How to Work on Your Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is essential in cultivating good habits and quitting bad ones. It cannot be easy to build self-discipline, particularly outside of a structure requiring you to meet specific benchmarks, such as school or work. However, the ability to motivate yourself rather than waiting for others to motivate you will help you lead a more prosperous, satisfying life.
Set Goals
It’s hard to enforce self-discipline when you aren’t sure what you are working toward. Too often, people haphazardly follow a list of should’s, sometimes without thinking about where they want to end up. Instead, start by setting one to three concrete, measurable goals with time limits. For example, rather than feeling stressed whenever you spend money on something indulgent because you think you should be saving instead, set a specific goal, such as saving $500 in six months. This not only gives you something to strive for but also removes the panicked feeling that any money you spend should be put away toward the goal even if you have other uses for it.
Tackle Your Weaknesses
There are certain areas where most people struggle with self-discipline, such as health and personal finance. Both of these involve putting off immediate pleasures for the greater good of the long term. Because of the challenges, these can present, many people may be tempted to avoid them altogether, but a better way is to meet them head-on. When it comes to personal finance, investing is key to eventual financial independence.
An ideal investment is one with low volatility along with high, steady dividend income, good portfolio diversification, and long-term capital appreciation. Real estate investment trusts meet all these criteria, but some are much better than others. It is essential to take several factors into account, including dividend yield and history, company financials, type of property, location, and management. You can review the best REIT companies of 2022 online to help make the right choice. With smart investments in REIT and other vehicles growing every year, you’ll feel more empowered about this area of your life.
Give Yourself Rewards
You don’t have to make virtue its reward. However, you’ll better stay on track if you give yourself rewards for meeting specific goals or milestones along the way. Make sure that these do not directly contradict what you’ve accomplished to date, such as don’t let yourself go shopping to celebrate saving money, for example. Make a list ahead of time of big and small rewards so that you’ll have plenty to choose from.
Reframe Your Thinking
One way to improve your self-discipline is to stop thinking of it as self-discipline at all. This particular framing can be a roadblock for some people. You might find that thinking of it as building habits instead makes it less forbidding; habits like showering and brushing your teeth are probably things you do without much internal struggle or questioning. Noticing when the types of behaviors that you want to cultivate move into this realm of habit can also be a way of tracking progress.
