Achievements

It is essential to look into the future as well as looking back on your past. As you look into your past, you have to ask yourself some pretty important questions, for example, do you like the way it has been going? Do you think you are moving forward? Do you think you are still in the same mental and spiritual place that you were a year ago? Do you think you have gotten better? Has the only thing that has changed about you been the date? All these are the questions that should be asked.

When you find out the answers to these questions, then you would know the right changes to implement, the best time to have a new resolution is on the first of the new year, but the next best time is now. You have to make the decisions to make the next 12 months of your life better than the last.

So, What’s The Secret?

If you are looking for the secret to becoming a better version of yourself, then you have come to the right place. The one key ingredient that you would need to implement the changes that your life needs is discipline. Discipline is the one thing you need to unlock your potential and be able to move on with your life finally.

Lack of discipline is the reason why you have not been able to carry out the critical task in your life like not having time to learn a new skill, but you have the time to have several movies. Also, it is the reason you have not been able to take that next step in your relationship or making that decision that your life so badly needs. Knowing that you lack discipline is also the reason why you have not been able to delve into new endeavours because you are afraid you will fail.

What is the reason why you have not been able to shed any weight and just getting fatter? What is the reason for you not being able to start or have a successful side business? Yes, you guessed it, it is lack of discipline. There is no way you can be a Prize Fighter without being disciplined. It takes discipline to get in shape. Plus, it takes to keep at your training even when it becomes tiring, even when it feels like you are not making progress.

Discipline, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is the ability to make yourself do something that needs to be done regardless of how difficult it is so that you would be able to achieve or reach a particular goal. Also, it is the ability to do what we want in the long run by putting off the things we want in the present.

The Marshmallow Experiment 

Are you familiar with the marshmallow experiment? Well, it goes like this, four kids were given one marshmallow each. They were given the option of either eating the marshmallow instantly or waiting for the lab assistant to come back in 15 minutes, and they will be given an extra marshmallow. It was found that the kids who were able to wait the 15 minutes were able to become well-adjusted and successful adults. However, the kids that didn’t have the patience to wait and ate their marshmallow immediately it was given to them were found to have trouble dealing with life stress, impulse control and frustration.

Looking at yourself now and learning the repercussion of not having the patience to wait, you might be thinking if you were one of the kids, you would have waited for the second marshmallow. While that might have been true as we have no definite way of knowing, even the most disciplined person still has areas of their lives that they have been failing at. Almost everyone has that area that might be eating at you that you are just managing to scale through, but you know it has potential, and you have just not been able to figure a way to utilize it.

How To Achieve Discipline

Is there a secret or a hack on how to be more disciplined? The answer is no, everyone wants an easy way to imbibe discipline, but unfortunately, there is no quick way to do that. To be disciplined requires training your mind to be able to do what you want it to do when you want it to do it. You would need to practice saying a strong no to the activities that are only wasting your time and life. Plus, saying yes to only activities that are in line with the things you want out of life.

Dr. Mischel was able to come up with a saying that can help you get in the right frame of mind to be more disciplined. It talks about how we have no control over the world but only how we imagine it.

There might not be a hack to being more discipline, but there are tips that can help you on your journey of being a more disciplined man they are as follows:

• Fix Your Core Values

It is essential to know your core values and start fixing them before branching into any other thing you think needs fixing. Think of your life as an architectural structure if there is something wrong with the foundation of the structure, but you left that, and you went ahead to fix a leak in the roof, or you are repainting the walls.

It will all be in vain because once the foundation gives way, then the whole building is coming down. This is why it is important to deal with the problems with the foundation first because it is on that foundation that you will be building a beautiful life.

• Train Your Discipline

Just as the muscle in your body needs constant and daily training to be in shape, so also your discipline needs to be trained. Additionally, you noticed how the maximum amount of weight you were able to carry at the time you started working out has somehow increased weeks or months after.

Discipline follows the same concept. As you start, your discipline level might be low and limited; that is, you probably have enough self-discipline for one activity, which is fine. But as you keep flexing your will power in one area, your self-control will gradually increase, and you will begin to have sufficient discipline to go into other areas of your life. It is important to know not to take on too much at a time.

• Do Not Walk In Your Parents’ Shadow

At the time a man leaves his parents’ house and is no longer under their strict rules, he will begin to test his boundaries, finally away from his parents, away from prying eyes, overwhelmed by his new-found freedom. It is healthy to find out the way you want to leave your life by breaking old rules and exploring life. However, there comes the point in time where you know you should start taking life more seriously.

You should begin to stop doing things just because you can and start living your life in the best way possible. Also, you need to understand that your parents are no longer looking over your shoulder; hence the need to take control of your life as the only person you have to prove anything to now is yourself.

• Freedom Shouldn’t Make You Do What You Shouldn’t Do

The truth is, as an adult, we all have the freedom to do whatever we like without having to answer to anyone. However, do not let the freedom you have to derail your efforts at discipline. True, you can choose to do whatever it is you want to, engage in endless life wasting activities, go to parties instead of getting better at something actually useful. You can also decide to sleep all day rather than standing up and training to be a prize fighter or decide to watch TV rather getting closer to God.

Unfortunately, the only reward of such freedom is just freedom; it doesn’t add anything meaningful to your life. Therefore, if you just spend your day doing the things you like, you will definitely end up without the feeling of personal progress or the satisfaction of having real and hard-earned achievements.

• Your Flaw Is Not Part Of Your Identity

Rationalizing your weakness as being just who you are is one of the reasons why it is hard to make some necessary changes in your life. Assuaging your guilt and adopting as part of your shtick makes it downright difficult to change. Rationalizing your weakness would make it seem like changing those flaws will be tantamount to losing a part of yourself.

Therefore, to be able to change your life or perform the activities required to achieve a particular goal, it is vital to replace your old identities with new and refined ones.

To Wrap It Up

Basically, if you are looking to take control of your life, you need to know your weakness, remove temptation, set a clear goal and, most importantly, build your self-discipline.