It’s 8:04 a.m. as I write this; the date is Monday, August 28, 2023. I’m sitting in a swivel chair at a desk in my brother’s spare bedroom. Beside me is an inflatable mattress with my blankets draped over top, and behind me is a closet full of my possessions that were stocked away when relinquished my apartment, sold everything, and went on a solo trip through Asia to train in martial arts. I have now been living in this tiny room for the last 4 months…
When I returned to Canada from my trip, I had to start over from scratch. I am currently in the process of rebuilding my life. And even though I’m starting all over, I feel excited and optimistic. Why? Because I have a compelling future I’m working toward, but even more important, I’m implementing the…
Daily Disciplines to Stay on the Path
Your life is composed of a series of actions. And these actions strung together over months, years, and even decades, form the composite of your life. These are what I refer to as your daily disciplines. Everyone needs them in order to reach their goals. For example…
- Trying to lose 20 lbs? Then your list of daily disciplines is to exercise, eat healthy, and drink enough water every day.
- Want to earn more money? Then your list of daily disciplines will comprise practicing to build your skills, studying to increase your knowledge, and working to become more valuable to the marketplace.
- Committed to running a marathon? Then your list of daily disciplines will be to eat right and train hard to increase your mileage to prepare for race day.
Your daily disciplines keep you “on the path.” They ensure you are moving in the right direction—toward your goals—regardless of how you feel or what goes on in your everyday life.
Living by a To-Do List
You may see a to-do list as trivial. On the contrary, keeping a to-do list can change your life. How? It gives structure to your days; moreover, it provides the framework from which you can conduct your actions. I swear by this idea. Here are a few benefits keeping a to-do list will provide:
- Reminds you of important tasks
- Organizes your routine and lifestyle
- Makes things more efficient
- Increases your productivity
- Helps make your daily disciplines more manageable
- Holds you accountable to promises and commitments
- Creates order and structure
All of these advantages come together to hone your focus. Consequently, you will feel more in control of yourself and your life. In fact, I would argue that is the most significant advantage of keeping a to-do list: the sense of personal control you develop over time as a result of this simple habit.
Now, here comes the good part… your to-do list should be loaded with the habits and disciplines that you practice every day.
How Your Daily Disciplines Keep You On Track
What you do matters. As a matter of fact, everything you do matters. People who fail to recognize this will continue stumbling through life, falling victim to the errors of their own poor judgment. The power of daily disciplines lies in the effect that they have on your future.
Adopting and living by the right habits keeps you on track toward a positive. high-quality life. With this in mind, it makes sense to get your habits in order. And how do you do that? There are a few ways; try the following methods:
- Start small: Rome wasn’t built in a day. And you won’t clean up your daily disciplines quickly either. Instead of trying to revolutionize everything via a complete overhaul of your daily routine, try changing one habit for a week. Once you’ve successfully made the change, then change another, and then another, and so on and so forth.
- Track progress:Â Download a Habit Tracker, and load your habits on it (your digital to-do list) to monitor your daily disciplines. This will help hold you accountable and keep you on course.
- Celebrate the wins: Acknowledge your grit and perseverance. None of this is easy. That’s why it’s important to recognize how far you’ve come and give yourself credit when it’s due.
Ideas For Your Daily Disciplines
You may wonder what habits you should incorporate into your daily discipline list. While your list will be unique to you, there are a few overarching habits everyone should engage in on a daily basis. Consider the following as a baseline:
- Â Exercise: No one should ever miss a day without some form of physical exercise. I don’t care whether it’s running, weight lifting, swimming, martial arts training, etc., you should do something every do that gets your body moving. Exercise releases endorphins (the feel-good chemical in the brain), causing you to experience a burst of positive emotions. Moreover, it enhances your cognitive abilities and, of course, keeps your body fit and in shape.
- Read: Reading is to your brain what exercise is to your body. You know this, so you should make reading an integral habit in your daily disciplines. The benefits of reading range from education and entertainment all the way to inspiration and encouragement.
- Healthy Eating:Â You are what you eat as the old saying goes. Nothing could be further from the truth. What you put in your body will be reflected in your clarity of thinking, physical capabilities, and energy levels. For this reason, adopting a healthy diet is essential to add to your daily disciplines to help you stay on track.
- Cold showers:Â This is not a necessity by any means. However, taking daily cold showers can help toughen you up and it can also provide many health benefits. But more than anything else, it just puts you in the right frame of mind to start your day.
- Waking up early:Â Becoming an early riser can change your life. It’s true; the early bird really does get the worm. The advantages of getting an early start to your day are numerous. Moreover, this simple habit will turn into a machine. You’ll start becoming more productive and efficient in all your other activities.
Final Thoughts
Your daily disciplines keep you on the straight and narrow path. They add stability and balance to your life, which is essential for your mental and psychological well-being. For this reason, you need to integrate the right habits into your daily routine. Try some of the habits listed above or come up with your own. It doesn’t matter; just get some type of routine going and stick to it.
If you want more self-improvement tips and tactics for how to cultivate decisiveness, channel discipline, and control your direction in life to achieve your goals, ensure you sign up for the Motivated And Disciplined Newsletter below.
