Advice On How To Develop Self-Discipline? Any Easy Ways To Start?

[Daniel A]

I bought some books recently on this topic but I'm reading another one right now and plan to read MJ's next. So those will have to wait, plus I would like to start helping myself develop it ASAP.

Have any of you developed any systems/routines that you can share to help me get started?

I tried taking big leaps before but it never works. Doing the small things seems to help get the momentum going though.

I need to focus but I get restless most of the time and feel the urge to move around or work out...but that's not really helping me out because when I do it...I can't stop thinking about what I need to do.

When I read books I like to walk around and read aloud. I found out how to keep my focus on reading books but with many other things, it's a lot harder.

 

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[GuestUser8117]

Go read the steve pavlina blog. Self discipline is like a muscle, the more you train it the more it grows.

 

[socaldude]

For me it's simple: PAIN AND PLEASURE.

I got this from Tony Robbins.

Having trouble eating bad food? Getting Fat?

Take out a sheet of paper and write down 50 reasons why it sucks to be fat then write down 50 reasons why its FN awesome to be thin.

Do this for other things as well. 50 reasons why XYZ sucks and 50 reasons why ABC rocks.

The key is to associate a lot of pain to the activity you don't want and massive pleasure to the activity you do want.

Wanna know why I haven't watched TV in years? Simple. I associate massive pain to the TV; wasted time, garbage material contaminating my peace of mind and intellect etc.

Wanna know why I dont sit down and eat a whole large pizza and a liter of Coke? Simple: Massive pain. I hate being fat, I hate caloric debt, I love my self esteem of being thin, i love how it feels to be thin, I love my health, the short term orgasm(pleasure) in my mouth is not worth the pain of being fat.

Wanna know why I have zero credit card debt? Simple. I associate massive pain to unnecessary consumption. I associate massive pain to debt and junk that takes up space and my peace of mind.

 

[Daniel A]

Go read the steve pavlina blog. Self discipline is like a muscle, the more you train it the more it grows.

His blog is one of the first personal devleopment websites I found and it's one of the best. I've been reading only business/marketing/internet books recently and they get a bit boring. I'l definately check his website out again, thanks!

 

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[Daniel A]

Damn, this seems like a quick and easy thing that can really help thanks! I'm doing this tonight, right now it's work out time and I just bought MJ's book. Couldn't wait after reading too much about it plus being on here lol

 

[AmyQ]

The Power of Habit is a great book that addresses how people make changes in their personal lives. It also looks at marketing and consumer habits.

One thing that the book notes is that people who try to change everything at once generally fail. People who select one habit to change, stick with it until it becomes automatic, and then move on to the next change tend to fare better. At the same time, there are habits that tend to lead to other changes. For example, people who work out regularly tend to automatically make other changes in their life, such as eating better, sleeping more, etc.

So, if you want to increase your discipline, I would write out one concrete goal. Don't write: work out more. Instead, write: I will work out between 6 am and 7 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next six weeks, starting on June 26th. Once your first goal becomes a new habit, rinse and repeat with your next goal.

 

[Daniel A]

The Power of Habit is a great book that addresses how people make changes in their personal lives. It also looks at marketing and consumer habits.

One thing that the book notes is that people who try to change everything at once generally fail. People who select one habit to change, stick with it until it becomes automatic, and then move on to the next change tend to fare better. At the same time, there are habits that tend to lead to other changes. For example, people who work out regularly tend to automatically make other changes in their life, such as eating better, sleeping more, etc.

So, if you want to increase your discipline, I would write out one concrete goal. Don't write: work out more. Instead, write: I will work out between 6 am and 7 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next six weeks, starting on June 26th. Once your first goal becomes a new habit, rinse and repeat with your next goal.

That book is one of them that I got. I also got "Self Discipline in 10 Days", "The Willpower Instainct", "The Now Habit". To read those will take some time and I will read them, just want to get started now though.

Well it's going to take some time to adjust my habits, but at least I have some things to help. I wish I could do it faster haha.

Thank you for the response, I'll apply all of your advice tonight.

 

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[craig1928]

Self-Help Junkies

Don't overdo it

 

[Rawr]

The War of Art.

Also this is probably the most useful article I've ever read on the topic:


Battle of Brain-ville > ENGINEERING.com

 

[Enki]

One thing that the book notes is that people who try to change everything at once generally fail. People who select one habit to change, stick with it until it becomes automatic, and then move on to the next change tend to fare better.

This is absolutely true. I always give up when i try to quickly compound multiple changes. Its the running out of steam factor. You can slowly build more steam than you are using, rather than trying to go full speed ahead with little reserves.

At the same time, there are habits that tend to lead to other changes. For example, people who work out regularly tend to automatically make other changes in their life, such as eating better, sleeping more, etc.

