{"id":4559,"date":"2020-11-13T18:28:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T18:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/?p=4559"},"modified":"2021-09-19T15:18:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T15:18:48","slug":"characteristics-of-self-discipline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/characteristics-of-self-discipline\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Essential Characteristics of Self-Discipline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I didn’t plan on changing careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean granted, I disliked my job, inciting sinking evening anxiety, but it wasn’t a mastermind transition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I simply started tinkering with websites after work, learning how to create a blog for an impending European motorcycle tour (another story). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon though, I fell in love with my online experiments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t wait to get home from work to continue learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It felt like play, the hours flowing by, initiating a journey I’m still traversing today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often think back to this time, especially starting other pursuits, when it frequently feels like I’m pushing a heavy rock up a steep hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, we want our activities to be effortless, like the example above, but all too often they require huge reserves of willpower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when new pursuits don’t seem easy, how can we act anyway and what are the characteristics of self-discipline we can leverage for success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To be fair, effortless habit adoption<\/a> doesn’t often happen, at least not to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frequently, it’s a case of grit your teeth determination, and even then we can often only sustain our effort for minimal periods, positive routines stuttering and eventually faltering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take exercise, for example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know you need to shift that excess timber and start eating healthily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you set yourself non-negotiables<\/a>, buying running gear and replacing your delicious treats with nutritious snacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new routine starts well, with regular exercise and good food, but gradually becomes exponentially harder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting up early doors to lace your trainers is hellish and you can’t even look at another cucumber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon you simply can’t stop thinking and take action, the excuses for returning to your previous lifestyle piling up like snowdrifts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, you abandon that dream of a sexy beach bod and return to baseline, hating yourself all the while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that sounds familiar, here are three characteristics of self-discipline you absolutely must muster to prevent the rot; at least this is what it means to me<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 essential characteristics of self-discipline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commitment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Self-discipline<\/a> is usually contingent on a tipping point, a time of utter desperation when we get so sick of our current behaviour and trajectory that we resolve to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initial self-loathing and anger can easily be transformed into constructive action…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A seed of positive growth to be nurtured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If often develops after numerous previous false starts and failures, when continuing with your current lifestyle seems even worse than the pain of change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use this fire to forge an unbreakable internal commitment; one that says, this time, things will be different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By going all in, both psychologically and emotionally, unshakable self-discipline awaits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honour<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most self-discipline falls by the wayside because we don’t honour our commitment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially true when trying to instigate behaviour change before reaching a tipping point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we’re only partially pledged to our vision, it’s too easy to fall prey to overthinking and indecision, pulling back when we should be pushing forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, when we’ve gone all in, staying true to our word becomes a matter of personal honour, in which taking the easy option is unthinkable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building positive new habits and inviting change isn’t easy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But each and every time we face down discomfort; run, write, meditate, create – we know we’re delivering on an earlier promise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time you turn away from the comfortable old life courageously create a new one, you build internal credibility and bolster that foundational resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Creating a commitment to change and honouring that commitment through repeated constructive action slowly starts to inform your new identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time you commit and follow through, you cast a vote for the type of person you want to become. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Borrowing from James Clear’s excellent book<\/a> on habit formation; you start to see yourself not as someone who runs occasionally, but as a runner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You transform from someone who writes irregularly into a writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You transition from part-time parent, to father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as you start taking your vision and life purpose seriously, you shift from an amateur to a professional mindset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we put in enough self-discipline repetitions to reach this point, the flywheel of habit formation<\/a> puts our productive habits on autopilot, paradoxically requiring diminishing self-discipline to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highly disciplined habits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

‘He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how’ – Friedrich Nietzsche<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an ideal world, all beneficial behaviours would be easy to implement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, that’s not the case and we’re often our own worst enemies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By adopting these three integral characteristics of self-discipline, we develop the mental tools to thrive under any circumstance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persist for long enough and our progress not only becomes automatic, but the results will speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I didn’t plan on changing careers. <\/p>\n

I mean granted, I disliked my job, inciting sinking evening anxiety. <\/p>\n

But it wasn’t a mastermind transition. <\/p>\n

I simply started tinkering with websites after work, learning how to create a blog for an impending European motorcycle tour (another story)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Essential Characteristics of Self-Discipline | Bloomsoup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Success is contingent on self-mastery. 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