Being disciplined is not something you are born with, but instead, it’s something you develop over time. It’s a bit like a muscle that can be gradually strengthened as we use it, which means that you can also lessen your discipline the less you work on it.
It's almost impossible to reach your goals without instilling the discipline to work towards it when it is necessary. That is why I have developed this six-step method that will help you build the discipline you need to reach any goal.
How To Develop The Discipline To Reach Your Goals
Define Your Goal
The first step is to have a clear idea of what you want. There can be no discipline if it isn’t channeled into something specific. It's important to be precise with this goal. For example, it is not enough to say “I will lose weight” or “ I will make more money” instead you should say something like “I will have a waist size of 28 inches by July 30th” or “ I will make more than $100,000 a year in order to buy the car of my dream”. The more this goal is specific, the higher the odds of you reaching it. Be specific and include a deadline for this goal
What Needs to Change?
Once you have defined what you want, you now have to decide what you will do to get there. This can be a set of steps that you want to take or a habit that you can create to reach your goal. For example, to take the losing weight example. Your goal could be: “I will jog for 30 minutes every day to achieve it.”
What will it take to achieve your desired result? What behaviors do I need to develop? What habits do I need to implement in my day? Which kind of person do I need to become?
Find Your Role Models
Look outward to find someone who can reinforce your discipline. Identify a role model. It can be a friend, family member or even a famous personality who has already achieved the goal you are targeting. You should emulate this to reach your goal faster.
If your role models are people you know, take the time to approach them and ask them what specific actions have led to their desired results. Then use their experience to better discipline you throughout your journey.
If your role model is someone you do not know, try to find someone that has given interviews or has written about their struggle and try to learn from their mistakes and learn from their successes. The best success tips can be found in biography books considering they go into detail about the role model’s struggles and successes.
Identify Your Why
To avoid getting diverted from your path, you can write down the reasons why you want to achieve your goal. Find Your Why. The stronger our reasons to reach our goal, the more likely we’re going to stick to the plan to ultimately achieve it.
You will inevitably face some obstacles that will test your discipline, so it is a good idea to prepare for such a day. Ask yourself: Given my goal, what barriers might stand before me? What particular things could distract me from my goal?
Develop A Plan of Action
It's time to use the information gathered in the previous steps to form a plan of action to achieve your goal.
It is important to note that to stay disciplined and follow your plan, you must create a set of successive mini-steps to reach and determine a deadline to end your goal. These smaller goals will put you in the driver's seat and give you a sense of control over tasks and projects you are working on. Having a specific deadline for each is also important and will help stay on course.
Be Accountable
Be accountable for the actions you take. Find someone to report to. It can be your partner, a colleague, or a friend. You can even go further and use our app commit yourself publicly on Facebook. We have developed a free tool to help you share your goals in three easy steps. So, try it out and let us know what you think! Your motivation will be stronger if the people you share it with are closer to you. Being afraid to disappoint other people is one of the strongest motivating factors to reach your goals, so use it to your benefit.
