“How do you stay so disciplined when you’re not seeing results from your efforts?” My accountability partner asked me this question on our weekly call. I had just finished explaining to him how I had NO results (yet) on a goal I’m working toward, despite plugging away at it for a month straight. My answer? Permanent self-discipline. 

But that wasn’t satisfying to him, so he pressed me further: “How do you develop that kind of discipline?” I thought about it some more… I ran through the habits I’ve stuck to for years, the goals that took me years to accomplish, etc. Then an obvious answer quickly emerged. And in this article, you’re going to find out exactly what it is.

The Key To Permanent Self-Discipline

I’ve been obsessed with discipline for years. Cultivating healthy habits. Sticking to routines. Prioritizing self-restraint. As a result, I’ve integrated numerous habits into my life. Permanently. Here are just a few examples of my daily disciplines to give you an idea:

• Reading (8 years)
• Cold showers (4 years)
• Training (5 years)
• Journaling (going on 7 years)

These are just some of the daily habits and disciplines I’ve lived by. So, trust me when I say there’s one simple thing that can give you permanent self-discipline. This quality is especially important if you’ve never really had self-control before. It’s faith.

Why Faith Is The Unlock To Self-Restraint

Why people lack discipline will vary from person to person. For some, it’s no support. For others, it’s not enough desire. But more often than not, the main reason people lack the self-discipline required to go the distance for their goals is that they don’t BELIEVE what they want is really possible for them. They lack faith.

Faith is not touched on very often when it comes to being disciplined. But the truth? No big goal can be accomplished without long periods of sustained restraint. And that kind of restraint is ONLY available to people who BELIEVE their goals are waiting for them on the other side. Faith is the unlock. So, the question then becomes…

How To Develop Faith Toward Your Goals

Here’s the good news about faith: It’s an act, not an emotional state. Sure, you can feel hopeful about the future. But continually pressing on every day, even when it looks like nothing will ever come from your efforts? That’s faith in action. So, if you want to develop faith, you have to act as if you already have it. In other words, you just need to press on.

Here’s how you can simplify this process:

• Lower the bar for success: Going to the gym for an hour a day is a bit much if you can’t remember the last time you trained. Dial it back a bit. Can you go for a 5-minute walk around the block? Maybe do 20 push-ups every morning? The idea is to make success easy, stack little wins daily, and build your foundation.
• Practice the “don’t break the chain” method: Jerry Seinfeld is a genius. He developed his comedy skills by writing a new joke every day. When he wrote his joke, he’d go to his calendar and draw a big “X” through that particular day. This eventually turned into an unbroken chain of days where he developed his skills until he became one of the best and most well-known comedians in the industry. You can follow this same principle to build permanent self-discipline.
• Tell someone about your goals: There’s a psychological concept called commitment and consistency. In his book “Influence,” social psychologist Robert Cialdini shares how sharing your goals with others creates “consistency pressures” to act in alignment with that commitment. This is why accountability partners are so powerful.

Follow this simple process, and you’ll find permanent self-discipline begin to emerge in your life. I’ve used (and continue to use) this system with my own habits. It works. Repeatedly. But you have to actually apply it. Give it a try. See how it does for you.

Final Thoughts On Permanent Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is what keeps you in the game long after the initial motivation wears off. For this reason, it’s critical to accomplish any goal. And if you want to develop it, the above steps are the key that can unlock that door. Take them. Apply them. See your life completely transform as a direct result. And remember: Stay Motivated And Disciplined.