Top Tips for Cultivating More Self-Discipline in Your Life

Do you find yourself neglecting the things you want to do because you lack self-discipline? Unfortunately, you are not always going to find yourself motivated to do the things you need to do for yourself, and instead, need to rely on discipline. Discipline can be a hard skill to master, but not an impossible one and comes with a variety of benefits. If you have something you are passionate about, for example, traditional dancing, getting a new job, or running, then you need to cultivate the discipline to help you stay consistent. If you lack discipline, it is unlikely that you will be able to push forward and participate in tasks and activities on motivation alone. 

If you are struggling to get anything done, or stay committed, here are some top tips to help you cultivate more self-discipline in your life. 

#1 Identify your strengths and weaknesses

What are you good at doing? What tasks do you do that you enjoy? Without attacking yourself, see if you can also identify your weaknesses. What is it that you are not doing, that you want to be doing? What barriers are in the way of you achieving it? By identifying where you struggle, and what your weaknesses are, you will be able to develop a better understanding of your situation, your patterns, and how you best operate. Everyone is different and will require different tactics. Identify from this list what may be holding you back, and what steps you can take to overcome them. This is great to provide yourself with a little perspective, as when you write down a problem, it can seem much smaller than when it is circulating in your mind. 

#2 Identify your goals

What is it that you want to achieve with your self-discipline? Do some research and see what inspires you, and how others have achieved the same. For example, through discipline, Shen Yun, a professional dancer, has landed a very successful career. If they had waited until they were motivated, then they wouldn’t be where they are today. Get clear on what it is you want to achieve, whether it is professional dancing or going for a run, and write it down. You are 42% more likely to achieve your dreams if you have written them down on paper. You can then use this information to visualize yourself achieving your goals. 

#3 Start small

More often than not, things don’t get done because you overwhelm yourself with unrealistic goals and tasks to complete. This is why you may feel like you fail when you try, burn out and lack discipline. Instead, you should reverse engineer your main goal, and turn it into little steps that you can focus on each week. Once you have nailed one small task, you can then add another one into your routine. It can often feel like this way will take too long, but the time is going to pass regardless. Discipline is built on small habits that are built over time. 

To cultivate more discipline in your life, you need to start by identifying your strengths and weaknesses, get clear on your goals, and start implementing small tasks each day to create a sustainable habit.