Developing Self-discipline

By M.Farouk Radwan. MSc.

The Definition of Self-discipline

Self-discipline is the ability to delay a current short term benefit for the sake of a more important future benefit.

For instance, waking up half an hour earlier every day in order to go jogging is an example of scarifying a short term goal (sleeping more) for the sake of reaching a bigger goal (staying healthy and in form). In short, self-discipline is all about going against your emotions and desires so that you can reach your goals.

Developing Self-discipline

Developing self-discipline can be done by practice. The more you resist your emotions and take unemotional decisions the more disciplined you will become. Similarly, the more you let your emotions control the decisions you take the weaker your self-discipline will become.

You don’t have to wait for an opportunity to develop self-discipline but you can start now. Search for something that really requires strong self-discipline, like committing to exercising every day no matter what the conditions are. Go and work out even if it was a cloudy, rainy or stormy day. The more you go against the conditions and your emotions the more you will strengthen your self-discipline.

The Pitfall that most People Fall In

Most people are not disciplined at all, take for instance, the example of someone who exercises regularly and upon finding that it raining he just says “I won’t go today because it’s too cold. I’ll make up for it tomorrow”.

While he may go tomorrow as he said still he has weakened his own self-discipline without even noticing it.

Can I Be Disciplined in One Thing and not Another?

Definitely! Self-discipline is like self-confidence. it can’t be generalized. A disciplined stock market investor who knows how to trade without letting his greed take over him may not be able to resist an ice-cream even though he is overweight.

You must build your discipline on an activity by activity basis, However, although your activities are separate they still affect each other. For example a person who is disciplined in eighty percent of what he does will find that developing self-discipline for the other twenty percent is much easier.

The Importance of Self-discipline

When i first developed 2knowmyself.com i committed to working on it few hours per day under all conditions. I had bad days, busy days, stressful days and various types of days yet i didn’t stop. During that time 2knowmyself was barely making 0.7 USD dollars/day.

Nowadays 2knowmyself generates thousands of dollars/month. its the self discipline that helped me setup a successful website. If i had lost hope in the middle of the road i wouldn’t have managed to have a wonderful source of income like this one.

Simply put, developing self-discipline will let you achieve your goals regardless of any other factors. Even though different situations and external circumstances will affect your mood still your emotions will play no role in your decision making because you are disciplined.

In addition to all of these benefits, think of all the bad habits that you could kick if you developed and increased your self-discipline.

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