Learn how to apply discipline to accelerate your goals coming true!
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What if you and your bed just can’t quit and want to spend several hours with each other? To the point where half the day goes by, and you are avoiding looking at the long to-do list you have set for the day?
What is the balance between saying YES to your desires and getting things done that you need to accomplish?
Unfortunately, there is no magic trick to summon your local genie to get disciplined 24/7.
So let’s do ourselves a favor and let that idea go! Instead, I will tell you what tips I use to get things done in a reasonable timeframe and how they can be used to set yourself up for success!
Preplanning works WONDERS!
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
The more responsibilities, hobbies, and jobs you take on, there will be an up-and-down wave of what is essential, when it needs to be done, etc.
Knowing your priorities is a crucial step of being disciplined because then you know what is the MOST important, and you can prioritize your days of the week by this.
Let’s use an example to explain how you can use preplanning to step your discipline game up!
Say your goal is to go to the gym three times a week. Where do you start?
First, set designated times throughout the day/week for things you are working on.
If you want to start incorporating going to the gym, you can decide what day works best for your schedule. For example, are you a morning person or a night person? Does it take a lot of your energy to get up in the morning?
Working out in the AM may not be the best fit for you. Do you work remotely or drive to work in an office? If you work remotely, you can go to your apartment complex’s gym during your lunch or drive to your local gym and pack your work equipment if you run over and need to stop in a coffee shop and hop on a call.
If you drive to work, you can see if your gym has a center close to your job or at least at a midpoint between your job facility and home.
Then, to ensure you go and remove the possibility of you getting home and deciding not to work out, you can pack your gym bag the night before and place it either in your trunk or by the door so there’s no excuse!
If you rely on public transportation to get to work, ask your boss if you can leave your workout bag at your cubicle or in a locker, or their office.
Basically, remove all obstacles that stop you from hitting your goal of going to the gym three times a week.
“Habits don’t change overnight, and if they do, they aren’t sustainable. Instead, make a bite-sized change in one area that matters and work in increments from there.“ – Ramit Sethi, I will teach you to be rich.
Life be lifin’
I’ll let you all in a little secret: I have a personal goal to push myself to post/ send out a subscriber email at least twice a month every month this year. Ideally, I will move into sending it out on a specific day of the week, on a consistent biweekly basis, but one step at a time! As long as I’m moving in the right direction. Work with me here, subscribers!
As we approach the six-month milestone of my implementing this goal, I have kept my promise to myself!
However, this year alone, I have been in a car accident and faced some health issues while working full-time. Also, extracurriculars like learning a new skill, salsa, can take a lot of time and energy during the week!
These things with attempting a social life and taking care of myself(self-care), you can imagine the struggle it has been to keep on going.
But knowing the WHY and WHAT I want to accomplish helps me stay semi-motivated even on my off days. I understand why I created this blog and where I want to take it.
Encouraging people on their personal growth journeys, tapping into their secret sauce, and bringing their dreams of who they could be and what they could see into reality helps me stay encouraged and continue with discipline!
My advice for you is to figure out your why in everything you commit to and write it down, say it aloud as if it is an affirmation. In a way, it is; you are affirming for yourself why this is important and means so much to you.
No, It’s not easy, and there are days when my energy levels are low, and I don’t want to engage with anybody, not even loved ones.
For anybody who can relate and want help getting out of the fog of low motivation, I will share four more tips that I used to help me with discipline.
1) Date with yourself or a self-care day
-A Do Nothing day on the weekend. Imagine a day where even if there is a laundry list of things to do, even when you usually meal prep for the next week, give yourself a breather and order takeout or heat an individual pan of pizza from your local Aldi’s…
Select one weekend out of the month that you plan for in advance.
Plan by saying no to all the invites, calling your loved ones the night before so you don’t have to worry about speaking with them during your day, buying your day/night food in advance if you are buying from grocery stores, selecting your favorite movie to watch, or a low impact activity that you like or want to do.
For example, if you are like me and bought an adult coloring book and haven’t opened it up since purchase, you can do that while watching a movie.
If you have kids, you can schedule a play day for them in advance with a family friend, member, Godparent, etc.
Having a day where you only have to implement the least amount of minimal effort since you are putting so much effort into yourself regularly via exercise, mental health, working, etc.
YOU DESERVE a day to care for yourself and your well-being.
No strings attached.
Taking care of yourself is the extra boost for mastering discipline.
Sometimes life can take a lot of energy out of you. It is easy to feel like life is pulling you in many different directions, and all the air inside will burst like a balloon at any moment. Get in tune with your body and listen when it’s asking you to rest like a deflated balloon. You can use your self-care time to refill with air and return to floating high in the sky!
Be on the lookout for the rest of my four tips for mastering discipline in part 2 of this post!
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