“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
John C. Maxwell
I used to celebrate procrastination.
I would wear it as a badge of honour. It was my whatsapp status for crying out loud!
I thought there was humour to be found in not getting around to doing things. But it didn't feel good.
⁖ I have exciting goals, dreams and life ambitions to achieve.
⁖ I have washing, tidying and home organising to do.
⁖ I have a business I am passionate about, work to do and clients to help and spend time with.
⁖ I have lists to finish, friends to see, children to raise, family to look after, and a host of other things to do.
All things I really want to do (other than maybe the washing!).
But now I am MUCH BETTER at making sure I GET STUFF DONE? In fact I'm a bit of a whizz at it (mostly)! And the answer lies in a healthy sprinkling of self-discipline.
Do you find yourself struggling with self-discipline?
You know what you want to do, but you find excuses not to do it? Even the things that you really want to do?
It can be easy to fall into a downward spiral of not-getting-round-to-it-because-I-don’t-have-the-self-discipline.
But you do have self-discipline! We all do! Think about it ... there are plenty of examples of occasions when you WERE disciplined, and you DID finish tasks and REACH a goal. Small or large.
If you can do it once, you can do it again.
And to support this, there are things we can do to improve our self-discipline:
➡️ Remember why you want to achieve your goal in the first place and how you will feel when you reach it!
➡️ Create visual goals and cues to inspire and encourage you when you want to give up!
➡️ Break down those big tasks into manageable chunks to avoid overwhelm and the temptation to give up!
➡️ Build routines that create useful & productive habits to support and focus you!
➡️ And don’t forget that we’re all human, so remember not to be too hard on yourself!
And the good news is that the benefits of being self-disciplined are rather wonderful…
✔️ You can be more motivated
✔️ You can withstand temptations
✔️ You can feel more in control of yourself
✔️ You can overcome procrastination
✔️ You can heighten your chances of success
✔️ You can experience satisfaction from your achievements
✔️ You can build better relationships
✔️ You can find inner confidence
✔️ You can be calm and measured
✔️ You can get your sh*t done!
And it feels great!
So ask yourself, what is the biggest self-discipline challenge you are facing at the moment?
And what one small step could you begin to take on that challenge?
Don't give up - you've got this!