The Value of Self-Discipline

The Value of Self-Discipline

What is discipline, and why is it important to be self-disciplined?

Discipline is the quality of being able to behave and work in a controlled way which involves personal alignment with particular rules or standards. Discipline means to be the master of yourself and act according to your values. We cannot gain discipline in an instant, neither can we define when and how exactly we became disciplined. It is a constant process of  self-control, and the more we continue to follow that process the more it becomes part of our personality.

But is it important to have discipline
and why?

Whatever we do, if it is productive, it requires some sort of discipline. For example, from waking up early, making our bed, or brushing our teeth, going for a short walk early in the morning, going to the gym or whatever we want to do, we need discipline. We have a reason for all these things that we do, for a goal we might have, otherwise, we wouldn’t get out of bed and stay there until we die from boredom.

Moreover, discipline is important not only for those little things we mentioned but also for more difficult circumstances, such as finding and pursue our passion, changing careers, changing our mindset and our perspective. We cannot find what we truly love if we don’t allow ourselves to change, if we don’t keep pushing forward and if we lose sight of our goal. As Jim Rohn said: “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments”.

Let’s say you want to pursue your passion and make a living out of it – you know what your passion is, either because you’ve been dreaming this since you were kid, or you found your passion through coaching, or from a mentor of yours – and you want to be a chef. You need the discipline to search and learn what it needs to be a chef, to ask yourself “Do I know how to cook professionally or do I have to take lessons?”, “It may take a lot of time until I succeed, I might fail many times but I won’t give up, I will work as hard as I can”; all these thoughts are part of a disciplined mindset. Otherwise, without discipline, you wouldn’t have a goal, you wouldn’t know what to do and you wouldn’t even set your thoughts in order.

So, having discipline – and by discipline I mean patience, persistence, self-control, “you don’t wait to feel right” mindset as well as focus on your goal – you can get all you want. It doesn’t matter if what we want to achieve is a small or big goal, because the smallest of our daily activities are responsible for creating discipline. This is where the magic happens. When there is progress in those small activities, or “little disciplines”, they become the spark for big achievements in life. And as a wise prophet has written: “Be not weary in well-doing for in due season you shall reap if you faint not”.