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These 3 Simple Self Discipline Hacks Will Compel You to Take Action

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Let’s face it.

Nothing great in this life gets done without self discipline.

But self discipline isn’t an easy ride of a thing.

So, what do you do?

Before I go on, I need to let you know that this is the second part of the series on “Creating Morning Rituals that Rewires your Mind for Success and Forces You to Be Productive”

So, if you didn’t read the first part, click here to do so now before you continue

Let’s move on.

Back in 2013, after setting goals over and over again without achieving them, I sat down to do a research on whay I wasn’t meeting my targets.

And guess what?

The MAIN reason was the fact that I wasn’t taking massive action on the things that would help me meet the goals.

And I wasn’t taking massive action because I couldn’t discipline myself to do so.

But I also found out that whenever I had an urgent deadline to meet, like if I had to pay N1.8m for my rent back then within 3 weeks, something usually compels me to do what had to be done to raise the money.

I have done stuffs like this many times including when I ran into some trouble and had to raise about N10m within 2 months.

But the question I kept asking myself is:

“Why can’t I just discipline myself to do what has to be done without waiting for an external force like a strong deadline or problem?”

The answer to that question is the first hack that will help you out with self discipline.

And it is in the truth that we human beings usually respond to things based on pleasure or pain.

But we respond more to pain than pleasure.

For instance, which of the following would you respond to if they happened at the same time?

1. Attend a grand party where you can network and meet with celebrities.

2. Save your house from burning

The funny thing is – It does not matter if the pain is real or perceived.

So, here is what I do.

I would sit down and actually blow up the pains I would inflict on myself by not doing or delaying something that had to be done.

E.g. This morning, I was supposed to wake up by 4.30am like I normally do. But by 5am, I was still in bed.

Suddenly, something flashed into my mind.

It was about the pain I would have to go through by not meeting a financial target I had to meet up with by Dec. 20

You must have seen how I flew out of bed.

That is what you should do to to force yourself into self discipline.

That is why your “REASON WHY” you want to accomplish your goals must be big enough so that the pain of not achieving it will motivate you into taking the action you need to take.

But that is not all.

 

Here Comes Self Discipline HACK Number Two.

When you want to start implementing your morning ritual, it won’t go smoothly immediately.

Most likely, it won’t go smoothly the first 30 – 60 days.

The self discipline hack here is to start doing things little by little but be consistent with it and set a pattern.

Here is what I mean.

Let’s say you want to start writing for 30 mins every morning as part of your routine.

This might not go smoothly the first few days and you might get frustrated and quit.

The worst part is that your brain might record that as “a difficult and painful experience”

So, it will always try to avoid it later.

Instead…try the hack I recommend here which is – doing things little by little but be consistent with it and set a pattern.

So, instead of trying to write something meaningful for 30 mins upon starting, you can simply copy out someone’s writing for 10 mins daily.

That is an easy task.

Now, all you have to do is do that consistently and you will set a pattern that the brain recognizes as smooth and easy.

Before you know it, you will no longer need to copy out someone’s writing.

And you will be able to increase the amount of time from 10 mins to 20 mins to 30 mins

That takes us to self discipline hack number 3 which is:

 

Fix a Specific Time to Do the Most Important Things In Your Life.

Most of us know this hack.

We just don’t know how to relate it to self discipline.

For instance, as a former Catholic, we have a pattern of saying a prayer everyday by 12 noon.

I did this automatically when I was Catholic.

You can apply the same principle to improve your life by simply dedicating a specific time everyday to do the very important tasks that will improve your life in a great way.

The 2 key phrases here are specific time and important tasks

This is based on the 80/20 principle.

20% of the things we do are the ones that really help us achieve our goals.

Your work is to sit down and figure out what those 20% activities are so that you can dedicate time and commit to doing them consistently.

Like in my case, one of the activities that is important to improving my life is fueling my mind on a daily basis with inspiring and uplifting words.

It is like food to my soul.

I do this because I understand that if I have a strong mind, it will drive everything I do.

So, I commit 45 – 60 minutes daily to feeding myself with strong inspiring words – from the Bible, books, videos, tapes etc

And because you already have an idea of how your daily routine works, you only need to sit down and figure out the times that you can dedicate to these activities.

