I am, indeed, a king,
because I know how to rule myself.
Self-control, in the sense that we will be discussing it today, is the power to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state or a way to maintain a positive mental attitude.
Get It In Order
Imagine what you would be able to achieve if you could only get yourself to follow up on your best intentions without regard to your mood. The good thing about self-control is that when you reach the point of arriving at a conscious decision, you are almost guaranteed to follow up on it.
Self-control is one among the many personal development tools available to you. Of course, it is not a cure-all. Even so, the issues that can be solved and resolved with self-control may be crucial to moving forward. And while there may be other ways of solving these issues, self-control is usually the best recourse.
Self-control can help you wipe out procrastination, help you maintain a positive mental attitude and help you to be more of a success in your own way and in your own eyes. Moreover, it becomes a potent teammate when combined with all of the other tools at your disposal.
You have some, work it
Self-control is like a muscle. The more you work it and discipline it, the stronger you and it will get. The less you discipline it, the more feeble you will become.
Just as each person has different muscle power, each of you possess different levels of self-control. Every one has some. If you have ever been able to hold your breath, even for a couple of seconds, you have some self-control. But not everyone has formulated their discipline to the same level.
The best approach to boosting your self-control is like using weight training to get better muscles. This means that you will need to lift weights that are close to your limitations. In this way you force your muscles to work until they fail, and then you rest. Likewise, the basic technique to building up your self-control is to tackle some challenges that you are able to successfully achieve but which are very near your limitations. This does not mean that you should be attempting something and failing at it on a daily basis, nor does it imply remaining comfortably inside your comfort zone.
You will gain absolutely no strength attempting to lift a weight that you can’t budge, nor will you acquire power lifting weights that are too light for you. You have to begin with weights/challenges that are well within your current ability to lift, but which are near your limitations.
When you succeed, you step-up the challenge, a bit. If you are undisciplined right now, you will still be able to utilize the “little” discipline that you currently have to make a foundation to form more. The more disciplined you get, the easier things in life tend to get. Challenges that once seemed inconceivable to you will work their way down the scale to becoming like child’s play. As you become stronger, the same weights will feel lighter and lighter.
Avoid comparisons
At all cost, please avoid the trap of trying to compare yourself to others. It won’t help anything. You will likely only discover what you expect to discover. If you already believe that you are weak, everybody else will feel and look stronger. If you already believe that you are strong, everybody else will appear weaker. There is absolutely no point in doing this. Simply look at where you are today, and aim and work to get / do better as you proceed with your plan.
What “thing” do you need to develop better self-control for?
Photo Credits: kevinthoule via Compfight cc, jontunn via Compfight cc
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