones. Therefore, deliberately deciding and mapping out your actions will help you build discipline because you know that the negligence of this will attract the execution of actions that lead to undesirable results.
3. Be consistent: Consistency is the key to achieving discipline. When you repeat an action over and over again, it becomes a part of your identity. It’s easy to get discouraged so start small and reward yourself for showing up.

“Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from the expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear — and doubt. Self-discipline allows a person to feel his individuality, his inner strength, his talent. He is the master of, rather than a slave to, his thoughts and emotions.” H. A. Dorfman.