It is not enough to have great qualities;
We should also have the management of them.
One of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is learning to master your self-discipline. Learning how to tell yourself, “No” is an important skill to master to become a stronger, wiser and more mature person. Don’t be fooled. Self-discipline is not easy or sometimes simple. But there are clear benefits to mastering the important art of self-control.
Benefits
1. Help you realize your dream. Self-discipline can help you achieve your goals and realize your dreams and potential. Often, achieving the goals that you have set for yourself require that you sacrifice time, money and energy that you might wish to spend in other ways or on other things. Are you willing to have this dedication?
2. Get stuff done. Self-discipline will help you get more done. By cutting out even a few of the time wasters in your day, you will be able to accomplish more every day and thereby, reach your goal sooner. Without the self-discipline to stick with your tasks, you can easily become distracted by less important details. Are you willing to remove these distractions?
3. Get focused. Self-discipline will help you improve your focus. By shutting out the things that pull you away from your work, you can focus on what is actually most important. You cannot say “Yes” to everything and to everyone. You must make choices and you must be able to focus on one thing at a time so that you can do it well.
Focus is almost impossible to achieve without practicing some self-discipline. And this means that goals will be nearly impossible to achieve without focus. Are you willing to focus intensely on your goals?
The keys to self-discipline are simple:
- If you make a commitment to someone, keep it.
- If you make a commitment to yourself, guard it with your life!
- If you break a commitment to yourself, don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember that you are human. You will have to learn, or re-learn how to prioritize your commitments to yourself in the same manner in which you prioritize your commitments to other people.
Part of self-discipline is self-respect, and we have discussed that before as well. In order to live the life you truly desire to have, you need to care for yourself properly. And, this is where we will pick up our discussion tomorrow…
Thoughts?
Photo Credit: Kris Krug via Compfight cc
