Discipline is mostly perceived with all the unpleasant feelings of discomfort, intimidation and even slight anxiety by some, however, as the human race has been experiencing over the years, it is discipline and mostly only discipline that we need to lead a stable, satisfactory, and successful life.
“To children, the word ‘discipline’ has an unpleasant sound. But the real meaning of discipline is not restraint. It solely means learning to adapt oneself to the conditions of life.
Even nature reflects discipline in every phenomenon. Be it, the rising or setting of the sun, summer or winter, all are subject to the law.” (Leesa Jose Koola, Primary Coordinator – Kohinoor International School).
Lack of implementation of rules or code of conduct or even boundaries can lead to an unorganized, dissatisfactory, and failed life that brings no fruit.
- So HOW shall we, mature adult students inculcate
firm Discipline ??
“Each habit which squashes instant gratification and provides delayed gratification builds your self-discipline. Whenever you sacrifice your today for your tomorrow, your discipline levels increase.
Every single good habit inculcates discipline in your life. Habits mean routine and repetition, and both of them cannot happen without discipline.
Once your good habit is established, it kind of happens on autopilot, but that doesn’t change the fact you still need a pinch of discipline to perform it.” (Michał Stawicki, Best Selling Authorpreneur)
HOWEVER,
Well here is practical advice from MARK MANSON, the author of ‘Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.’
“Seeing self-discipline in terms of pure willpower fails because beating ourselves up for not trying hard enough doesn’t work. In fact, it backfires. The problem is that willpower works like a muscle. If you work it too hard, it becomes fatigued and gives out.”
- This tells that long-term discipline is formed by ‘acceptance and balance rather than crude and binary Yes or No choices each day. On some days it is alright to derail a little.
“The same way you can’t just walk into a gym for the first time and lift 500 pounds, you can’t just start waking up at 4 AM on a dime, much less do something ridiculous like an Uberman sleep schedule. To have a chance at success, your willpower must be trained steadily over a long period of time.”
- This tells that discipline takes a considerable time to be firm and effortless. One doesn’t become disciplined overnight. It’s a gradual process.
“The classic approach has the paradoxical effect of training us to feel bad about all the things that make us feel good. It basically seeks to teach us self-discipline through shaming us—by making us hate ourselves for simply being who we are.”
| Self-Denial = Emotional Dysfunction = Self-Destruction = reduced (Self-Discipline) |
- This tells that long-lasting discipline is inculcated by acceptance rather than denial. Accepting oneself as they are while waking up to the things they need to work upon is a healthier approach rather than beating and hating oneself for not being disciplined or good at something.
“You can also do this through positive reinforcement: find ways to reward yourself for doing the correct behaviour. Research shows that this is actually how new habits are formed: you do the desired behaviour and then reward yourself for it.”
“Positive reinforcement is a term described by B. F. Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning. In positive reinforcement, a response or behaviour is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behaviour.” (simplypsychology.org/)
AMY NORIN, a psychotherapist, professor at Northeastern University and best-selling author of ‘13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,’ lists the following approaches in her article for Forbes.
- Acknowledge Your Weaknesses – Too often people either try to pretend their weaknesses don’t exist or they try to minimize the negative impact their bad habits have on their lives.
- Establish a Clear Plan – No one wakes up one day suddenly blessed with self-discipline. Instead, you need a strategy. Whether you want to increase good habits or you want to eliminate bad habits, you’ll need to develop a plan to outline the action steps that will help you.
- Remove the Temptations When Necessary – Making it difficult to access our temptations can be pivotal to increasing self-discipline. If your weakness is Facebook, turn off the internet while you’re working.
- Practice Tolerating Emotional Discomfort – Practice allowing yourself to experience uncomfortable emotions like boredom, frustration, sadness, or loneliness and increase your tolerance to the negative emotions that you may experience as you increase your self-discipline.
- Visualize the Long-Term Rewards – You’ll be less likely to cave to temptation when you focus on the long-term gain. Visualize yourself meeting your goals and reaping the rewards that you’ll gain by practising self-discipline on a daily basis.
- Recover From Mistakes Effectively – The key is to acknowledge your mistakes and move on from them with even more resolve to do better next time.
“Self-discipline is the key to reaching your goals and creating a better life. The good news is we all have the ability to be self-disciplined.”
Wishing you all the very best..!