How to build self-discipline in 10 days
Tom Cronin is a meditation teacher, life coach and writer. He is the founder of The Stillness Project, a global movement that aims to help people on their journey towards calmness and fulfilment.
Would you like to have the inner strength to rid yourself of bad habits, learn new skills, and develop and grow as a person? Self-discipline can help you make a plan and stick to it. Find out how to easily build self-discipline in 10 days with this simple plan.
Day 1 – Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses
If you would like to build self-discipline, the first thing you need to do is identify the areas of your life which are lacking. Do you have a soft spot for greasy foods or a tendency to spend too much time on the couch and not enough outside? You need to recognize the improvements you would like to make before you can use self-discipline to implement a change.
Day 2 – Take one step at a time
Nobody is perfect. There might be more than one change you would like to make in your life. Nonetheless, you should focus your attention on one thing at a time instead of getting overambitious and addressing too many things at once.
Day 3 – Get motivated
Before you can become disciplined, you need to feel motivated to change. Make a list of all the reasons why you would like to make that change in your life. Will you be healthier, happier, or more productive? Will the change benefit anyone aside from you? Your motivation will increase with every reason you come up with.
Day 4 – Make a plan
It’s easy enough to understand that you need to make a change in your life, but how can you actually implement that change? While making a plan to change you should identify all possible areas of weakness – when will you have difficulty sticking to your plan or saying no? Practise dealing with those situations.
Day 5 – Change your mind
Your mind is the biggest obstacle you’ll face while trying to build self-discipline. You have to learn how to overcome how you feel at any given moment, something that can only be accomplished through mental Stillness. By practicing Stillness on a regular basis, you can filter out the negative emotions that cause you to want to give up on your goal.
Day 6 – Make it public
Studies have shown that people who tell others about their plans or goals to change are more likely to go through with them. Not only should your friends and family give you support as you strive for self-improvement, you’ll be more likely to stick to your guns if you know that other people are invested in the outcome.
Day 7 – Start small
As you move forward with implementing your plan to build self-discipline, recognize that making a long-term change doesn’t happen overnight. Going “cold turkey” with whatever change you would like to make is sometimes too extreme, and you’ll find you can’t keep it up for a long period of time.
Day 8 – Empower yourself through change
Every time you make a positive step towards building self-discipline, no matter how small, recognize how empowering it is. It feels good to make good choices for your life, and your family and friends will be proud of you when you do the right thing.
Day 9 – Evaluate your progress
After a little over a week, evaluate how you’re doing. What did you struggle with in the last eight days? What did you do well with? By taking an honest inventory of your progress, you can identify the areas you will need to improve in order to build your self-discipline.
Day 10 – Reward yourself
Remember to reward yourself when you make the right choice. Choose a reward that is in line with your goal to change, i.e. if you’re trying to cut out junk food, reward yourself with a “healthy” junk food substitute that you enjoy, such as flavoured rice chips or sorbet instead of ice cream. It’s important that you recognize your own progress and give yourself credit for all that you do.
You can build self-discipline in 10 days! The ten steps above should strengthen your inner resolve, it can also help you develop the mental strength you’ll need to implement change and maintain self-discipline over the long-term.
Written by Tom Cronin. First appeared on The Stillness Project.
Related links:
The unexpected benefits of deep breathing
5 quick ways to cheer yourself up
Overcoming pain using the power of the mind