The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals

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Written by two experts, Drs. Richard Guare and Peg Dawson, along with young adult Colin Guare, this book is predominantly aimed at parents. Walter explains that following a healthy morning and evening routine makes it easier to engage in productive behaviors and make good choices. Making these routines a habit will help you to resist unproductive temptations—like sleeping in, eating poorly, or staying up too late—that decrease your self-discipline abilities.

Walter explains that one of the habits most detrimental to self-discipline is acting on our impulses without thinking. This habit can come in the form of giving into temptations, like the urge to give up, or giving into instant gratification—choosing something that’s immediately rewarding even if it’s bad for us in the long term. Walter recommends developing two habits that will help you control your impulses: keeping in mind the 40% rule and following the 10-minute rule. Time-bound: Set a deadline for achieving your goal. This creates a sense of urgency, which can help you maintain discipline and stay focused on your objective. Acquiring self-discipline and working to instill a new habit can feel daunting at first, especially if you focus on the entire task at hand. To avoid feeling intimidated, keep it simple. Break your goal into small, doable steps. Instead of trying to change everything at once, focus on doing one thing consistently and master self-discipline with that goal in mind. The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit – Amy Johnson PhD and Mark Howard PhD However, while Walter focuses on building positive associations to replace old ones that cause unproductive behaviors, this might not be enough to completely override the original negative association. To ensure that your old associations are completely undone and replaced by new, positive ones, Robbins recommends taking a few additional steps:When you think of Buddhism, the world discipline is usually not far away. In fact, discipline is right at the core of Buddhist teachings. The most obvious and direct way to become disciplined is through the practice of suitable exercises. This has been covered extensively in my book on this topic. Stay focused on your long-term vision: Successful individuals often exhibit a strong sense of purpose and a clear vision for their future. By staying focused on your long-term goals and prioritizing them over short-term distractions, you can cultivate discipline and increase your chances of success. Become aware of your undisciplined behavior and its consequences. When this awareness increases, you will be more convinced of the need to make a change in your life. Michael Phelps: The most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps exhibited incredible discipline in his training regimen. He spent countless hours in the pool, honing his skills and pushing his limits, which ultimately led to his record-breaking performances. Michael Phelps

It helps us stay focused, deal adaptively with distractions, and accomplish what we intend to do, among many other things. Self-control is a critical aspect of discipline, as it enables us to resist distractions, manage impulses, and prioritize our long-term goals. Here are some strategies for improving self-control: I am here on the web searching for a book hoping to self treat myself. No I am looking for empathy but a solution Reply These benefits can arguably help you avoid instant gratification even outside of a work context. For example, if you feel the urge to binge eat, you can spend 10 minutes doing yoga instead. You’ll be less likely to feel the urge to do something that harms your health after spending 10 minutes doing something to benefit it. Habit #4: Become Familiar With DiscomfortCreate a timeline. Based on the deadline, actions, and obstacles you identified in Step 3, create a timeline showing what you need to do and when to achieve your goal on time. This step aligns with Walter’s recommendation to create a routine.

Shortform note: In The 12 Week Year, Brian Moran agrees that you won’t be inspired to hold yourself accountable (practice self-discipline) and shoot for goals if you’re not fully committed. He explains that weak commitments are a product of our subconscious intentions . For example, you might struggle to fully commit to losing weight because your subconscious wants to binge eat. These subconscious intentions have the most power over our behavior when we’re unaware of them. Therefore, to fully commit to your goals, become aware of these intentions. You can do this by identifying the limiting thoughts, beliefs, and habits that are making you subconsciously resist your goals and replacing them with more positive ones.) Increase Commitment by Pacing Yourself and Creating a Routine

She changed her habits, started thinking methodically, and put her ideas into motion. She didn’t expect overnight miracles or get discouraged when her first attempts were a little rough. She didn’t accept a lifestyle devoid of challenge or pain, and she willed herself to a goal through hardship and struggle. She didn’t give up when she wanted to, as she did for years, and put her goals above a sense of temporary discomfort. In a way, she dimply no longer accepted that not striving for her goal was an option for her anymore.