How to Build the Self-Discipline to Go After Your Dreams

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Let’s face it: we don’t always feel like doing what we’re supposed to do. When this happens, you are faced with the decision to do it anyway (even if you don’t feel like it) or not. Your choice comes down to one thing: your level of self-discipline!

Let’s see if this sounds familiar…

It’s 6 pm on a Friday, which is exactly when you said you were going to work out at the gym, after work. This week, your job was draining and left you with no energy, so of course you’d much rather go back home, take a long bath, and watch Netflix. (I mean, it sounds much better than breaking a sweat at the gym – right?)

So, what do you do? 

If you’ve mastered self-discipline, you’ll likely go to the gym. Honestly, you probably don’t even need to go on reading this article – you’re doing amazing already! 

But, since you’re still here… I guess that you’d opt for the easy way out: Netflix it is! 

That’s why you’re here.

You’re here because you’re tired of your excuses for not doing the things you said you were going to do.

Because those things you’re avoiding are the ones that are going to change your life for the better!

In this article, you’ll understand why self-discipline is key to leading a life you’re happy and satisfied with, other than the 7 ways you can easily build your self-discipline.

Are you ready to become more disciplined? Then, let’s get started! 

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What is Self-Discipline?

Self-discipline – also known as self-control – is the ability to act based on your plan, not your mood.

It is doing what you have to do, even if it’s not what you want to do right now.

You know those people you see running in your neighborhood no matter if it’s raining, -20 degrees, or with an ongoing tornado warning?

They’re not out of their minds, they’re just highly self-disciplined!

They committed fully to the goal they have: running.

While they have no control over external factors – like the weather -, they take responsibility for what’s in their control: to run or not run. That’s their choice.

“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment.”

– Jim Rohn

Why Do You Struggle With Self-Discipline?

Developing self-discipline is not an easy journey.

We strive for comfort, familiarity, and easiness. Self-control is the opposite of it: it’s hard (at times painful), scary, and unfamiliar.

This human need for comfort is what’s preventing you from living your best life!

So, how do you recognize whether you’re choosing comfort over self-discipline? Well, here are some examples that indicate a lack of discipline:

• Starting different projects and not carrying through with any
• Enrolling in the gym and never going
• Saying you’re going to change your life and falling back into old patterns
• Procrastinating on what matters to you
• Using the “I have no time” excuse for almost everything, yet having a +3h daily screen time

If you resonate with one – or all – of the above, it’s time for you to find the root cause of your lack of self-discipline. 

The most common reasons are:

• Letting distractions have the best of you
• Not being clear on what you want out of life
• Lacking in self-confidence
• Living in a non-supportive environment
• Not having a plan

RELATED: Grab below the FREE “DREAM LIFE PLANNER” to make sure you stay disciplined towards reaching your goals this year!

Why is Self-Discipline Important for Your Dreams?

We all want to achieve our dreams and live our dream lives – right?

Yet, so few of us are willing to go through what it takes to get there.

There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be in life.

There is a gap between who you are now and who you aspire to be.

The only way to fill the gap? To master self-discipline.

If you’re committed to your goals, becoming more disciplined will help you get there faster. Why? Because self-discipline allows you to:

• Easily form new habits
• Act like your “future self”
• Stop procrastinating (once and for all!)
• Prioritizing long-term satisfaction over instant gratification
• Showing up (even when you don’t feel like it)
• Feel more in control of your life
• Love yourself more (because you follow through on your promises)

7 Ways to Gain Self-Discipline

Now, it’s time to get to the nitty-gritty of this article! 

Are you ready to learn the 7 best ways you can build your self-discipline? Then, let’s dive into it!

LIMIT (OR REDUCE) TEMPTATIONS

As mentioned above, one of the main reasons why you struggle with self-discipline is because of the presence of too many temptations.

Therefore, the very first thing you need to do is to tweak your environment, so that you can limit – or remove – any temptations.

Temptations can be anything preventing you from achieving a goal of yours. The most time-draining distractions are:

• Social media
• Checking your emails
• Unnecessary small talk
• Excessive partying
• Watching TV
• Mindless eating
• Disorganization
• Multitasking

Design an environment that can support you on your path toward reaching your goals, rather than distract you from the life you could live.

If you don’t indulge in revenge bedtime procrastination every night, you can wake up one hour early to work on your side hustle.

Not going partying this Saturday night to wake up for that 6 am pilates class you booked isn’t going to ruin your social life.

When you stop consuming other people’s content, you’ll soon realize that you have plenty of time to create your content – if that’s what you want to do.

It’s all about the choices you make. Ensure the environment you live in makes it as easy as possible to make the right choice. 

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

From the list above, another reason why you lack self-discipline is that you lack self-confidence.

A lack of self-confidence means that you don’t believe in yourself, and you don’t think you can make it (at whatever goal you’re trying to achieve).

Let me ask you: “If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?”.

You can’t expect others to cheer you up and support your ideas if you’re the first one to think you don’t have what it takes to make it happen.

If you want to become more disciplined, you have to ingrain in your brain that you are – indeed – a disciplined person.

