How Do You Overcome Lack Of Discipline?
Anything that you want in life is earned through discipline and persistence. That means, if you have a lack of discipline, you may struggle to achieve goals and live the life you are meant to live. But a lack of discipline isn't something that is permanent, you can overcome it in many different ways.
Overcoming a lack of discipline is all about persistence and consistency. By breaking up your larger goals into smaller goals you'll be able to achieve them better and this will help you stay disciplined and on track. Along with this, making sure your goals are always visible and finding yourself an accountability buddy could help you to overcome a lack of discipline very easily.
Before we go into our tips on how to overcome lack of discipline, we wanted to take a look at self-discipline itself, the benefits that you get from having a good level of self-discipline and potential causes to lookout for so that you can avoid suffering from lack of discipline in the future.
Self-Discipline: Definition & Benefits
Defining self-discipline really is a personal definition. At its core principle, discipline is the life skill and essential mental outlook that you are focused and serious at achieving whatever goal you've set forth. It is by far one of the most important foundations for any form of success or happy life.
In fact, it is the core principle of any successful action plan or lifestyle change that you are looking to make in order to improve your health or life. In order to understand why discipline is so important to this aspect of your life, we wanted to take a look at the benefits you will be able to take advantage of once you overcome your lack of discipline.
Benefits of Discipline…
Reduced Anxiety
Anxiety is usually created when you feel like you are not in control of something. By having discipline, you take that factor away. This is because if you're disciplined, you are following a set plan, and you are driven to accomplish tasks in line with the goal you're looking to complete. This means you are in complete control and there is no way for anxiety to creep in.
Achieving Goals
In order to achieve long term goals, you have to be driven and disciplined. There are a lot of steps when trying to achieve your goals, and you may find distractions and setbacks at every turn. But if you're disciplined, you will attack those and overcome them in order to keep moving towards your ultimate final destination.
Better Mood
It's just natural that if you are in alignment with your bull's and spiritual pass that you're going to be happier. That means, by staying disciplined and continuing to be consistent in your practices and moving forward towards your ultimate goal, you are driven in a positive manner.
Resiliency
No matter how positive you are or how disciplined you are, there are always going to be obstacles that crop up on your way through life. Not only does being disciplined help with resiliency in this aspect, but it also allows you to stave off temptations that may steer you away from your ultimate goal.
What Causes Lack of Discipline?
So now that you understand a little bit about discipline and the benefits you get from having it, we want to take a look at what may cause a lack of discipline. There are a lot of different factors and just to make it clear, none of them are genetic. In fact, most of them have to do with the environment you were raised in or live in currently.
So here are some of the things that may be the cause of your lack of discipline:
Misperception
Discipline may not be what you think it is! Most of the time when people think of discipline they think of obsession and hardship and that's why many people lack discipline. But because of this negative connotation when it comes to discipline, they struggle to complete things. It needs to be understood that discipline isn't always something that is negative, in fact for the majority of us discipline is something we all need in order to make our lives function properly.
Laziness
Everybody wants to relax and not have to work hard. Wouldn't it be great to wake up and never have to work hard another day in your life! The truth is, though, you have to have some sort of inner strength in order to combat the human draw to the pleasure of being lazy.
Laziness is the chief reason why discipline is so hard for some, but it can be overcome once you've learned that discipline is not necessarily a negative and can be very enjoyable when done right, especially if it's for something that you truly love and are driven toward.
Fear
No matter how confident you are, there are moments where you have a fear of failure. This is particularly true when you're trying something new or making lifestyle changes that are slightly uncomfortable and challenging. When you have this fear, it makes it very easy to push aside any form of routine you had built into your daily life.
But looking at failure as something negative could be the reason why you're lacking discipline. Because when you fail you are out of control and this in turn leads to feeling like you can't control anything, and this affects your discipline. Failure is rather just a lesson to be learned and moved on from.
Temptations
Temptations abound for all of us. Those temptations may differ from person to person, but these are often the primary saying that create a lack of discipline. Being constantly inundated with media and other things can drag us away from being disciplined and staying on our path in order to seek out pleasure that we feel we need.
No Purpose
Discipline is only good if you have some sort of goals or purpose in your life. If you're someone who hasn't found their passion, having discipline can be quite challenging.
This is partly because you don't know where to aim that discipline at or structure your life in order to push yourself in the right direction. So if you have a lack of discipline, maybe you need to sit down and really think about where you want to go in life.
Health
Sometimes your lack of discipline really has nothing to do with your mental state, but more about your physical state. If you're someone who suffers from poor health, it may be challenging to say disciplined because of side effects of that health issue.
But just like with everything else there are ways around that and if you truly are driven to meet your goals and live a certain lifestyle you'll find out ways to create discipline within your life.
How Do You Overcome Lack of Discipline? Tips to Build Discipline
So now that you understand some of the reasons you may be having a lack of discipline and what exactly discipline is, you may be thinking, how do I overcome that lack of discipline? The truth is there's a wide number of ways and no one solution is going to work for everyone.
So here are some methods that we think are key when it comes to overcoming lack of discipline:
Countdown Method
Remember when you were kids, and you were scared to do something, and you and your buddy would count to three and do it together. That's kind of the same concept when it comes to discipline in this aspect.
Many people suggest counting down quickly and then once you reach the final number doing the action. This will help you maintain discipline, set schedules and habits.
Make Goals Visible
Sometimes discipline is lacking because you don't think about your goals. If that's something that you struggle with, then making sure you write a goal down and make it visible to you wherever you are is important.
You can write a sticky note and stick it on the mirror in the bathroom. Or even make a note and save it as your screensaver on your phone. No matter what you do, make sure that your list visible so that you can remain disciplined in the actions you need to achieve them.
Remember the Why
Sometimes discipline wanes as you begin to forget why you wanted to make these changes or execute these habits in the first place. That means you need to always remind yourself why you started doing these things so that you can remain disciplined and steady in order to achieve your goal.
Small Goals
Large goals can sometimes be daunting, and this will wear away at your discipline. So instead of jumping straight towards the big goal, break that big goal into smaller goals. By being able to achieve stab sure going to feel more positive about your momentum and this will help keep you disciplined.
Accountability Buddy
It never hurts to have somebody to hold you accountable. That's why so many of us do well at jobs is because we have bosses that keep us in line and on focus. So incorporate an accountability buddy. Reach out to a friend or family member that you trust to have your back and make sure that you are stayed on track and disciplined and everything you need to do to reach your goal.
Final Thoughts
Lack of discipline can be a contributor to a lot of unhappiness in your life. So finding ways to overcome that lack of discipline is key to ensuring you have a health life – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We hope that the suggestions above help you with that and guide you down the right path on your way to a happier and healthier life.
