The Beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline

Mastering self-discipline isn’t easy. In fact, self-discipline is one of the hardest things to learn. That is why every year thousands of people around the world spend money on learning how to master self-discipline. I am sure that number is higher than the figure you imagine. This is a beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline, but I want to give you a bit of context.

The health and fitness industry talks about self-discipline. Maybe not the way you imagine it. But you can’t exercise and become a healthier version of yourself if you don’t master self-discipline. They train people to exercise daily, but they don’t bash you on the head with self-discipline mantras. They teach you to resist eating food that won’t benefit you in the long run.

The longer you do something, the easier it is to keep doing it. The health and fitness industry aren’t the only ones that teach self-discipline. But so does everything else. If you have bought a course on making money online, you’re taught to change your mindset. This will trigger something within you. A willingness to push yourself. Most course creators break such videos into bite sizes. That encourages you to watch the videos. The more you watch, the eager you are to learn more.

Picking up an instrument teaches you self-discipline. Most instructors will tell you to practice for ten minutes a day. Putting ten minutes aside to learn an instrument isn’t intimidating. We all have ten minutes to spare. The likelihood that you will come up with an excuse is slim. This is reverse psychology. Many of us don’t even realize it until we take time to analyze the strategy behind it.

Small steps

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Remember that. If you want to master self-discipline, then you need to start small. This is the first step in the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline. Work on self-discipline daily for you to improve it. The reason is we are rebellious. We don’t enjoy doing things good for us. The way our brains operate it, we observe good things as pain. That is why we avoid it.

The process is for painful for those who have two jobs. Very few people want to come back after a long day at work and start working on their side-hustle not in the beginning. When you are used to something, it is hard to kick the habit. That’s why it’s important you start small. Take small steps towards progress. If you want to start a business. Then what’s the first thing you should work on. It isn’t building the business.

It’s your mindset. This will make it so much easier for you to progress. This is the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline, so I want to make it easy for you. One thing you should do is start with affirmations. The reasons why you are doing what you’re doing. For example, your reason to exercise is because you want to look good. Your deep desire could be that you want to be healthier. When you build affirmations that help you, this will encourage self-discipline, but it also motivates you. 

Also Related: 7 Step Action Plan For Instant Motivation

10 minute rule

When I heard this, I was shocked it was so simple. The second step in the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline is the 10-minute rule. This will help you beat procrastination. So, for all those procrastinators, try this and it will solve it. Remember, sometimes the best steps are the ones we are unaware of or we do subconsciously.

There are activities that we thought would take 10 minutes, and we ended up working on it for hours. That is the key there. Tell yourself that you will work on something for 10 minutes. What happens is you will be engrossed in the activity? Once you’re immersed in what you’re doing, you will want to continue working on it.

This is a quick boost that will motivate you. The 10-minute rule works because we have been doing it since we were kids. Our parents would tell us to do something for a certain period. Then we will be immersed in the activity. The reason why many of us don’t know this rule is because it’s so simple it’s stupid. How many tactics and tricks to we subscribe to? Thinking it will help us with procrastination, but it does the opposite. 

If you do this for a month, you will get used to it. You need to do this daily so you don’t forget this tactic. It’s easy for you to forget about this rule, so whip it out every day. 

Imperfection is the key you’re missing

Step three in the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline is imperfection. Wait, what? You heard me correctly. Stop trying to be perfect. The reason many of us struggle with self-discipline is we want to be perfect. We want to have perfect workout routines. We want to pick an instrument and be a prodigy. 

We want to learn a language in a shorter period. We want to feel intelligent when building our business. But in the beginning, there’s always imperfection. We live in a society where perfection is a drug that Hollywood executives whip out. As a society, we embrace perfection on the covers of magazines. So, yes, people want to be perfect.

But perfection doesn’t exist. You can try looking for it, but you will never find it. Often, we look at fiction as if it’s reality. Flawless skin doesn’t exist. Starting something off is a hard process, but that’s beside the point. It should be hard in the beginning. It is then that you will know it’s worth it.

Imagine if we all got things right in the beginning. What would the point be? I can imagine that conversation. “I learned how to play the piano in a week,” you’d say to your friends.

“That’s outstanding. How do you feel?”

“I feel as if it was pointless. It didn’t feel like a challenge. As if I grew.”

There’s pain in the aftermath of success. There’s pleasure in the endurance of struggle. Keep that in mind.

Obstacles make you better

Start seeing obstacles as a way for you to grow. An opportunity to push yourself. This is step four in the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline. We all see obstacles as these titans that prevent us from pushing forward. But obstacles make you better.

Look at any successful person, the number one thing they have in common are their obstacles. These obstacles made them better versions. You can also use this as an affirmation to guide you on your path to mastering self-discipline. Realize that the obstacles you face strengthen you. It gives you the courage you need to never forget who you are and where you started from.

Sometimes we forget. We forget that the obstacles helped us to grow. That’s not that bad a thing. When you look at obstacles as points of growth, your approach will differ. Often, the best way to master self-discipline is to change your perspective. 

Your perspective shifts your mindset. When your mindset shifts, then this will encourage you to keep pushing yourself until you get it right.

Don’t give up

The last step in the beginner’s guide to mastering self-discipline is don’t give up. Even if you follow all this, self-discipline takes time. There are a lot of other steps you can take to become more self-disciplined, but it still takes time. You need to be kind to yourself. Appreciate the journey and keep moving forward.

When you see it as a journey, you are more willing to make mistakes as you continue to find yourself. That’s the beauty of life. That you can make mistakes and still learn from them. We aren’t born knowing things that would take so much out of life itself. Instead, we keep learning and growing. Self-discipline is the same way. Once you understand why you are doing what you’re doing. Giving up is a less likely choice. In fact, it isn’t even a great option.

So don’t give up. Never give up going for what you want. Self-discipline takes time. Keep that in mind as you move forward. 

Also Related: How To Master The Art Of Never Giving Up

What is your main takeaway from this blog post?  What are your struggles when it comes to self-discipline?  comment below.

                                                              Keep Pushing

                                                             Vanessa