How to remain consistent and reach your goals
It’s not all about being motivated
Human beings as a whole tend to shy away from adversity, opting to stay comfortable and remain in a safe space doing things that we enjoy. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, as spending time doing what interests you is how passion is built in certain areas like sports, music, etc. The problem arises when in the pursuit of fun, we run away from necessary adversity. Necessary adversity encompasses tasks that if completed, result in us becoming better and more well rounded people. Due to our love for our comfort zone, we postpone the journey to overcoming these adversities until eventually, we just don’t care to try anymore. It’s at this point that we may find excuses to use and justify our failures but finally our thoughts become scattered as we finally visualize what we could have become, what could have been, and realize there’s only one person to blame for our stagnation, ourselves. This makes us view ourselves in a negative light, making us believe that we have a problem that may not be rectifiable. We may become depressed, lose our drive for daily activities and all these ultimately result in a breakdown.
The key to avoiding all of this is, of course, discipline but this doesn’t just happen. When we desire to be more stable in life, in cases like making healthier choices or taking our work and responsibilities more seriously, taking the first step is the hardest part. This is because we like being comfortable, why would we leave our comfort zone where it’s peaceful most of the time. We end up staying in this toxic relationship with our former self because things aren’t always bad and we downplay the memories of when the bad things happen to justify staying comfortable. This is where motivation comes in.
Motivation is the driving factor for change. When we choose to embark on a journey of self-development, that choice is a reaction of our minds to some form of motivation whether intrinsic (becoming better is its own reward) , or extrinsic (becoming better results in a reward like money, fame, etc). Motivation allows us to start the engine, but we won’t last long on the road to our better selves as a car can’t go the mileage without fuel which to us, is discipline or rather, self-discipline.
The term discipline has a myriad of definitions all pointing to the act of behaving a certain way or conforming to particular standards and these behaviors are often checked or regulated by an outside entity which is normally an authority figure like our teachers or coaches.Self-discipline is different as it involves controlling ourselves, being our own coach and forcing ourselves out of our comfort zone, making sure that we’re on the right path to changing ourselves for the better.When we have found that voice within us that stops us from repeating old habits while urging us to move forward, is when the magic truly begins. We end up making better choices moving forward, being accountable for the bad choices we make and correcting ourselves while taking steps to ensure that we don’t make the wrong choices again. The beauty of self-discipline is that we can’t shift blame or give credit to anyone but ourselves for the things we’ve done because only we know what it took to get there.That accountability would cement the good habits, wash away the bad ones, ultimately resulting in a new lifestyle that conforms to the positive changes that we decided to make about ourselves.
After the change has been etched in stone, we can then look back at our ignorance and educate others willing to embark on the same journey. Those people may ask how we did it, even share their challenges to us asking for any words of encouragement or advice to help with consistency. We know that the answer to all this is, of course, self-discipline, and keeping a watchful eye on yourself while remaining impartial as that remains the key to discipline and consistency.
The sad thing is, many are unable to do this. I’ve found that the secret to remaining on the path of self-discipline is simply to look ahead. This involves looking past all the inconveniences and obstacles we might face in the present by keeping an eye on the prize we would be awarded in the future. These trials don’t exist to stop our journey but only to test our mettle, to make sure that we are serious about wanting to be better and the beautiful thing is, once we can overcome all of these obstacles, we will not only reach our goals, but because of what we have overcome, we can truly enjoy the success we craved.
