How to Develop and Maintain Self-Discipline

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Donna Coles, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

Two Key Principles to Finishing Your Race –
or How to Develop and Maintain Self-discipline

To have self-discipline has been defined as having the ability to commit to sustained action. Self-discipline is said to sustain us; and allow us to engage in purposeful action without regard to how we emotionally feel about it; and, without regard to how the nay-sayers emotionally feel about it.

Self-discipline takes us beyond “I’m tired” or “maybe later” and propels us to be better than we were a moment ago. Self-discipline helps us to finish what we start – to “finish our race”.

Once we’ve made a conscious commitment to act, it doesn’t matter how we feel, we “Just do It”; much as the Nike slogan (1988-1998) compelled us to put on our shoes and RUN.

Is “Just put on our shoes and run” all there is to it?

No. In real life, setting out to meet our goals is a little more complicated than that. Because our time can be limited and our options plentiful, our abilities to develop and maintain focused self-discipline – to run our own race no matter where it leads – requires more from us than we sometimes imagine. And because of the pressure to use our time wisely, we have to run our race smarter than ever.

Goals that we set have an end-point, an image that we can conjure in times of trouble. That image can contribute to our motivation to continue even when faced with adversity.

So, what else do we need? We need to follow the rules and we need to be persistent.

RULES
We need to understand the rules that govern what we desire to do – what we want to accomplish. Every endeavor has its own set of rules that determine the likelihood of timely or untimely success – or even all out failure.

Following the rules means that when we run our own race, getting to the finish-line requires our understanding of the negative impact of inadequate information and limited knowledge on our capacity to maintain self-discipline. Inadequate information and limited knowledge have the ability to determine whether we make it to the finish-line, stop running, or detour.

For example, I recall my commitment to run every day for one hour to increase my stamina and to build lower body strength. I knew that as a result of this commitment and because of the release of endorphins that I could anticipate feeling less stressed throughout the day; and because I would become physically stronger, my gait would have more vitality.

So, I pulled my sneakers out of the back of the closet, and started running – daily, for one hour. As a result of my zealous search for reduced stress and vitality, I developed an indescribable continuous pain along the front of my lower legs – also known as shin splints. A pain that caused me to walk with a limp and to go from standing to sitting with a pronounced “plop”. Be my guest, nod and smile if you can identify with my plight. What I was experiencing was not indicative of stress-free vitality!

So, the moral of my story is that we should educate ourselves and follow the Rules so that we don’t make mistakes from sheer lack of common knowledge. Talk with those who have gone before us, use our resources to identify the likely course for success. We’ll experience less pain for our effort.

Back to my plight — I’m sure that there is a reader out there that “saw it coming” – my weeks-long excursion into the land of shin splints.

But, now, ask yourself these questions: Do I research the RULES before I begin a new journey? What rules do I tend to ignore? Why do I do that? Do I pride myself in blazing trails as if they haven’t already been traveled? Why do I waste time “reinventing the wheel”?

And, of course, there’s the companion to knowing the rules: Persistence.

PERSISTENCE
Persistence means that we find our own recipe for maintaining performance regardless of how we feel – and we press on even when we feel like quitting. How do we do that?

I suggest that there are at least five keys to being persistent.

• Learn From Our Mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. When enhancing our self-discipline, we don’t give up. We follow the adage that “practice makes perfect”. Self-discipline is self-taught with mindful persistence. But, repeating our mistakes can be a game-changer. Self-discipline requires that we learn from our mistakes, and we don’t ignore the life lessons that come from failure. We learn from the lessons and set a more favorable course. And then teach those lessons to others. Most importantly, we press on.

• Get Rid of Bad Habits such as negative attitudes or habits that can hinder our self-discipline. We don’t allow ourselves to put a negative spin (based on our past) onto our current situation. Focusing on our past can cause us to lose momentum.

We don’t let unrelated failures in our past affect our ability to move forward. Remember: We’re not strong because we’re untested. We’re strong because we’re made ready for the test.

• Set Meaningful Sub-goals that provide the needed drive and motivation to follow through and overcome any obstacle. Completing sub-goals that are meaningful to us can create powerful self-discipline as we also focus on the big picture. There’s nothing like completing a sub-goal and crossing it off the list.

• Be Aware of the Impact of Negative Influences and the nay-sayers who speak from emotions – such as fear, shame, and doubt. We take care in sharing our vision with fearful people. We make our self-discipline a bigger priority than pleasing the negative influencers.

Ask yourself, now, what are the NEGATIVE INFLUENCES in my current situation that I should be aware of in my journey?

• Be Industrious and put in the time where it’s needed and not primarily in completing the tasks that we enjoy the most. Goal attainment can be hampered by procrastination of those tasks that are necessary, yet, somehow unattractive. It is said that our procrastination often evolves from either a. the complexity of the task; or b. the unpleasantness of the task; or c. both. Remember: we should ignore our emotional reactions, turn on our auto-pilot, and “Just Do It!”. Then, move on to the next task on the list.

And, finally, at the end of each day, or as often as possible, we should fully engage in a hobby, a sport, play time, or any activity that we consider fun and positive. We reward ourselves for a job well-done. And we always wear the correct sneakers!

So, tell me what you think. Drop me a line. I’d like your feedback. Thanks in advance.
Donna Coles
(Donna Coles in an Executive and Career Coach with an office in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She also works with clients by telephone and video conferencing.)