THE MAGIC OF PRACTICING SELF-DISCIPLINE
SELF-DISCIPLINE:
self-mastery, self-control, the ability to show restraint
In short, the ability to say NO to YOURSELF.
When you think of self-discipline, the urge to groan may come up… which is certainly true for us at times! That word can immediately conjure discomfort… reminding you of all the things you should be doing and aren’t, right?
Why not reframe the way that word makes us feel? Instead, consider self-discipline MAGIC.
We say PRACTICE self-discipline because it just isn’t possible to be perfect all the time, to never procrastinate or be “lazy”… it is just a part of being human. After all, we can all agree that sometimes doing NOTHING at all, resting, relaxing is exactly the right thing to do and that it can help get the creative flow back into our lives.
Generally, though, the actual doing of the tasks we put off - will get us where we want to be.
The magic is in the every day work… when you are able to say NO to yourself, or show restraint, instead of giving in to your “lazy self”. You end up feeling proud of yourself and better overall for getting things DONE.
“WHAT LIES IN OUR POWER TO DO, LIES IN OUR POWER NOT TO DO.”
We have been known to procrastinate here and there (eek - YES!) and the interesting part of that is - procrastination is really rooted in fear. Putting something off (not just sometimes like we all tend to do here and there) but really putting things off… may mean you are afraid.
It may be being afraid of what others may think, being afraid of failure, afraid of how you’ll feel, afraid of actually moving forward…
“WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO. EXCELLENCE THEN IS NOT AN ACT, BUT A HABIT.”
The magic of self-discipline is that when you take action, you free yourself up for new things. You free up your TIME from thinking about “all those things you have to do”, it frees you up to do something ELSE you have to or WANT to do, you’re just done with it.
Perfectionists (recovering perfectionist speaking) would just continue to tweak just “one more thing” forever… but then nothing would ever come of whatever it is they’re trying to share, finish or accomplish, in the first place.
Self-discipline helps you accomplish goals.
You can do things like write a book, train for a marathon, learn to swim, learn a new language, etc. You can only do these things - if you buckle down and DO them, EVEN AND ESPECIALLY, when you don’t want to.
Saying NO to yourself when you want to take the easy road out is difficult, but you know what happens if you do? You’ll be able to say YES to doing what you want because you’re now FREE.
“WITH SELF-DISCIPLINE MOST ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. ”
The MAGIC of self-discipline lives within your own actions. Choose well for yourself. You’ll feel the satisfaction of achieving, you’ll have time to do other things you’d rather be doing, and you may just inspire others to find the will power within themselves, too.