Let’s go back to the example of writing for 30 mins every morning.

Simply decide that you will start writing by a specific time – E.g. 7am every morning and stick to it.

If you use the Number 2 hack and you start little by little (and consistent), it will be easier for you to do.

One more thing…

If you have read this entire post, you will see that self discipline is something that can be achieved by breaking down your tasks into shorter and much simpler activities.

Like they say – “How do you eat an elephant?”

You eat it bit by bit a time.

But at least, you need to get started.

And one element that usually gets me started on my goals is the fact that I want to avoid the PAIN of not getting it done.

When you see the activities on your morning ritual list that way…and when you know the pain you will have to go through by not taking action on them now, you will begin to move forward.

In the last part of this series that will be available in the next 2 days, you will learn how you can create your own morning rituals that will shapen your life and help you to move faster towards your goals.

I believe this has helped you.

Questions? Comments? Contribution? Drop them in the comments box.

And take a minute to share this with other people as well.

 

 

 

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20 Comments

  • by Okoro Elechi
    Posted November 9, 2016 8:07 am 0Likes

    Reading, even if it reading what your know before can be inspirational. The best way to get things done is to get started. Thank you

  • by Oliver Ezeani
    Posted November 9, 2016 8:26 am 0Likes

    Thanks so much Toyin. You have really inspired me, I have battled this cancer of moving forward yet i couldn’t get out of my comfort zone. I want to be a motivational person but can’t get started. Do send me more of these especially how to move away frm what keeps me down especially my phone.

  • by Nwachukwu
    Posted November 9, 2016 9:05 am 0Likes

    Great great. Very great material. Thanks.

  • by kehinde
    Posted November 9, 2016 10:38 am 0Likes

    Wow… Thanks for the great insight bro. God bless.

  • by ABIODUN
    Posted November 9, 2016 5:22 pm 0Likes

    I can’t just Wait for more…. there must be a reaction with this masterpiece. Tanks

  • by Ebiama
    Posted November 9, 2016 7:17 pm 0Likes

    This post is filled with so much value especially hacks number two.
    I actually find it difficult to discipline myself, when it comes to writing.
    Now I know how to go about it.
    Thank you so much for sharing.

  • by Idris Ibrahim
    Posted November 9, 2016 7:53 pm 0Likes

    Great great great that is what I can say.

  • by Friday
    Posted November 10, 2016 4:57 am 0Likes

    Thanks very much for the insight. GOD bless you

  • by Toyin
    Posted November 10, 2016 8:18 am 0Likes

    That was winsome. Thx

  • by Bikom Patrick
    Posted November 10, 2016 9:43 am 0Likes

    Great motivational piece, its really making me to think and make some slight adjustments to my timing. My challenge now is, for now i still dont own 80% of my time, because of the nature of my job and traffic situation here in lagos, how can one really optimize this strategy considering this set backs?

  • by Ife Nancy
    Posted November 10, 2016 1:19 pm 0Likes

    That first hack is just a perfect solution for me. Let me start from there. I’ll feed you back later.

  • by yemi
    Posted November 10, 2016 5:25 pm 0Likes

    cool man u r quite on point God bless

  • by Beauty
    Posted November 12, 2016 7:54 am 0Likes

    Wow, this makes self discipline much easier to achieve. Thank you.

  • by samuel
    Posted November 14, 2016 1:01 pm 0Likes

    it is a great message, kindly help me to draft mine, i wake up 5.am every day, but say a little prayer before setting out for work

  • by James Onuoha
    Posted November 16, 2016 11:29 pm 0Likes

    Thank you Toyin, you have impacted something into my life through this message.

  • by Anne Akinade
    Posted November 23, 2016 9:43 am 0Likes

    Thank you, you have just help redirect my path.

  • by stephen
    Posted November 24, 2016 6:55 am 0Likes

    Nice job, kudos to you

  • by Ateri Benatry
    Posted December 7, 2016 7:12 am 0Likes

    Great Lessons for the Great Mind. bro you are a great blessing to many in this our generation, keep it up. God bless. No Pain No Gain

  • by mansur dayyabu
    Posted May 17, 2017 11:51 am 0Likes

    Nice piece indeed

  • by Fabulous Nkwocha
    Posted January 2, 2019 9:45 am 0Likes

    Thanks

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