Efficient Ways to Become Self-Disciplined – Starting Today!
You might be doing a 9-5 job you enjoy, or you might feel stuck in a day job you don’t like – but one thing is for sure.
Everyone’s trying to create an online business that will create another source of income – but it all starts way before the skills you would need to learn.
It all starts with self-discipline. But how to become more self disciplined – especially if you’ve never been disciplined in the past?
Are you a person who does everything you have in mind or you still procrastinate here and there? Nobody is perfect no matter how hard we try.
But in this post, I’ll show you ways that helped me become self-disciplined as a freelancer and digital marketer. There is no better way to boost your productivity and improve the efficiency of everything you do.
The Importance of Self Discipline
Most entrepreneurs, internet business owners, and freelancers swear that the number one thing to taking action is desire.
It makes sense – if you want something bad, you’ll go and do it, right?
Have you maybe read a book by Napoleon Hill called Think and Grow Rich? The exact number one step to achieving anything you wish is having a desire.
Even though I agree – I still believe that self-discipline is as important as desire. Some people have the desire to do fun things throughout a day only to cancel plans later in the day. Imagine if you weren’t up to do anything interesting yet hard and time-consuming business task?
Self-discipline is one of the most important characteristics of every freelancer, online business owner, or self-employed person.
Why?
Because, if you are not held accountable by another person and you have full control over your business – the last thing you want to do is procrastinate.
Do you know what would happen? A business would fail because you get out of your business what you put into it.
Even I am guilty of postponing things – because I know I have the ability to do that. While this is a very attractive ability (or a privilege) – it’s one that can break your discipline.
Difference Between Discipline and Self Discipline
Do you think there is a difference between discipline and self-discipline?
While most people mistake these two terms for one – there is a big difference, even though these two terms are related.
Self-Discipline is a form of discipline, yet it only removes the threat of external punishment. Not quite getting it? Here’s an example.
If you’re in a 9-5 job, you know you can’t be late to work. You know exactly what you need to get done in a day – and no matter how much you hate it, your boss is expecting it delivered by the end of the day.
This leads to discipline, and in fact, that’s actually how most people acquire their discipline.
On the other hand, self-discipline requires a person to have a higher authority in control of their behavior in order to make a decision and take action even when no one is holding you accountable.
How many of you think that this is true?
Just think of the last time you did something you didn’t like just because you “had to”. Now think of the last time you did something you didn’t like – but without feeling the pressure to do it.
I believe that plenty of you will be able to come up with an answer to the first question – but not many of you will have an answer to the second question.
And that’s okay. Even though I think of myself as a highly self-disciplined person – I wasn’t always like this. Therefore, let me show you how to become more self-disciplined, starting today!
How to Become More Self Disciplined?
I know how hard it is to be self-disciplined, especially when you’re sitting in front of a laptop.
Will you go to Wealthy Affiliate and finish the next lesson, or you’d just settle with YouTube for the evening?
With so many distractions in the modern world – it’s not easy to discipline yourself. But neither it is impossible. Here is what you should pay attention to as they’re easily related to your character.
Weaknesses Are a Part of The Life
Everyone has weaknesses. I know I do have plenty of them. But even before trying to correct your weaknesses – you need to know your weaknesses.
Weaknesses come in different shapes and types. Sometimes, it’s just a snack for someone who’s trying to watch their weight.
On the other hand, it’s a notification for a new YouTube video from your favorite YouTuber when you’re trying to get some work done.
Don’t go very hard on yourself when you make mistakes because of your weaknesses. Instead, use this to help yourself and learn about your weaknesses.
Everyone has flaws and by owning up to them – you’re taking the control.
Eliminate Temptations
Once you know your weaknesses – you will be able to eliminate all the negative temptations in your environment.
Removing temptations will drastically help you increase your self-discipline. There’s one thing that has worked for me.
Whenever I open my laptop with the purpose of getting some work done – I turn off notifications and silence my smartphone.
If I don’t – I’d end up browsing through Facebook, watching YouTube videos, or even chatting to people while I’m supposed to be working.
Have Clear Goals & Plans
After you acknowledge your weaknesses and remove temptations, you should make clear goals and plans. No matter how small your goals are – they’re important.
Why?
Because they lead to success and you want to have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Also, if you don’t know exactly what you need to do – you might end up spending time on unnecessary tasks for the day.
Personally, I always create a small to-do list whenever I feel like I have plenty of things to do on my plate. Otherwise, I simply rely on the Trello board where I list big & important tasks I have to do for the day.
Build New Habits
Building new habits might seem like a lot of work at first – but trust me, it’s worth it.
Instead of trying to change everything at once, you should focus on small things and accomplishing your goals.
There is no better way to build new habits than getting down to work and just let the magic happens.
Sometimes, I feel unease when I haven’t finished something I had planned. Especially when the reason is that I wasn’t feeling like finishing it that particular day.
But do you know that exciting & positive feeling you have when you’ve done all you had in plan for the day? That’s the feeling of accomplishment – and the more you put yourself in such a situation, the faster new habits will follow.
Eat Plenty of Food & Stay Hydrated
Sometimes when I feel a great flow of productivity when I work – I might not close the laptop and go get something to eat.
This happens even though I know I have to eat. This might seem like a good decision at first – but believe me, it’s not.
Can you guess why?
Yes, I get hungry soon and once you’re hungry – it’s already too late. If snacks are your weakness – you’ll just put yourself in temptation.
Everyone’s different – but the same rule applies to everyone else. Therefore, stay fresh by eating often (healthy if possible) and drink enough water.
This will keep you sharp and on point – keeping you productive for a lot longer, and most importantly, self-discipline in moments you might be tempted by your weaknesses.
Reward Yourself
How often do you find yourself looking at the end goal, the result, and wishing you could just jump straight to it and remove all the work in between?
Yes, that’s me as well.
This is just one of the reasons why it’s important to set small (short-term) and big (long-term) goals that you can accomplish on a daily basis.
Every time you accomplish something, reward yourself.
The worst thing you can do is not acknowledge the good work you did, no matter how small it was.
After all, you have to sit down and spend time thinking, writing, and taking action on a specific task. That’s already a step forward to better self-discipline.
Forgive Yourself
All these steps might seem great and get you motivated to improve your self-discipline, but the truth is – it can take quite some time until you achieve a level of self-discipline where you are happy with the results.
Of course, you will stray away from the path along the way a couple of times. But that’s the part of the process.
Forgive yourself for falling for your temptations and even if everything’s going well according to the plan – still make sure to give yourself some free time.
Don’t go hard on yourself, but keep yourself motivated and improve your perception of willpower because the amount of willpower you have is determined by your beliefs.
Therefore, as long as you’re taking action and actively working on your self-discipline – you’re taking a big step forward and you’re making progress, no matter how small it might seem.
Conclusion
If you actively work on improving your self-discipline, one day, you’ll look back and the results will amaze you. At first, it might be really hard to stay on the right track, but the results are totally worth it.
Whether you’re looking to get more self-disciplined so you can be more productive at work, finally start the project you’ve been dragging on for months, or simply increase the quality of your daily life – these 7 steps are everything you need.
Now when you know how to become more self disciplined, bookmark or share this post so you can come back to it whenever you need inspiration, motivation, or help.
What is it that you would like to achieve in the next 3 months? How about the next 3 weeks?
I want you to write down your goals down in the comments below and I’ll hold you accountable to help you get started!
Feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll be pleased to help you out!
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