Self-discipline is one of the most important virtues to possess.
It will help a person pursue their ambitions and work toward all that he desires in life. But it is not easy to come by and a person has to work hard towards establishing it.
It is important to follow this book as it is written, since each chapter and part builds upon the ones before it. You will start by learning about your behavior and habits, and how they develop. This allows you to craft a natural and effective plan to make changes where they are needed.
Being self-disciplined implies several actions that are completely needed to build this value. You have read about having self-esteem and self-worth, being responsible, considerate, thoughtful, to practice forgiveness, being organized, being diligent, etc. This means that building self-discipline is not a hard task if you are really willing to be disciplined, but it has several things to take into account.
How many good opportunities have you had and lost just because of a lack of self-discipline? Now you know that being disciplined, organized, trustworthy, and effective can be developed in easy ways. You just needed the willpower to improve your good habits and get rid of the bad ones. Now that you know more about self-discipline and how easy is to get there, you must be encouraged to have personal and professional growth based on this essential value. You learned what you could lose for not having it (and you probably already have lost something due to that), the great benefits of being self-disciplined, and that one easy way to reaching your goals is by being disciplined, how to build discipline, and what ways you increase it through common activities.
The important role self-discipline plays in your life goes a long way to justify every effort and time you put into building your self-discipline. The techniques outlined in this book will guide you on this self-discipline journey to enable you to live a better and more meaningful life.
The human brain is extremely complex and we are only just starting to find out its exact processes for creating and modifying learned behaviors and habits. It is hardwired to perform certain activities automatically for sure. These are initiated at birth and do not require any effort to be performed. However, it is certainly possible to train the brain in order to develop new habits with little guidance. Scientists describe this ability to rewire the neurons and synapses as 'neuroplasticity'.
Habits, in general, can be of two main types namely positive/beneficial and negative/unbeneficial. Good habits help a person develop self-discipline and increase productivity whereas bad habits can undo all of it and decrease productivity. It is therefore extremely important for a person to assess their day-to-day behaviors and habits and to reduce the 'bad' habits whilst amplifying the 'good' habits. Read this guide for more on how to develop self-discipline, the impacts and how to deal with setbacks and obstacles.
Let me ask you, would you tell a good friend or family member the same thing if you were to see them cheat on their diet? Or saw them scrolling through their social media feed when they said they were going to be studying?
If you are a good friend you would gently remind them but only if they asked you to beforehand. No, you would be kind to them.
So why can't we be the same way to ourselves?