Quick Start Guide to Developing Self-Discipline

 Quick Start Guide to Developing Self-Discipline 

 

Step 1- Know EXACTLY What You Want 

Step 2- Believe You Can Do It 

Step 3- Do It and Keep Doing It  

 

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Purpose of Guide: 

 

The purpose of this guide is twofold. First off, it is meant to simply convey to you the necessary requirements for instilling self-discipline into your life. The steps will be succinct, but the reason for that has to do with this guide’s second purpose. It will also serve as a tool to pinpoint where exactly you’re struggling in the process.  

 

This will allow me to better help you understand what you need to establish unwavering self-discipline. More than that, it will be an indicator to let you know where you personally need to start.  For example, many of us have a goal that we’re working towards, but perhaps that goal isn’t specific. Well, that’s an issue—we can start working there. But let’s say the goal is exact, but you don’t really have the confidence to go after it. Then that’s our starting point.  

 

Why Self-Discipline? 

 

Many people question the. point of self-discipline? Perhaps you do as well. Why do so much work when you don’t have to? It’s a common question. Simply put, Self-Discipline—or Discipline as I’ll now be referring to it by-- is the key to maximum confidence and becoming your best self. This in turn will attract the right people and opportunities to you. After all, a person on a clear mission is an unstoppable force. 

 

 

 

 

One Final Note on Discipline: 

 

Discipline is nothing more than a good habit. It is consistently doing the things required to be your best. This means doing the work required every single damn day, which is what scares so many people from trying to become disciplined. But trust me, although it might seem like a ball and chain at first, once it becomes a habit, you’ll find that discipline does indeed equal freedom. 

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Step 1- Know EXACTLY What You Want 

 

Most people have some idea of what they want: more money, better opportunities, better friends, a life partner, to lose weight or gain muscle, et cetera. The issue is that we don’t take the time to define what these things would look like to us. How much more money would you be satisfied with? What kind of better opportunities do you want? What would your perfect life partner look like, and how would they be? How much weight do you want to lose or gain? 

 

The reason you might be having trouble staying disciplined is that your goal is way too vague. You might need to take some time to think about it. Visualization helps immensely in this process. Use your imagination. Picture yourself with the money you want or with your ideal body type. If you can see it in your mind, you can create it in reality. If you find it difficult to do, this is your starting point. Because if you can’t see it, you won’t be able to be consistently disciplined. Any attempts at discipline will be short-lived.  

 

If you can see your goal and know exactly what it is, great job, you can move to step two. If not, I would suggest taking the time to look around. Find others who seem to have what you want and use that as your placeholder vision. For example, when I started my fitness journey, I knew I wanted to look like Bruce Lee. So, I used him as my vision of what I wanted to become. Then as time progressed, I began to see myself as him. Then, slowly but surely, I started to become what I envisioned. I had been working towards an exact image, and I am well on my way to manifesting it completely. In the past, I had worked out without a clear vision, and because of that I lasted only a few months or so. 

 

So, it’s not enough to say you want more—everyone wants more—you need to define exactly what more looks like to you. I would even suggest writing it down on paper and putting it somewhere you can read often. That’s what I did early on. Once you can firmly see the vision in your mind and your goal is crystal clear, you must believe that you can attain it. And that can be the hardest part to becoming disciplined. 

 

Step 2- Believe You Can Do It 

 

Belief is the most important part of instilling discipline into your life. It’s first and foremost believing you’re capable and second, trusting the process especially in the beginning. The reason most off us fail to make discipline a habit is because we give-up after a few weeks of not seeing results. We doubt ourselves and our abilities, so we decide to revert to our old ways because the discipline “isn’t working.”  Modern society has us hooked on immediate gratification, so much so that many of us have forgot the saying “good things take time.” 

 

Well, they still do, and if you truly want to be disciplined you need to be willing to play the long game. You need to be willing to put in the work every day without seeing an immediate reward. You must believe, as Emerson once said, “the ends preexist in the means.” If you can do that, you’re golden—you have what it takes to go the distance. And I’ll note that this is why it’s crucial to know exactly what you want because it’s much easier to fight for a single, specific goal than it is to fight for something vague like more money. 

