What is your self-discipline level?

Discipline: what a scary word. We conjure up images of a task master cracking his whip or a drill sergeant yelling at his soldiers. But believe it or not, self-discipline actually offers you a sort of freedom. See it for yourself: if you develop the discipline to continue reaching for your goals despite how you are feeling at a given moment, you will enjoy all the results of that effort and the time that it has created for you.

Exercise self-discipline! You won’t regret it!

Self-discipline requires the ability to act according to what you are thinking rather than what you are feeling at a given time. Sure, we have days when we don’t want to go to work, but we know that if we don’t, there will be consequences. The same is true when we lack self-discipline in reaching for our goals. If I am not exercising self-discipline towards a task at work, the consequence may be that I don’t get as high a commission as I had hoped for or I might not be chosen for the promotion I was aiming at.

What are the benefits of self-discipline?

Self-discipline helps you with things like: working on your daily tasks even if you don’t particularly feel like it, waking up early to truly prepare for the day ahead even though you want that last 30 minutes of sleep, turning away temptation when you’ve committed to a healthy eating plan, walking away from time-sucking gossip at the water cooler even though you’d rather hear the scoop or checking your work meticulously even though you feel like it’s ‘good enough’ as it is.

But how do you know if you are self-disciplined enough? And if not, what is missing? Here is a checklist that includes five basic characteristics of people who possess self-discipline:

• Self-knowledge – you know what’s important to you and what you need to do to achieve it

• Conscious awareness – you realistically evaluate your current behavior and actions in comparison to what you need to be doing to reach your goals

• Commitment – commitment will keep you going when you are tempted to pursue activities that aren’t goal-driven

• Courage – you might need to stand up for yourself, your belief in your goals, and the sacrifices you may need to get there

• Internal coaching – your internal voice is a positive supporter, not a negative critic of what you are doing

If you exercise all those things, you can get right to the top of the benefits of self-discipline. So, what are you waiting for!