The Key to Self-Discipline

Imagine two entrepreneurs are sat in a room together.

One is highly successful, earning over a million pounds a year and he feels happy and content in his life as he reached fulfilment within himself by achieving his life goals. When asked how did he reach success, he replies, “My goals became a MUST in my life. I dedicated my life to making this happen.” The other entrepreneur has been struggling to get his business running off the ground for many years and he continually feels stressed as he has never achieved the outcomes he has wanted. When asked why he has not yet reached his goals, he answers, “I just can’t do it, I don’t have the right skills for what it takes to be successful.”

The distinction between these two entrepreneurs is very clear. It is not just their levels of success which differs – it is their Standards.

High Standards are what create self-disciple, leading to a life-long journey of success. The key to self-discipline is raising your standards so that you can achieve the maximum results in your life. In my example, the first entrepreneur created a ‘MUST’ for himself and set out to achieve this in every way possible. Once you find a ‘MUST’ in your life, and decide what the overall outcome it is you want, you will find a way to get it. By raising your standards, you are no longer repeating old habits and failing to take responsibility for your actions, like the second entrepreneur. Success is not about skill, it is about hard-work, determination, and having a high set of standards to get you to where you want to be.

Believe in yourself.

It is not enough to take action towards achieving your goals, without believing in what you are doing. Many people make the mistake of being productive in working towards their goals, however in the back of their mind they are still in the same frame of mind as the past - telling themselves that they are not capable. This causes people to fall back into old habits, and the cycle repeats itself. Your state is important. You will not reach your true potential if you are not in the right state of mind. The more you believe in yourself and your ability to achieve your goals, the better your results will be.

Starting small.

The best way of creating a habit of self-discipline in your life in order to reach full maximisation is by starting off with small steps each day. Time management is one of the key contributors to self-discipline. Ask yourself what you usually do each day and think about how you could tweak your daily activities so that you are contributing one extra bit more to achieving your outcomes. It may be that you work for an extra half hour each day, or that you watch TV for 10 minutes less each day, devoting this time to pursuing your goals. By doing this everyday, you will begin to break old habits, and regain the self-discipline that is needed for success.

Ask yourself these questions – How would my life be different if I had higher standards? What can I do each day to get me one step closer to my end result? These are the fundamentals of becoming the best version of yourself possible, and the first step in that process is self discipline. Disciplining yourself, not just occasionally, but every single day to take your life to the next level.