A word that I used to hate, felt intimidated by and didn’t understand. What is so important about becoming more self-disciplined?
“The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success.” — Maxwell Maltz
Without self-discipline, we chase short-term pleasure and dispense with the idea of a greater possible future. We get tempted by the opportunities that currently present themselves, which offer short-term pleasure. We do not want to think about the accompanying future guilt of pursuing this short-term pleasure. If we set a goal for a better physique, we know that by eating this piece of cake we will feel good for a brief moment. However, self-aware people get an accompanied feeling of guilt with the cake itself.
So why do so many people struggle with self-discipline? While we know that future benefits will be greater than the short-term gain. But is this really true? It could very well be that I drop dead after eating this piece of cake, then there won’t be a future benefit by not eating the piece of cake. If someone would present you the choice to either have a bit of short-term pleasure or no pleasure at all, most people would opt for short-term pleasure.
