 When you think of discipline, what comes to mind? Highly, Gabriele Solasi, retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road-running athlete, said, Once you have a commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there. Self-discipline is a person's ability to do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like doing it or not. The truth is that, without self-discipline, it'll be impossible to achieve any given goal. You see, working towards the success or completion of a goal or project is not one of the easiest things to do. It takes a lot of time and effort, mainly because you're going to encounter some challenges along the way. Also, you're not always going to be in the mood to do the right things. You probably want to think of something else, have fun, forget about your worries, etc. However, going for the accomplishment of your goals in the face of all this is what self-discipline entails. Jim Rohn once said, Also, according to Adam Sikinski, a life coach, self-discipline is about controlling your desires and impulses while staying focused on what needs to get done to achieve your goal. Maybe all of this sounds pretty challenging and somewhat difficult to handle. However, you can learn to be anything that you want to be, as long as you put your heart to it. In the same way, you can learn to master self-discipline as long as you want to do so. So, in this video, I'll share with you 13 simple steps to master self-discipline. If you're new here, consider subscribing so that you don't miss out on exciting videos like this. 1. Know Your Weaknesses If you genuinely want to master self-discipline, then the first place to begin is to know your weaknesses. It will help you to come up with an appropriate plan to help you overcome them. We all have weaknesses and addictions, and whether we like it or not, they have the same effect on us. For instance, if eating junk are paying so much attention to technology, such as playing video games, watching too much TV or spending too much time on social media apps are some of your weaknesses, start by identifying them. You see, our weaknesses stand as distractions, keeping us from achieving our goals. How? Well, most of the time, we spend way too much time, money and energy, paying attention to these addictions that we lose sight of our goals when we ought to be taking actions. So, to begin with, identify your weaknesses and point them out if you want to develop self-discipline and devise necessary means to overcome them. 2. Get Rid of Temptations Now that you know what the problem is, it's time to get rid of them. You know the good old saying, out of sight is out of mind. Well, now would be a good time to practice that. Removing your biggest temptation from your environment will help you improve and master self-discipline better than you can imagine. Distractions can come in different forms. For instance, when you say things like, let me just check my email and read the news, the next thing you know, you find yourself going through your Instagram or Facebook feed to see what is trending or try to find out if anyone has dropped your message on WhatsApp. And then, before you know it, you've wasted an hour or so on things you don't need to and still not gotten around to doing all the crucial things on your to-do list. An excellent way to get rid of the distraction, in this case, will be to switch off your phone or computer until you are done with the task at hand. 3. Set Clear Goals and Have an Execution Plan Yes, your overall goal is to master self-discipline, but you still need to move up with a more definite goal and an execution plan to help you accomplish that. Look at it this way. You can't get to a destination that was never really a part of the plan. If you don't know where you are going, it's easy to lose your way or get sidetracked. If you don't have a clear goal, you'll lose focus on the things that you are supposed to be doing per time. Alongside setting a clear goal is to outline the steps that are necessary to achieve your goals, like the tracks on the field that are marked to guide the runner, so that they don't fall into other people's lane and lose focus of their race. Your plans are meant to guide you until you get to your destination, which is achieving your goals. 4. Create a New Routine Creating a routine can help you focus more on your goals and also help you develop the discipline to accomplish your goals. Daniel Goldstein, an American cognitive psychologist, said, I think self-discipline is something like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. To help create a routine or habit, break your goals into small, doable steps. Instead of trying to change everything at once, focus on doing one thing consistently and master self-discipline with that goal in mind. For instance, say your goal is to become fit. It'll help to exercise daily. You can try working out 10 to 15 minutes every day. If it is to lose weight, you can substitute your dinner with fresh fruits and vegetables to avoid consumption of excess calories. If you want to finish writing your first book, you can dedicate 30 minutes to think and put down your thoughts every day, etc. Doing this will make your overall goal obtainable. Robin Schrammer, a Canadian writer, said, discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage. Start with the hardest part. Most times when we procrastinate, it's because we don't want to go through the stress of doing it at the moment or better yet. We want to enjoy some comfort and pleasure before even considering doing those tasks. Eventually, we realize that we've wasted time doing nothing but satisfying our desires and then it becomes challenging to meet up with the deadlines scheduled for those tasks. To build self-discipline, however, it is best to start with the most challenging task because when you do, it becomes easier to take down the simpler ones and achieve your goals. 6. Be Accountable Breaking a habit or forming a new one isn't easy. So if you try to do it alone, you might sleep back into those habits without even realizing it. In the case of new habits, you might give up on trying before you know it, which is why it is vital to be accountable to at least one person. For instance, when you decide to tell your friends, mentors, or even your social media trolls that you're going to wake up at 5am every day to exercise, you'll be far less tempted to hit that snooze button. It's like this. You choose to go through the pain of sticking to your promise or commitment than to be humiliated publicly for not keeping your words. With this in mind, you'll most likely do all that you can do to master discipline and keep to your commitments. 7. Measure and Track Your Progress How do you know that you're making progress if you don't measure or monitor your goals? By tracking your goals, you can see where you've succeeded or where you've fallen short and need to improve. 8. Set Monthly Mousetone If you can't achieve a short-term goal, the truth is that you may never be able to do a long-term goal. To master self-discipline, put in place monthly goals that you can track to see if you're making progress or not. Also, with a monthly milestone, you'll be more willing to work towards the success of every month's goal than having an undefined time for the accomplishment of the goal. 9. Reward Your Small Wins As you start developing new habits and developing self-discipline, you'll notice your progress along the way. Learn to acknowledge them and reward yourself. When you reward yourself, you give yourself something to both put your focus on and also anticipate. That way, not only are you thinking of what you're trying to change, but also what you stand to gain. 10. Use Your Time Wisely You can't learn self-discipline if you don't learn how to manage your time effectively. You need to know how to prioritize your priorities so that you wouldn't spend your time focusing on the wrong things. Also, you need to know how to delegate time for different activities, know when to play and when to work. One mustn't take the place of the other. Otherwise, you'll end up regretting your actions. 11. Set Your Eyes on the Long-Term Game Brian Tracy, the author of No Excuses, The Power of Self-Discipline, said, People invariably seek the fastest and easiest way to get the things they want right now with little concern for the long-term effects of their behaviors. Don't be in a hurry to get what you want. It's a long-term project, so as much as you have short-term goals, rewards, etc., always remember that your overall attention is on the big picture, which might take longer than a couple of weeks to achieve. 12. Take It Easy on Yourself When You Sleep Mistakes are a part of our human journey, so it is expected that you'll sleep during this process of building self-discipline. However, do not be too hard on yourself. It takes time to create new habits. Moreover, you're learning in the process. 13. Don't Forget to Pay Attention to Your Health The truth is that you will not always impress yourself every time, but how you handle your disappointments is vital. Think of your mental, emotional, and physical health. When you do things to stress yourself, you might break down, and this can affect your overall progress. So, take it easy on yourself. Thank you very much for watching our videos. If you like this video, watch more videos on our channel and subscribe. We love you.