You know the days that you wake up with a good night’s sleep, feeling refreshed and energized, ready to work hard and motivated as hell. Yeah, well those are the easy days. The hard part comes on the days you don’t sleep enough, not feeling it that much, or just not motivated. Those days, most people skip on chores, workouts or the most important of all, improving on their future.
Discipline is the most underrated act one can take. Most of us search for the true meaning of what it takes to be great, to have a fulfilling life or the reason to live. Here is the truth, no matter what you read, who you listen to or what you pay, the answer is always in you, and yourself alone. Yes, there are many helpful resources out there to find what you’re looking for, but unless actioned on, it will be all pointless.
Here are five points to think about and try:
- Learn to suffer
Hear me out.
If life was only pleasure and comfort, there would be no value and meaning to it. Without having that suffering on some days, then the goals and passions will have no satisfaction that you battled to reach what you aimed for.
Accept that suffering will happen, no matter who you are and what you do. There is no going past this. Life will grab you by your shoulders and will throw you on the ground. You have to smile through the pain, suffer, and accept that it will be over too. That is why balance is great to have. Learning to adjust to life, and trust that you will have both high and low moments.
- Don’t play the victim card
We all do it. It was my favorite card to play. You feel sorry for yourself, and others feel sorry for you. The mind thinks that is what you need, the poor me mentality to feel better from the sorries. Victimizing yourself kills any hope of getting through the situation. The mind likes to play tricks on us, and wants us to stay in the bubble of the so-called “comfort zone.” Callous the brain to not let any situation get you as a victim. Sometimes, you get a weak hand in life, struggling to even get out of bed. Don’t allow it to capture you. Ride the storm out, and like any good sailor, you will get to shore alive and grateful for powering through it.
- Bypass emotions
Those damn mood swings are a killer. You’re feeling motivated and happy, you get a phone call that changes your mood, and all of a sudden, the moment fades and say hello to procrastination limbo. Those moments, are the reason why self-discipline needs to be engraved in the brain. The moment you give in to the “ah not feeling like doing anything anymore” it’s game over.
Let go of any emotion that will affect your work, push through the bad feelings and focus on the task at hand. It will be hard at first. Eventually, you will learn to clear any thoughts and zone in, which brings me to my next point.
- Motivation is crap
As far as humans go, we are programmed to survive and use the fight or flight system to do so. The world evolved, and with further technology, it is so easy to be comfortable. We got so soft and lazy! Relying on motivation and not trying to push ourselves to new limits. Motivation is great as a starter but what happens on the days of being overtired, stressed, too busy. Do you still go after it?
The significant attribute of discipline, no matter what your feeling at that moment, your going to stop from whatever and start working. Difficult or not, it has to be done, and it will.
- Focus on what you’re doing, no distractions
Most people are proud to say; they are great multitaskers. For me, It’s not a compliment, but the other way round. Being a multitasker means you don’t give your 100% focus on each task, which leads to mediocre work. You can’t send funny cat videos to Kate and reading a book at the same time. It’s one or the other. When it’s time to focus, leave everything else, get the essentials out, and remove any temptation what so ever. Kate can wait a couple of minutes from the trending video of the day.
Conquering self-discipline is no easy task. It will need a lot of practice and effort. Dedicating time, every day to push yourself harder. Don’t hope for motivation to come to you, get disciplined and seize each moment. Make everyday count, we all have the same twenty-four hours. What will you do with yours?