 

If you already believe in yourself and feel you have what it takes to be persistent, then go to step three. If not, I have some tips that could help. Cultivating self-belief, much like discipline, must become a habit, but unlike discipline, which requires consistent action, belief requires a mindset shift. For many people, belief doesn’t really seem possible. Society teaches us to be hypercritical of ourselves. We must compete with everyone for everything and if we fail, it means we’re not good enough. Instead of seeing failure as a learning experience, which it is, we see it as a sign that we’re not good enough. I know I used to feel that way.  

 

So, the very first step in cultivating self-belief is to detach yourself from all the noise. Learn to become comfortable with yourself and start treating yourself with more respect. Let other people say or think what they want of you. What matters is what you say and think about yourself. Instead of being unnecessarily hard on yourself, start being proud of who you are and what you’ve accomplished in life. Realize that your only competition is yourself and that you should strive to be better every day. Find enjoyment in doing so. Start to see your flaws and weaknesses as potential areas for growth.  

 

Another tool you can use to cultivate self-belief is autosuggestion. Autosuggestion is essentially using affirmations to change your mindset. Whatever you tell your mind enough times will eventually be accepted as true regardless of whether it is yet. Most of us are way too harsh on ourselves. We say things like: “I suck,” “I’m an idiot,” or “I’m socially inept.” No wonder we feel that way. Instead, though, try telling yourself: “I’m great,” I’m smart,” and “I’m socially graceful.” Instead of saying “I can’t,” say “I can.” Do this consistently every day until you can say it with complete conviction. 

 

There’s much more that can be said on the topic of belief, but for the sake of brevity I’ll save it for a later time. If you can practice the two things listed above, you’ll be well on your way to believing in yourself. And once you do, it is time to take action in step three. 

 

Step 3- Do It and Keep Doing It 

 

Step three is by far the longest and dullest part of becoming disciplined. It’s also where many fail, although chances are they actually fail because they bypassed the first two steps. Persistence is key, but the fuel to sustain your persistence is belief and that belief derives from you explicitly defining what you want. While this is the dullest step, if you truly took the time to make your vision crystal clear and believe in yourself then this part will be easy. Just be patient and don’t rush results. 

 

When I started online trying to establish my personal brand it took three years to actually start paying off—THREE YEARS. During that time, I was essentially talking to my family who would occasionally comment on my content. I made virtually no money during this time either. But I kept trudging forward. Why? Because I knew exactly what I wanted, and I believed I could get it. Now, looking back at that period of time I seem insane—I'm sure that’s how most people saw me. But again, I knew what I wanted and I believed I could get it. 

 

Another example is when I started working out consistently. I had always been skinny fat with a body fat % ranging between 23-26%. I decided to start working out to develop a toned physique focused on speed and power like Bruce Lee’s, as mentioned above. I knew exactly what I wanted, and I believed I could get it. It took me six months of training every day before I started seeing notable definition. It took six more months before I could see my ab muscles, which I had never been able to see before. My body fat % is now between 9-10% and I’m in the best shape of my life. 

 

So you see, there’s not much that needs to be said about taking action. As long as you master the first two steps and then do the things that lead to your betterment, you cannot be defeated. As long as you don’t rush the process by becoming impatient, discipline will be yours and with it you will experience true freedom. 

 

Further Discipline Work: 

 

Now you have the basic tools you need to become disciplined and reap all the rewards that that entails. There’s much more that could be said about each step, but you will be well on your way to unwavering discipline if you follow the simple steps in this guide. If interested in exploring any of these steps further, send me an email at tnpersonagmail.com or message me directly on Facebook (Ryan M. Shea.) Also, if you want an accountability partner, don’t hesitate to reach out.  

 

One final note about discipline: no one can make you disciplined other than yourself. I can show you the way and teach you the steps, but ultimately it depends on how much you want it that will determine your success. The same applies to self-belief as well—no one can make you believe in yourself. You must do it. You absolutely can do it too! If I can, you can. I get you might be so entrenched in negative thinking and bad habits right now, but you can change and start moving towards what’s better. You just have to want it bad enough.  

 

So, do you want it?