Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.
Clint Eastwood
Self-discipline is one of the most rewarding, yet incredibly hard things to master. It takes hard work, patience, and a whole lot of stubbornness. But with the right mindset and motivation, you will be right on your way to completing that ever so hard goal you want to reach.
I went to this seminar that was based entirely on self-discipline; it was phenomenal and completely motivating to change my lifestyle. The instructor had many great points, but there were a couple of ideas that I think he really nailed the spot on that I would love to share with you.
The first one (which nearly took half of the class) was just about waking up early. That simple. I think being young adults, we find ourselves staying up late and waking up late which is fun and all but not entirely ideal when you’re trying to reach a goal. He repeatedly talked about Benjamin Franklin’s strict schedule about waking up early. He was a genius after all, and his disciplined attitude let him complete the work he needed too. Franklin did say, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”.
So, I went home and went to bed at 10 o’clock to make sure I could be up at 6:30. My mind was so excited to try it that my body wanted to wake up in the morning. I got my article finished and got some housework done all with time left to eat breakfast and have some down time with myself before work. It was quite nice to have that alone time in the morning without the chaos of rushing to get ready in the morning because ‘I’m going to be late for work again…’
The second thing he pushed for the class was following through with our commitments to ourselves. Just like we don’t like when people stand us up, we can’t stand ourselves up either. If you say you’re going to work out in the morning, don’t hit the snooze button! Get out of your bed and hit the gym. If you tell yourself you’ll do your homework after one episode of Friends, then turn off the TV as soon as the credits pull up. You’ve got to be stubborn and follow through for yourself. Think about how productive you’ll feel and proud of you.
It all comes down to you. What you want and how you’re going to do it. With waking up early you’ll have more time in the day to get closer to your goal. And with following through with the commitments you make to yourself, you’ll feel better and get more done that you need to do. Of course, this is easier said than done. But push through it. Don’t take the easy route of giving up. Work hard and hustle!