While all of us strive to be better at getting things done, it can be hard to find the motivation sometimes. That is where self discipline comes in. The benefits of self discipline are worth the effort you’ll put in to improve your self discipline!
Even though developing good self discipline is a challenge, it is very worthwhile. There is no better skill to improve that can take you from an unmotivated individual struggling to get stuff done to a person who is in complete control of their day-to-day.
The benefits of self discipline include things like improved health, increased positivity, and more control over your life. Continue reading to learn how to take advantage of these benefits and more.
This post is all about the benefits of self discipline and how you can take advantage of them today!
Benefits of Self Discipline
What is self discipline? Why is it important?
I’m sure you have heard many times that self discipline is important, from this post and elsewhere, but what does it actually mean? Self discipline is defined as a continuous correcting of yourself that will lead to improvement. This describes the word accurately, but not in a super understandable way.
The more common way that most people understand self discipline is as the ability to put your head down and get something done, even if it isn’t fun. Self discipline is often used in conjunction with describing things like going to the gym early in the morning or getting to bed early before a test.
The importance of self discipline cannot be understated. Let’s look at it in a black-and-white way just to get on the same page. There are basically two ways to look at self discipline:
- Person A has self discipline: This person knows how to get stuff done. They know when they have time for fun, and when it is time to lock in and get your daily tasks out of the way. Person A will find that they live a life that is relatively stress-free and in their control.
- Person B has no self discipline: This person struggles to get anything done in a timely fashion. They are more likely to wake up at whatever time, roll into work late because they stayed up too late, or end up surfing the internet all weekend instead of working through what needs to get done. Life might be more stressful and filled with missed deadlines and forgotten commitments. This person is failing to achieve their full potential.
Unless you like the sound of being Person B, self discipline is important. If you want to achieve anything that requires extra effort, you need self discipline. Basically, anything worth doing requires it!
Examples of Self Discipline
Now that we have established what self discipline is and why it is important, let’s take a look at a few examples to try and understand more about what good self discipline looks like on the daily. A few examples are below:
- Studying for a test instead of going out: As a student, self discipline is especially important. One place where the need for it arises often is deciding between studying and going out. Students with good self discipline will usually make the right choice and place studying above going out for the night.
- Cleaning your living space (house, apartment, room, etc.) once a week: It is very easy to fall out of the habit of keeping your living space clean since it is not the most fun thing to do. All it takes is 15-30 minutes one day a week and you can make small improvements to keep your space clean. Those with good self discipline will usually take this time and get that cleaning done, even if it isn’t fun or doesn’t feel important. This is because they are thinking about this cleaning in the long term. By cleaning once a week for a shorter amount of time, they will avoid any crazy long cleaning days after not cleaning for weeks.
- Meal prepping: Meal prepping can be a tough one. Many people feel like they do not know enough about cooking to do any meal prepping. The truth is, you don’t need many skills! Even I learned and I am not cooking-inclined at all. Once you give it a try you will understand. Meal prepping is something that people with good self discipline do all the time.
These are just a few examples of good self discipline. There are many more out there! Hopefully, some of them resonate with you and you can give them a try!
7 Benefits of Self Discipline
These 7 benefits of self discipline are a great start, but the list could go on and on! Start with these to get yourself excited to improve your self discipline.
1. Goals Become More Achievable
With good self discipline, goals become easier to achieve because you’re able to stay more focused. In addition, you will also find that you will become more “goal-oriented”. This, again, is because your increased focus lets you get more done, and in turn, you will find it easier and easier to get more and more done in the future. Failing to succeed at the goals you set out for yourself will quickly become a thing of the past!
2. Improved Health
With better self discipline, you will make healthier choices for your mind and body. This means things like choosing to exercise, choosing healthier meal options, and choosing to get to bed early.
This will not just happen overnight. You will need to refocus your mind to make these choices. What do I mean by that? Basically, if you are not used to choosing healthy options, then having better self discipline will not change those habits for you. However, self discipline, in conjunction with learning more healthy habits, will lead to the much-improved health that I described in the previous paragraph!
3. Improved Time Management
Another benefit of better self discipline is improved time management. With good self discipline, you will find yourself more able to accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently. This will set you up to have better time management. Basically, less time will be wasted with distractions and you will get more done when you planned to get it done. Check out more about the importance of time management at the link below!
{ Related Post: The Importance of Time Management: 5 Ways It Can Help You Improve Your Life }
4. More Positive Outlook
I guarantee that having better self discipline will lead to you having a more positive outlook on your day-to-day. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, with better self discipline, you will be the one calling the shots. You will be effective at getting things done, so you will be in control of what is getting done. You are deciding what you want to do, instead of it being decided for you. This is how self discipline will make you more happy! Unsurprisingly, this is my favorite benefit of self discipline.
5. Increased Focus
Self discipline and increased focus go hand in hand. When you have discipline, that typically means you are able to focus more effectively. With that focus, you will be able to put your head own and get the tough tasks done that you may not have wanted to work on. In general, by being more focused, you will do a better job at work and in life. This will lead to being more successful.
You may not notice this as much at first, but the more you practice your self discipline, the better your focus will become. It will take time, but the work is worth it!
{ Related Post: 5 Simple Productivity Tips You NEED to Know! }
6. Overcome Procrastination
With improved self discipline, you won’t procrastinate nearly as much. This is because you will have the discipline to get things done early and often. Your newly improved self discipline will keep things from sliding all the way until they get backed up against the wall. You will be on top of your stuff, and will not be struggling to finish things at the 11th hour.
Self discipline and productivity have a lot in common since you can’t really have one without the other. Among other things, procrastination is the killer of productivity. You will find that your self discipline will help you significantly increase your productivity by decreasing your procrastination.
7. More Control of Your Life
The last benefit of self discipline is one of the most important ones. With good self discipline, you will be in control of your life. There are two ways to look at it; either you are driving your life or you are letting life drive you. By that, I mean that you either choose what happens or it gets chosen for you.
With good self discipline you will always be on top of things and will be the one making all of the decisions that need to be made. You will be the one in charge of your next step, not hearing what your next step might be. In other words, you will be the one driving, not riding.
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Hopefully, you understand a little bit more about the benefits of self discipline now! If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to send them to us at ourteam@wellroundedyou.com. Thanks for reading!
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