It’s no secret that most people lack discipline. Throw a rock in any direction, and it’ll hit someone who is overweight, broke and in debt, or has relationship struggles due to a lack of impulse control. And if you happen to be one of these people, you’ve come to the right place. Because in this post, we’re exploring why you lack discipline and how you can fix it. Keep reading to learn more.
The Main Reason You Lack Discipline
Now, there may be numerous reasons why you don’t yet possess self-discipline. However, in most cases, it boils down to one simple reason. And this reason stands head and shoulders above the rest as to why people lack this quality; the reason you lack discipline is…
You haven’t practiced it enough.
Like anything else, discipline is a learned skill that must be developed through repetition. It’s only through the consistent daily actions of self-control that you begin to acquire self-discipline as a personality trait.
This fact should be encouraging to you.
Because it means all you have to do is start practicing self-discipline (in small and easy ways at first) to eventually become disciplined. And if you’d like some motivation, here are a few reasons why developing more self-control in your life is worth it.
The Advantages of Becoming More Disciplined
As Jocko Willink so accurately put it, “Discipline is the root of all good qualities.” The more discipline you become in one area, the more discipline you naturally start enforcing in other areas; it becomes an upward spiral. Here are just a few of the benefits you will experience with more self-discipline in your life:
- Greater ratios of goal achievement
- Control of vices, addictions, or bad habits
- More confidence, self-respect, and personal integrity
- A strong feeling of self-control
- A more positive self-image
- Better outlook toward life and your future
- Improved time management and productivity
- Improvement in personal and professional relationships
- And much more
Now that you understand the main reason why you lack discipline and why you should develop this quality, here’s how you can bring it into your life…
3 Simple Tips to Help You Develop Self-Discipline Fast
These tips will help you develop a strong foundation of self-discipline. From there, it’s up to you to continually build on and strengthen that base.
1. Stop Compromising With Yourself
It’s at the point of internal negotiation where you’ve already lost. Discipline doesn’t allow for negotiations. Once you’ve promised yourself (or someone else) you’ll do something, you need to consider it already done in your mind. What does that mean? It means you will not bargain with or talk yourself out of doing the task you’ve committed to doing.
There will be no compromise:
- Told yourself you’ll get up at 5 am and be in the gym by 6 am? That snooze button doesn’t exist.
- Promised yourself to save a certain amount of your income? Happy hour is dead to you.
- Made the commitment to begin reading 30 minutes a day? That time is yours and no one else’s.
When you lack discipline, the first step to self-control is to have a set of non-negotiables. A list of habits you will never compromise on. You want these to be simple habits because that’s what makes them easy to perform day in and day out.
And when they’re easy, you’ll keep your commitment to them and this builds self-trust for more difficult disciplines in the future. And that brings me to the second tip, which is…
2. Make Success Easy
I’ve mentioned this before on the blog numerous times; you have to make success easy for yourself—at least in the beginning anyway. If you want to build discipline fast, it starts with the little wins you accumulate that begin to build the self-image of a disciplined person.
So what are these “little wins” I’m talking about? They are things such as:
- Keeping your word on things you said you’d do
- Setting little challenges for yourself and following through on them
- Building healthy habits that make you feel more confident
These simple acts (and any others you can think of) build self-esteem and consistency. They help build a firm foundation of self-control; think of them as the building blocks that construct a strong base of impulse management when you lack discipline.
3. Push Beyond
Once you get started, you need to begin building on top of your wins by pushing yourself to do increasingly more difficult things. Why? You won’t strengthen your self-discipline if you always do what’s easy. Yes, that’s how you get started. But if that’s where you stay, you’ll never progress any further.
It’s like building muscle in the gym. You start with the lighter weights, but once you’re able to lift those consistently, you up the ante so that you can increase your strength and muscle mass.
Go at your own pace and comfort level with this. There’s no hard rule that says how often you should push the envelope; however, just ensure you don’t become stagnant with your disciplines. Because that’s when you’ll begin to fall backward rather than move ahead.
Final Thoughts
Life becomes a lot harder than it needs to be when you lack discipline. Only by developing this essential quality can you begin to turn things around. And by following the tips laid out in this article, you can make improvements much quicker thank you think. However, if you need additional help, I’ve got you covered.
Check out my ebook for how to cultivate unshakeable self-discipline in your life.
