Everybody wants to be successful in life. And we all are aware that discipline is the key to success. If you’ve struggled for a long time to be more disciplined without much success, working to identify and eliminate these four habits that interfere with discipline might be a much more helpful strategy.
1. Using self-criticism for motivation
Early on in life, we develop mental habits of self-judgment and self-criticism to ensure that we are successful. Since our habit of self-criticism is associated with our relative success, we assume it caused it. But just because you’ve always relied on self-criticism to motivate yourself doesn’t mean that self-criticism was actually motivating you or helping you succeed, stay motivated, and get results. In fact, when people learn to let go of their habit of self-criticism and judgment, they are actually able to be more productive and self-disciplined. At the end of the day, self-criticism just leads to a lot of shame, anxiety, and low self-esteem — all of which interfere with your ability to be more disciplined. On the other hand, self-discipline comes relatively naturally when you treat yourself with compassion and understanding.
2. Coping with distractions
People who think they’re not disciplined enough use coping as their primary approach to managing distractions. They look for ways to focus harder, get more willpower and resist temptations as if distractions were this totally inevitable force over which they had no control whatsoever. While some distractions are inevitable and must be dealt with, a large percentage of distractions could simply be avoided in the first place.
Remove the source of distraction by Choosing a time with less distraction and keeping distractions away before the time of action. Never try to cope with a distraction that could have been eliminated altogether. Instead of trying to change yourself, try changing your environment.
3. Ignoring your curiosity
Ifyou look closely at people who appear highly disciplined, focused, and capable of consistently achieving goals, a common pattern that emerges is that they enjoy what they’re doing. It is extremely difficult to maintain any habit or routine if you lack intrinsic motivation. Many people choose to work on things that aren’t intrinsically motivating because they’ve been brainwashed into ignoring their own curiosity from a young age and told to follow what other people thought was important or worthwhile. Ignoring your own curiosity leads to a lack of motivation and discipline. On the other hand, when you begin to listen to and pursue your genuine interests, you will discover things that are genuinely rewarding and enjoyable; this will take care of discipline and motivation.
4. Thinking too much about your goals
Goals are good to have, but thinking too much about them tends to have counterproductive effects. If you spend hours daydreaming about how awesome it will feel to achieve your goals, you are likely to feel worse about your current lack of skill. As a result, you are far more likely to get discouraged and give up. Once you’ve set a goal, most of your focus and attention should be on the small actions that will eventually lead you to your goal. People who are consistently disciplined keep their eyes off the prize and on the process
To lead a successful life you need to be financially independent too. At SmartMoney Education, our goal is to motivate, inspire, and guide you in your journey towards financial well-being. To learn more, get in touch with us today and set up a one-on-one session.