5 Ways to Improve Self Discipline
Self discipline means to act on what you think instead of how you feel in the moment. Without this valuable trait you will be driven by your feelings and wants instead of by your thinking mind and your goals. Self discipline is developed in many ways.
In the book “The Power of Habit” Charles Duhigg talks about the fact that self discipline is a habit that can be developed. I see this with many of my clients. A new habitual way of thinking must be developed. The old way of thinking has become automatic, since the subconscious mind makes behaviors that are done routinely into habits. This is also why when you change a habit whether a thinking habit or a behavior it will take weeks of reinforcement to finally feel comfortable and become automatic.
Some great ways to create more self discipline are:
1. Develop self awareness-By becoming more aware of your habits and behaviors you take the first step to change. Any kind of habit or behavior like self discipline needs reinforcement over time to change the cognitive maps of the mind.
2. Know what you really want. To develop self discipline you need to know the desired outcome. Write your goals in the SMART format and make sure that you have all the specific details that will make them real for you.
3. Commit- in other words to make a promise to yourself. Decide which aspects of your life you would like develop more discipline. Once you commit things will start to change.
4. Break your goals into small manageable steps and take action. In NLP we call this process “chunking down”. By breaking a goal into small steps you remove overwhelm and the goal becomes more accessible. When you take action towards a goal it increases self esteem and self discipline
5. Change your social network. By choosing to be with people who have more self discipline your habits and behaviors will improve as well.
When you apply these 5 techniques to your life you will find you are more disciplined. By using your thinking mind to be more in control of your feelings you will accomplish more and feel better in the process.
Please comment to add ways that you have increased self discipline in your life.
