How do discipline yourself?

24 comments

1. Writing in my journal helps me. Also, I have friends that will hold me accountable.

   That combination helps me stay on the right path.

2. The usual way, just like the albino assassin in The da Vinci Code

3. I talk to myself out loud like no you can’t do that

4. use a calendar program and a timer to keep track of your tasks – do micro tasks so big jobs don’t seem overwhelming – practice meditation to clear your mind and get exercise and good sleep

5. Not massively beating yourself up when you don’t adhere to new behaviours/habits/routines immediately. That shit’s hard, and takes time, and it’s harder when you give yourself grief for being human.

6. Make it a habit. Also keep in mind the importance of mental health.

   So what I mean is, as an example let’s say I want to exercise daily. I start by cultivating the habit by telling myself “I will do five push-ups today” and **then doing it** – right there and then if necessary.

   In terms of mental health, I do not punish myself if I fail to do five push-ups for that day. I just must commit to doing it the next day, and the day after that.

   In doing so, I create the foundation for the changes I want to make, and ramp it from five to ten push-ups daily, and so on and so forth.

7. You stop being a bitch and do what needs to be done.

8. Seek discomfort

9. I don’t. I found ways to incentivise myself to do the things i want to be doing instead. Works a lot better than barking orders at myself. I don’t like anyone to tell me what to do, and that includes me.

10. discipline yourself? like punish yourself?

11. I call myself out on my shit. Like literally talk to myself and be like why you being such a bitch rn put on your shoes and go for that fucking run you moron.

12. What behaviour did you want to do/not do

13. I find a reason why its important to me.

14. The answer is in the question.

    >_I keep making too many excuses_

    Well .. **stop it!!** Set an agenda for yourself.

    We’ll use something like weight loss. You say, “I want to lose 30lbs by June” – this is your mission. You can elaborate on why at your discretion.

    Now we analyze your current state. What is holding you back?

    * Poor diet?
    * poor sleeping habits?
    * No gym access?

    Break each one of these points down further:

    * Poor diet becomes _**I Will Eat Better** by eating less of {x}_

    * Poor sleep = _**I Will Sleep Better** by going to bed at {hh:mm}_

    * No gym = _**I Will Start Working Out** with a home-based workout regiment 3 days a week_

    The **DISCIPLINE** comes from **YOU** holding yourself **ACCOUNTABLE** for your progress. Write a journal on how you did that week. If you slipped, write why and learn not to repeat this.

    To quote David Goggins, _that voice inside your head is a mother fucker and wants you to stay in bed .. eat that other cookie — fuck that guy! get on the path and get after it .. stay hard!!_

15. fasting. I am a Muslim and the fasting month makes me do a lot of things every single year. Do it for a week and see for yourself

16. It really depends on said behaviors, why you are having them, and tackling them individually (don’t try to do too much at once).

    Sometimes you need to take a step back, breathe, evaluate, focus – develop a plan. Depending on what the behavior is and what may be causing it (I’ve had times where I have just been lazy to be lazy and I’ve had times where things going on had affected my overall temperament), it may be a quicker fix or something that requires a bit more.

17. Remove distractions and excuses, so you can’t keep saying no. Once you get whatever it is you’re trying to do down to a routine, you’ll have no further need of the removed distractions (unless you’re happier with them gone)

18. Its hard to push through life with just a lot of disziplin.
    For me it worked way better to have systematic changes that eliminate the need for much disziplin.

    Lets say you want to lose weight.
    Always stopping at the donut shop on your commute? Drive a different route.
    You eat all the snacks that are in the house because you cant resist? Dont have snacks in the house.
    You always buy snacks when you shop grocerys? Only shop grocerys once a week. Maybe allow yourself 1 bag of chips or anything.

    If you need a lot of disziplin througout the whole day, you will probably fail at one point.
    Eliminate the need for disziplin as much as you can.

19. I remind myself that the pain of trying to do better is more tolerable than the pain of ruminating over regrets.

20. Join the military. We will give you all of the discipline you need, and 3 square meals a day!

21. “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”So you were born to feel “nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands? You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you.” – Marcus Aurelius

22. If you want to discipline yourself you do what ever it is you want to do and do it every single day no breaks no rest days. Go 100% into something without faultering or giving in

    When I was 19 I was tired of being overweight. So I bought me a back pack a case of water and and bags of chicken. I walked 11-12 hrs a day non stop everyday for 5 months eating 800 cals a days of chicken only drinking unsweetened tea and water and I would do 1,000 skips of jump rope and lift at night.

    I would listen to people like les brown and ct fletcher and David goggins. And then I would move on to riding bicycle all day around all day, in the cold rain heat if it was windy..doesn’t matter (the only exception if I was sick) I didn’t see anyone talk to family or anything I isolated myself from the world and I didn’t care how far it was or how hard it was. I had about 20 miles to get done and that’s what I did.

    I didn’t count calories I didn’t track anything because I had reduced everything down to a simple routine where I knew exactly what I was doing I ate about 12 pieces of chicken a day drank a gallon of unsweetened tea a gallon of water no sweets no processed no dairy the only thing i could have for taste was hot sauce or mustard

23. You just gotta make yourself do it. Front-load your pain because the suffering you endure for doing shit now is going to be 10x less than what it turns into later on down the road.

    Life is about doing shit you don’t want to do, but need to do because its good for you.

24. Find a way to make it a routine.