- March 1, 2018
- Posted by: Tribe21
- Category: Motivation
Success is desired by everyone, and we all have unique ingredients in us to be successful in our life in one way or other. But there are only few people who have the privilege to attain success in life. The question is “what is the secret of success?” “Is there a formula for success?” “Is it accidental?” One of the major determinants of success is self-discipline.
Singularly, most important attribute needed to achieve any type of personal excellence is Self-disciplining. It is the common denominator for all those who aim to achieve success in all spheres of life. Self-disciplining means to order out or code ones behavior in order to have control over one and motivate one’s self to achieve desired heights. It is not just about the process of pursuing a goal. It is more specifically about one’s ability to control desires and impulses to stay focused on what needs to get done to successfully achieve that goal. As such, self-disciplining involves committing to long term gains without falling prey to instant gratifications along the way.
Despite what people have to say, self disciplining has always been a learned behavior and not a trait that people are born with. It requires continuous practice and is developed over time. Self-disciplining is much like muscles, the more we use the stronger it gets. In order to begin cultivating self-discipline, certain factors need to come into play. These factors are either internally infused or they may come from external environment.
A Reason “WHY”
A very basic requirement for developing self-discipline is to have a strong desire to achieve a specific goal. Without a strong desire for something there is a little hope for self-discipline. Self- discipline needs fuel and that fuel typically comes in the form of either inspiration or motivation. To stay focused, a person needs to have one of the two; to fuel self-discipline or otherwise staying focused will be difficult.
A person needs to ask himself certain questions:
WHAT DO I WANT?
WHY DO I WANT THIS?
WHY SPECIFICALLY DO I NEED TO FOLLOW THROUGH AND GET THIS DONE?
The more good reasons one can identify, more motivated one will become to keep ones self-discipline alive for the long-haul.
Relentless commitment
Reasons alone are not enough. A relentless commitment to do whatever is needed to accomplish this goal. This is not easy. A Strong long-term commitment in itself takes discipline. This typically isn’t something that most people are good at doing alone. What people are lacking is accountability.
Keeping Yourself Accountable
A long-term commitment to something/anything requires that a person either holds himself accountable in some way or have someone else hold accountable. Accountability will give a more heightened inspiration/motivation to work.
Having Regards and Penalties
Once the goals are set and the desired commitments are set, it is a great start. However there are certain times when a person will be highly motivated and other times there will be periods of hardships where a person struggles to get through tasks and activities.
In order to avoid these ups and downs, one must set penalties and rewards for each task. This is necessary to keep one’s self disciplined and to direct choices and behavior.
Set Personal Standards
Self-disciplining boils down to setting personal standards. This is developing an agreement with one’s self through a process of accountability. This means to correct and regulate one’s self whenever off the track.
A Competitive Environment
This final layer comes down to having a competitive environment in place. This does not mean to compete with other people. This purely means to compete against one’s best self. Measuring ones current results with ones past results is best method to stay focused, motivated and disciplined.
THE SELF-DISCIPLINE PROCESS
This is a six step process that will help in practicing self discipline.
Step 1: Define What You Want:
This first step of this process involves getting very clear about what one wants. Self-discipline can only exist when it is channeled towards something very specific. And this something very specific is a desired goal, habit or a change of some sort.
Step 2: Describe The Change Required:
Describe the terms and behavior that one has to adopt to achieve the desired goals. Each task requires different kinds of approaches and behavior to reach set destination. To gain clarity about the behavior and habits one must ask certain questions
WHAT SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR WILL I NEED TO CULTIVATE TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL?
WHAT SPECIFIC HABITS WILL I NEED TO ADOPT TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL?
While deciding the answers to these questions, one must keep in mind his core values. Each action, habit or behavior should be in line with the values.
Step 3: Find role models:
It is necessary to have a role model. Role model can be a friend, any family member, or a celebrity person who has attained the goal that one is working towards. For deciding a role model, look for answers to these questions:
WHO IS DOING THIS RIGHT NOW?
WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED THIS GOAL?
WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY MASTERED THIS HABIT?
WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY MADE THIS CHANGE?
WHO HAS THE NECESSARY DISCIPLINE IN THIS AREA?
WHAT CAN I LERAN FORM THIS PERSON THAT CAN HELP ME ALONG MY JOURNEY?
Step 4: Identify Obstacles:
In any journey, it is viable that one confronts obstacles. All these obstacles will put self discipline to test. One must answer certain question at this step.
GIVEN MY GOAL, WHAT OBSTACLES COULD STAND IN MY WAY?
WHAT SPECIFIC THINGS COULD SIDE TRADE ME ALONG MY JOURNEY?
Device strategies to overcome these obstacles, beforehand.
Step 5: Develop an action plan:
Build an effective plan of action. Create a set of mini-milestones with clear deadlines. Each mini-milestone should be in line with the ultimate goal. A clear deadline in place is most important. It will help in disciplining and focusing on the accomplishment of goals.
Step 6: Execute the plan with wholeheartedness:
Utmost commitment towards the action plan is required. It is very necessary that a person does what he has planned in order to accomplish the goals. This is necessary to discipline one’s self to a required course of action.