The more you develop and exhibit discipline in your daily life the easier it is to be consistent in your actions and achieve your goals and ambitions. Anyone can develop discipline. It starts with deciding on a course of action that has great meaning and importance to you. If something is important enough to you, both intellectually and emotionally, it will be easy to develop a habit of behavior that will get the results you seek over time. Results are the reflection of our habits, so forming habits is the basis of discipline and results achievement. Will power is important but is not enough to keep you on track. Force of will varies throughout the day, depending on our energy level and the stresses we face. As we fatigue or feel emotionally drained, our willpower weakens. Making behavior habitual removes the dependence on willpower to make the behavioral change you need to accomplish your goals.
Habit formation usually occurs within several weeks of consistent performance. The discipline occurs in this initial phase of behavior change. Once you form the habit it becomes much easier to sustain. This is why the goal that prompts a change in your behavior must be powerful enough for you to make it a priority. The more you can simplify and narrow your priorities each day, the more likely you are to take the necessary actions to get things done. In fact, if you can decide on one top priority each day and do this one very important thing, everything else will be somewhat easier. You should order your priorities in importance and then devote your time and energy to them accordingly. Again, the more you can simplify and condense the list, the easier it will be to do those things. Because those things are the most important things to do, you will be very productive and consequently will feel satisfied and fulfilled with your days.
As life goes on, we all take on more responsibility and obligation. It can get complicated and sometimes overwhelming. These responsibilities are important, but when they become excessive, they cause us stress and a sense of loss of freedom and control. We may develop coping mechanisms to deal with this stress that are unhealthy, counterproductive or harmful. Many expectations and obligations are set for us as we start out in life. We are expected to learn and to behave within socially accepted norms. Fortunately, developed societies invest in education systems for their citizens, but for some children and young people, these education systems are not always designed to ideally suit their particular needs, abilities or learning styles. These expectations to fit a particular mold or system can leave many feeling out of place, inadequate, or otherwise not valued. Designing systems of learning that enable a sense of value in every citizen creates a more harmonious and productive society. As understanding of the mind and learning grows, systems can be better designed to meet our various needs.
Home life does not start equally for anybody. Some are fortunate to be surrounded by love and support, but many are not. Growing up in households with burdens of stress, material lack, and emotional neglect or abuse also creates difficulty in fulfilling responsibility and obligation in healthy productive ways. Feelings of fear, anxiety, stress, and depression make behavioral consistency more difficult. Learning in conditions of hunger, emotional distress or sleep deprivation is compromised. These circumstances are not conducive to developing a sense of self worth or value. Overcoming these obstacles and imbalances in the human condition is the job of everyone. Creating systems of fairness and equal opportunity to succeed is a means of addressing the natural unfairness of life. Fostering a sense of value in every individual, as soon as possible in their life, is good for everyone. When each individual thrives, we all flourish.
Teaching a sense of self determinism helps to enable this attitude of individual value and the importance of positive, productive effort in the pursuit and attainment of personal goals and ambitions. When we feel that we can get what we want, we are more likely to expend the effort. The rewards for this consistent and focused energy expenditure must be greater than the alternatives of inaction. In fact, we do have such reward systems in place. Consistent, focused and goal directed energy expenditure does result in personal reward. The rewards can be material or in other emotionally beneficial and life improving ways such as health, happiness and sense of contribution and fulfillment. Relief of suffering, stress and emotional pain do result from consistent performance of actions and habits that result in positive outcomes that you have envisioned. Consistency in the outcomes you seek help to define the meaning and purpose of your life. Developing this sense of meaning and purpose is a clear way to overcome the imbalance and unfairness of life.
Decide what you want. What are the most important outcomes you seek in your life? As you answer these questions, you will learn to steer your actions to be more consistent with achieving these outcomes. This will help you set your priorities, and therefore help to reduce the less important and distracting obligations and responsibilities that get in the way of your primary mission. The more quality time you can spend on your mission, the more effective you will be in pursuing your purpose. Even if you can only devote a small amount of quality time to your priority, the rest of your day will feel more productive and less stressed or out of control. If your positive action is not discrete, but requires consistent behavior throughout the day, find a personally meaningful reward that makes consistent, habitual performance of the behavior more appealing than the less productive or more self destructive alternative. Replace bad habits with better habits and make the good habit worth the effort. Finding the things that make the better behavior worth the effort for you is the key to discipline and successful accomplishment of goals and objectives. The freedom to choose your path and the joys of self-fulfillment make life better for you and for those around you. Take the responsibility of self determination, accept reality, and embark on the journey of meaningful existence.