Motivational Monday: Discipline Is The Ability To Get The Results You Want

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“Discipline is the ability to make yourself do something you don’t want to do, in order to get a result you really want.” -Andy Andrews

Andy Andrews’ quote speaks to my heart. You all know I’m a goal setter and work hard to stick to my plans for all my goals. Discipline though, is the exact word to describe why this process works.

What Is Discipline? 

When I  explain my obsession with calendars and schedulers (Google Calendar, specifically), sometimes people ask how I can manage to STICK TO all of my plans.

Rewards  are my best answer.  Schedule a reward, Iike your favourite food, a trip with a friend, a day out in the park or at the beach – and don’t let yourself go on the trip or have the treat until you’ve completed your task.

No cheating!!!

How do you force yourself not to cheat? People ask me this one sometimes and it just boils down to discipline. The drive to go for what you want, even if it will take time to get there.

Why Do People Give Up? 

Well, this took some thinking for me. A recent conversation with as friend allowed me to come up with this list:

• People look for short term gratification.  Discipline is the key to holding out for future satisfaction.

•  We don’t believe we can reach our goals.  Self-confidence is key. My best tip here is to “model your heroes”. Look up to people you admire, and don’t be afraid to follow in their footsteps. Don’t know how they do what they do? Ask them!  I do this all the time, and reach out to other, bigger bloggers to see how they succeed. Usually, people love to hear from you!

• Hard work is…well, hard work. Well, yes it is! That is part of it. I’m not sorry to say, if you’re not willing to push through the discomfort of hard work, it’s not going to work.

Remember this motivational post with Frank Lloyd Wright’s quote on it?  It’s one of my favourites!

3 Steps To Being More Disciplined

1) Develop Habits – set a routine to work towards your goals.

2) Practice Commitment –  Make sure that you honour every appointment you make with yourself. Schedule it in red. Immovable.

3) Visualize the future – Think how badly you want the end goal and focus on the feeling you’ll have when you get there.

Well, that’s it for Monday motivation this week. Good luck in being disciplined! Let me know how it goes in the comments below!

Have a lovely and productive Monday!

P.S. Photography fans, the main image for today’s post is from a kickboxing tournament I participated in, located in Whitby, UK, in February 2013.