In The Power of Self-Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals, author Daniel Walter highlight strategies for becoming more self-discipline, mentally tough and self-motivated.
“Self-discipline is like a key—it unlocks the door to personal fulfillment and opens the door to the life you have been dreaming of. With self-discipline, the average person can rise further than intelligence and talent alone will take them, and the ordinary person can become extraordinary. On the other hand, an educated, talented person without self-discipline will rarely rise above mediocrity.”
The Benefits of Self-Discipline
Raises Your Self Confidence
A self-disciplined person is confident because, regardless of where they are at that moment, they know that they are the best version of themselves. They are eating properly, exercising, and working towards their goals. They feel good about life because they are in the driver’s seat, and they know exactly where they are going.
Build Better Relationships
A person with self-discipline is always going to live by their word; if you ask them to keep a secret, they will. They are often the same person in private as they are in public because they value integrity. These are rare traits and the world values them; therefore, a disciplined person is more likely to have a strong network of personal relationships because they are trustworthy.
You Will Stop Being Offended
When people are easily offended, it’s because they are not self-assured; they don’t know who they are or what they stand for, and so they view criticism (even when it is constructive) as an attack on their character and become deeply offended. Self-disciplined people don’t have this problem. They are confident, calm, and self-assured, and so it’s easy for them to take insults and criticisms on the chin. Self-disciplined people can handle constructive criticism—in fact, they value it because it pushes them to become better.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy
The status quo bias describes the human disposition to cling to what we are familiar with instead of reaching for the unknown. It explains why people remain stuck in their circumstances even though they would rather be elsewhere. Some examples are staying in an unfulfilling relationship or keeping a safe but boring job even though you have the opportunity to get better employment.
Loss Aversion Theory
It stipulates that in general, people don’t like losing things, and this is true even if the thing they lose wasn’t of high value. Before moving onto something that is perceived as better, we want evidence to prove that it is going to enhance our lives before detaching ourselves from what is not serving us.
The Mere Exposure Effect
Decades of research have found that the more we experience a particular phenomenon, the more we are likely to accept and like it.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
The Dunning-Kruger Effect occurs when an individual is not only incompetent in a certain area but fails to realize how bad they are at it. The person suffering from this issue has what is referred to as a “double burden,” which means they are continuously making mistakes in the same area. It is difficult for people to correct them because they are completely ignorant of their deficiencies. Instead of trying to improve their skills, they will continue moving in that direction because they truly believe in their abilities and will argue that their failure is because of bad luck.
Research suggests that the more familiar you become with something, whether it’s a skill or a subject, the likelihood that you will claim you are are an expert diminishes. In other words, the deeper you get into something, the more you realize how much more there is to learn about it.
Perform These Two Habits Before 8 am
There are two thing successful people do before 8:00 a.m.:
They Pray/Meditate:
Prayer and meditation is a top priority in every religion; even atheists who do not believe in a higher power spend time reflecting and meditating. People from all backgrounds are taking advantage of the benefits of mindfulness and use them as a way to enhance their personal lives.
Research has found that meditation is an effective pain management and stress reduction strategy. Meditation improves memory and brain function, according to scientist Benjamin Neal. Teachers use meditation in the classroom to help their students focus and concentrate. Actors, artists, and innovators use meditation to help get themselves ‘in the zone’ and boost creativity.
Spend Time Reading:
The most popular item on a wealthy person’s nightstand is a book. You will also find that many successful people have an entire library in their homes. Leaders are readers; if you want to increase your earnings, you’ve got to invest in learning. A successful person would rather spend $20 on a book than going to watch a movie for entertainment purposes.
Discipline Versus Procrastination:
The Core of Self-Discipline is doing what you need to do whether you feel like it or not. Inaction and making excuses are identical twins; there is no difference between them because they both lead to the same destination—failure. If you are going to wait until the conditions are just right, you’ve already lost the battle because when you want to do something, you are not stepping out of your comfort zone.
Seventy Percent Rule
The seventy percent rule states that you should get to work when you are seventy percent certain that you will succeed. One hundred percent certainty doesn’t exist—you will never know whether something is going to work out unless you try it. The only way you are going to master discipline is through consistent action.
The false hope syndrome
False hope syndrome is the belief that it’s easy to change your patterns of behavior. This leads to setting our expectations too high, which results in failure. Most of us have no idea how difficult it is to eliminate bad habits and assume that we are going to get everything we want out of life without facing a battle. False hope results in constant failure, which further reinforces the behavior we desire to change.
Discipline is about going through the temporary discomfort required for the long-term benefits.
Focus on the System
When you set a goal, you are focused on the result you want to achieve, but a system is about the process you are going to undertake to get there. If you want to win in life, forget about focusing on the outcome, focus on the system you are going to use to get to the outcome.
The Three Layers of Change
The Outcome:
Goal setting involves changing outcomes; for example, you want to lose 20 lbs., you want to win first place in your chosen sport, you want to publish a book, etc.
The Process:
Once you have set the goal, you then need to change your habits and systems. The process is associated with habit building. This might involve working out every day, keeping your desk organized, or developing a meditation routine.
Your Identity:
Your success is dependent upon changing your identity. You will need to transform your belief, system and change the way you think about yourself, others, and the world in general.
All the best in your quest to get better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
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