Self discipline - by Yascien Bashir

SELF-DISCIPLINE

by Yascien Bashir

Self-discipline describes the ability to control and master your own will, emotions and impulses in order to achieve a goal.

To be successful in life, whether it’s in your career, your sports, your relationship or in changing your habits, you need to be self-disciplined. It‘s an important tool for your personal development.

HOW DO I BECOME SELF-DISCIPLINED?

Know Yourself We all have different skills and abilities which we can handle easily, some things come naturally and others we struggle to execute. Ask your friends, colleagues and family about your abilities. We cannot see ourselves the way others can see us, so when someone else helps us to see something about ourselves that we couldn’t see, acknowledge that as a gift. Learn to do the same for others in your life that you care about. It is largely the tone of how we say these things that will determine if someone takes it as constructive criticism or an attack - learn about your tone and pay attention to how you say things / what words you use. Learn to take constructive criticism as a gift not an attack. This will help you to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses.

Resist Temptations Ask yourself: Do I need to go to this event? Do I need to drink this alcohol? Why am I procrastinating? Sometimes we need to practice self discipline and patience in order to harvest greater rewards at a later stage. This is like a muscle that you must train to get stronger over time until it becomes easy, but you have to practice in order to get there. Create Healthy Routines There are many daily habits that can help us to develop discipline: • Write daily diaries • Start a martial art / yoga / mindfulness practice • Do hobbies that you enjoy • Spend time in nature • Make sure that you eat balanced nutritious meals daily that suit your body

Set clear goals and have an execution plan • What would you like to achieve? • What are the steps you need to take to get there? • Start with the ‘low hanging fruits’ - things that are easily within your reach • Create a vision board • Use the Eisenhower-Matrix (see Activity #2) to prioritize your tasks

Set priorities It should be a daily practice to set goals for yourself. What do you aim to achieve today? Be realistic so that you don’t continuously disappoint yourself, but challenging enough to always be improving.

Find your rhythm and stay in momentum Everyone has different rhythms. Know yours. What time of day is your brain at its sharpest? What time of day are you at your most creative? How long can you work before you become distracted / unproductive and need to take a break? Plan your day accordingly. Always keep an eye on your goals for the day and make sure you are remaining on track.

Celebrate small successes It is a fine line between constantly striving to improve, and actually doing ourselves harm because we set unrealistic tasks that we cannot achieve or we are constantly trying to do too much. This will make us sick, and destroy our vision in the long run. Be honest with yourself. Be gentle with yourself. Look after yourself. Praise and celebrate others when you witness their growth. Celebrate little successes. This is how you keep your motivation and pleasure alive.