I actually built the habit of sleeping less. Now I sleep for no more than six hours. This gives me more time to focus on my goals. one of the benefits is I burn more calories being awake for 18 hours. before I was awake for 16 hours or less. I saw the book you mention on a News program (or what passes for it now adays) a while back. I always thought it was something that I could benefit from reading. I'm definitely going to check it out.

Having trouble eating bad food? Getting Fat?

Take out a sheet of paper and write down 50 reasons why it sucks to be fat then write down 50 reasons why its FN awesome to be thin.

This method sounds F*cking awesome. I am learning so much so fast here. This forum is so concentrated valuable people & priceless insights.

 

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[tincho1492]

This also can help:

Oliver Emberton's answer to Life Advice: How do I get over my bad habit of procrastinating? - Quora

 

[DeletedUser2]

The coolest thing I have ever found out about procrastinators?

they never wait to start procrastinating.

they do it immediately!

Z

 

[jvl269]

This can be tough. I tried a lot of things but I would only last a few months into my "new" discipline before going back to the old one. I think this has to do with your compelling reason- your BIG WHY.

I have been delaying my weight loss action plans until late last year, when I experienced high blood pressure for the very first time. I immediately adjusted my diet, research on the causes and embraced a new lifestyle. Before doing this, I was multi tasking between my job and our small businesses. Adding this would mean it would eat up time and some priorities would suffer. I had t explain this to my wife. I had to convince her that I am establishing a new discipline that would improve my health and can also apply to our business.

She agreed and gladly, three months after, all my vitals are normal and I dropped 30lbs. Im 5 months into this new lifestyle and Im enjoying it. I cheat every now and then but most of the time i stick with my plan.

What worked for me is feedback. I have to see my progress and every time I see results I get motivated to stick to what I am doing.

The same discipline can work for almost anything.

 

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[rorschach]

The most valuable thing I learned about self discipline is what is known as "The willpower trap".

It states that we only have a certain amount of willpower a day. Each day you start with a fresh "batch" of willpower.
How does this relate to self-discipline? Let me give you a quick example:

Let's say we try to get into the habit of working out. We make plans, download fitness programs and try to fit this habit somewhere in our day. We're setting ourselves up for failure right there.

When we wake up it's easier to make tough decisions, decisions like working out when we don't really feel like it. If we go to our job first, we spend all that willpower on conflicts and internal struggles at work. When we get home, the decision to work out is 10 times harder because we have very little willpower left. Saying things like "I'll make up for it tomorrow" is really tempting because it sounds completely reasonable.

So the key to self-discipline and habit forming in general is to do the hardest thing first thing in the morning.
Want to work out? Wake up early and work out.
Want to learn coding? Wake up early and write some code.
Want to learn IM? Wake up early and learn IM.
Want to wake up early? Wake up early a...nevermind.

Another great tool I use is to set a timer.
I block out 45 minutes of solid work, then I take a break for 15 minutes. Then I'll do it all over again.
Whenever I press that timer button it flicks a switch in my mind and I'm more focused at doing whatever I want to do.

If you combine these two techniques they can really improve your self-discipline and productivity.
If you wake up and all your willpower goes into pushing that timer button, you'll be working in no time and you'll have a sense of achievement throughout the day which leads to greater confidence and a greater willingness to keep the habit. Baller.

A third tool I use is to make your goals as small as possible.
"Write an article each day" sounds like a great goal but in reality it feels like climbing a F*cking mountain. So, your goal should not be to write one article a day. It should be "sit down and write one sentence". That's the hardest part right there. It will become much easier to keep writing after that first sentence.

Good god I spent way too much time writing this.

 

[Brentnal]

What works for me is make a goal list Ultimate long term goal,12 month goal,3 month goal,Weekly goals,Daily/habit development

Make a task list things you need to do everyday to achieve your goals don´t make huge 3 month young people like you and me want to take huge steps but like you said it doesnt work its better to make small goals because it is easier to achieve your still young you have a whole life in front of you if you start now making small goals a couple years later you have achieved a whole bunch then you can make big goals.

 

[Dezzamondo]

lol I have cold shower in the morning and work through my TODO list until I'm done.

If you can force yourself to have a cold shower every day for a month, you can do damn near anything.

Refreshing too!

 

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[ZDS]

Find someone to hold your self accountable too. Give them a check for a significant sum of money and tell them to cash it if you do not do what you said you will.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Running........... Go for a run outside, as your running you will start to breathe more heavily, you muscles will start aching. You will start to hear the voices inside of you telling you that's enough, just stop and to quit.

You have to learn how to suppress those voices and run further and faster than you ever thought you could.

Once you learn to suppress those voices within you, you will be disciplined.

 

[Brentnal]

Self-Help Junkies

Don't overdo it

Great post this is a important one i learned

 

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[brumaire]

I don't think discipline is developed like that,

I always believed, if you really want something, and you have clarity about it, deep, uncanny, sublime, clarity about it, you don't have to force anything.


When people are going to die soon, or they had a near brush with death, they get so focused, they natureally see why they should do the things they really should