You can achieve anything you put your mind on. But, you need to truly believe it first.

When you don’t believe in your goals, they will seem even more unachievable. 

Well, I’m here to tell you that the dream you have was planted in your mind for a reason!

If you didn’t have what it takes to realize it, you wouldn’t have that dream in the first place…

So, believe in yourself a little bit more because I do. I believe in you. And so should you.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”

– Walt Disney

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PLAN BASED ON ENERGY

One way to gain self-discipline is to plan your days according to your energy level.

This method, designed by the YouTuber MuchelleB has completely changed the way I approach my tasks.

I cannot remember the exact video in which she mentions this strategy, but her YouTube channel is definitely worth checking out! 

So, what is energy planning? It’s a flexible way to go after your goals, day after day. 

Let’s be honest: every day you won’t feel like a rockstar! So, instead of screwing up all the progress made, energy planning allows you to still make some progress (just smaller). 

Here’s how it works. Let’s say that your goal is to stick to a consistent workout routine. Based on that, on:

• High energy days → You’ll hit the gym for 2 hours, doing some weight-lifting and cardio
• Medium energy days → You’ll do a 45-minute workout at home
• Low energy days → You’ll go for a 20-minute walk around your neighborhood

So, even when you don’t feel like going to the gym, you’re still moving your body and being consistent with your workout routines.

As you can see, you’re still making progress – but at a different speed!

This flexibility is what is going to help you build discipline over time and ultimately achieve your goals.

RELATED: Read here “5 Reasons Why You Feel Tired All the Time”

CHOOSE THE RIGHT GOALS

You’ll find it hard to stay disciplined on something you don’t care about. 

If you’re struggling a lot to keep the momentum going and be motivated, then you might want to take a step back.

What are you working towards? 

Sometimes, without even realizing it, we pick up on goals and dreams that aren’t even ours. 

Perhaps you can’t find the motivation to show up for your university classes, as you’re doing a major your parents had to convince you to do.

Maybe you’re happy with your physical appearance, but having friends who are obsessed with working out led you to think that you need to exercise 7 days a week to feel good. 

Or perhaps, you’ve thought you wanted to be a content creator, but dread the whole process of creating because it feels unnatural to you.

If you want to boost your self-discipline, you need first to ensure you’re working towards the right goals – so that sticking to them will be easier!

Once you’ve identified what goals are meaningful to you, it’s time to make them tangible. You can do that by following the “SMART” goals principle. 

Your goals should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Work towards what’s right for you, not what others think is right.

MAKE A BACKUP PLAN

Let’s be honest: you’ll fail! (And it’s okay)

Instead of pretending that you’ll never face any setbacks, why not take them into account before even starting? 

If you develop an action plan that includes all the obstacles and challenges you might face on your journey toward achieving your goals, you’ll avoid them having the best of you!

So, this is your sign to create a backup plan.

Because, even if you think you won’t need one, you probably will (at some point).

It’s not about how many times you fall; it’s about how many times you get back up.

Having a bounceback plan will allow you to get back on track faster while minimizing the damages. 

So, take into account all the distractions, triggers, challenges, obstacles, and people who might stand in the way between you and your dreams. Then, design a plan to overcome any of these setbacks.  

VISUALIZE YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS, NOT ONLY THE OUTCOME

I am a huge believer in visualization, the Law of Attraction, and manifestation. The only problem?

Some people get too attached to the result and forget that, to get there, they first need to go through the whole journey.

So, while it’s great that you visualize yourself living that digital nomad, free lifestyle, you must not forget about the endless hours of work you’ll need to put in to get there.

Social media made it so easy for us to believe success is something you achieve overnight. The truth is that “overnight success” probably took 5 years of silent, focused, and unrecognized work.

You need to start visualizing not only the shiny outcomes but also yourself during the process and doing the work.

Visualize yourself showing up, mastering your self-discipline muscle, and making consistent progress toward your goals.

The results will come to those who are willing to go through the journey.

KEEP TRYING

Last but not least, you’ve got to keep trying.

As mentioned earlier, you’ll fail. It’s normal. It’s part of the process.

Progress is not linear.

Now, there are two things you could do when you fail:

• Commiserate
• Keep trying

If you decide to go for the first one, let me ask you: “How has been crying over spilled milk gone so far?”. 

Yes, you’ve failed. So what?! 

I get it: you’re upset because you thought that this time was going to be the one, and it wasn’t.

Cry about it, if you feel like it.

Spiral down into a rabbit hole of pity and self-misery, if you want. But, is that going to change anything? Is that going to do anything good for you?

So, here’s what you can do, instead: you can roll up your sleeves and get back to work. Try again. Then again. And again. And again.

The truth is that you won’t have really failed until you’ve convinced yourself that you did! So, keep trying. (And eventually, you’ll get there) 😉

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That’s all for me today!

I hope this post gave you a little boost of motivation to work on building your self-discipline muscle so that you can go after the life of your dreams. Why? Because you deserve to live a life you’re happy with!

I believe in your dreams. And so should you.

Q: “What’s one area of your life you’d like to be more disciplined with?” – Let me know in a comment!

Until next time,

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