Developing Self Discipline

​The philosopher Bertrand Russell once said "Nothing of importance is ever achieved without discipline. I feel myself sometimes not wholly in sympathy with some modern educational theorists, because I think that they underestimate the part that discipline plays. But the discipline you have in your life should be one determined by your own desires and your own needs, not put upon you by society or authority."

The practice of self-discipline can be considered a type of selective training that creates new habits of thought, action, and speech in your life with the ultimate goal of improving your overall life. Although self-discipline can be task oriented and selective, it helps if you can view it as a positive effort, instead of an act of denial.

5 Tips for Developing Self-Discipline:

In order to practice the deliberate delaying of an activity, schedule a small task that you will do twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Wait until the exact scheduled time before you start the task. Practice this task schedule for at least two months.

Although it may seem very simple, this exercise has the advantage of helping focus on priorities through precise scheduling. When you focus on beginning tasks instead of completing them, it helps avoid developing a habit of procrastination. When you schedule a task and stick with its schedule you also learn to avoid acting on impulse.

When you allocate one specific time for a daily task and stick with it, it teaches you to be steadily focused on one goal at a time and sets a habit of routine that can be applied to many other tasks quite successfully. This teaches the brain to work on tasks or specific goals in small increments instead of putting everything into it all at once. The goal here is to develop a good habit first, and then allow the habit to help you get the job done in the most effective manner.

As you learn to control the tasks you have set out for yourself, you will also build self-discipline at the same time. And as you build that self-discipline, you will also be learning to build better time management skills as well. When you have a clear idea of exactly what you want to accomplish on a particular day or schedule, you will have a far better chance of actually getting it done. It takes time to develop habits and just how long it takes depends on your sense of self-discipline and the habit you chose.

Try not to get discouraged as you work toward developing more self-discipline. Don’t be intimidated and don’t be put off by the challenge of developing good habits toward a schedule of your own making. Over time, the self discipline and habits you learn will more than pay for themselves as you successfully accomplish more goals than you thought possible.