Every day we all have choices to make. Like, do you wake up early and work on your book, or get hit the snooze button and grab an extra hour of sleep? Do you fix a healthy lunch, or buy something fast when lunchtime rolls around? Do you put a little extra money in your savings account, or buy that gorgeous pair of boots you’ve had your eye on all month?
Now, I have to tell you something: Deep down inside, we already know which actions are going to give us the best results.
So why do so many of us struggle with making the best decisions – and fail to reach our full potential as a result? How do we overcome these challenges? Is self-discipline really the answer?
First, What is Self-Discipline?
Elbert Hubbard, American author, philosopher, and artist defined self-discipline as, “The ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” I agree with that definition… especially when it comes to deciding whether to blow my budget on that new pair of boots!
Why Is Self-Discipline Important?
If you want to be successful and reach your goals, self-discipline is probably one of the most crucial skills to master. As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, making the best choices aren’t the fastest, easiest, or most pleasant.
This means you have to exercise a high level of control over your emotions and behavior. Improving your ability to do what is best for you regardless of your initial desire is the only way to make consistent progress in life. As such, if self-discipline becomes one of your foundational skills, you’ll become more successful and productive in everything you do.
7 Benefits Of Self-Discipline
When you develop a stronger sense of self-control, you can expect incremental improvements across many areas of your life. Here are ten benefits of self-discipline.
#1- Improved Health
First, improving your self-discipline leads to improved physical health. Exercising control over the quality and quantity of food you consume, establishing a regular fitness routine, and drinking enough water help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your chances of illness and disease, and increase your chances of longevity and vitality later in life.
2- Greater Writing And Career Success
Next, self-discipline helps you make choices that lead to higher writing and career success. Sometimes you must choose between writing every day, and spending time out with friends. Self-discipline helps you see the value of delayed gratification, which pays off in a bigger way down the road.
3- Better Relationships
Third, self-discipline improves your relationships because you become a person who follows through on your commitments. People in your life learn they can trust you to do what you say you will and we all view people like that more favorably.
4- Better Financial Health
Next, gaining better control over your finances is another direct benefit of self-discipline. While it’s more fun to spend money than it is to save it, self-discipline means seeing the long-term benefit of putting money away for a rainy day
That’s not to say you pinch pennies and sacrifice the quality of your life. Self-discipline isn’t supposed to make you miserable. Instead, it’s about weighing the pros and cons and making decisions that bring you closer to YOUR goals and the ultimate lifestyle you want to have.
Examples of financial self-discipline that don’t require total restriction include regularly putting a certain percentage of each paycheck into your savings account or sticking to a budget that allocates a certain amount of money each month for discretionary spending. It means still getting to enjoy the present, though not at the expense of your future.
5- Fewer Regrets
Another benefit of growing more self-disciplined is that you’ll have fewer regrets because you make better choices in the first place.
You’ll eliminate such problems as saying the wrong thing at the wrong time because you’re disciplined enough to think before speaking.
You’ll avoid jumping to conclusions, and give yourself time to gather information before making decisions and making choices based on facts rather than emotion or opinion.
6- Improved Time Management
With an ever-growing list of things vying for our attention, it seems that our time is in short supply. One of the best benefits of self-discipline is improved management of your time.
For example, social media can be the ultimate time-killer if you don’t exercise self-control. While it can be useful at times, you can easily fall into the trap of mindlessly scrolling through news feeds when you could be completing other tasks. Instead, give yourself a set time limit to spend on social media, and use time blocking to get more of other things you need to do, done.
7- See Projects Through To The End
Finally, self-discipline helps you complete tasks and projects that you start, even when you lose steam or desire. Motivation is always high at the beginning of a new goal. Whether it’s a new diet plan, a new business idea, or even new relationships to a certain degree, when things are fresh, there is nothing but excitement and stimulation ahead.
Yet over time, motivation fades, challenges arise, reality sets in, and it’s tempting to go back to something more familiar or move on to the next shiny object.
Exercising self-control and choosing to finish what you start, within reason, even when you lose motivation and desire means you not only have the finished project under your belt, but you’ve learned lessons and acquired skills you wouldn’t have if you had quit.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the importance of self-discipline, then taking steps to improve this necessary skill both as a writer, and to improve your life in all other areas, is perhaps the best thing you can do for your personal development and lifetime success.