Do you give in to impulsive behavior? Do you know how to gain self-discipline?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter Hollins, the author of The Science of Self-Discipline<\/em>, has a variety of internal strategies to improve your discipline in the long run. By becoming more self-disciplined, you’ll be able to endure the distractions life throws at you and steadily progress toward your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s look at how to gain self-discipline with these emotional and logical tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n It\u2019s possible to improve discipline through practice, but you must also be careful not to overdo it. So, Hollins explains that taking a measured approach to developing discipline will make it sustainable. In this article, we\u2019ll discuss Hollins\u2019s emotional tools to learn how to gain self-discipline, as well as logistical strategies to help you build disciplined habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To develop a disciplined mindset, Hollins offers the following strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Hollins, if you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve through discipline, it will motivate you to keep your healthy habits on track<\/strong> and persevere through challenging moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins explains that there are three main categories of motivation: independence<\/a>, excellence, and service. A motivating goal will relate to at least one of these categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Independence<\/strong>: This is a sense that you have the freedom to decide your actions. When you feel in control of your life and work, you\u2019re motivated to be more engaged<\/a> and productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Excellence<\/strong>: This is your innate desire to improve at things. When you feel motivated to get better at something, there\u2019s practically no end to this drive because it\u2019s impossible to be perfect at anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Service<\/strong>: This is the idea that your discipline will have a meaningful effect on the world. For example, if you believe that the smoothie shop you\u2019re disciplined to save money for will bring joy and nutrition to your community, you\u2019ll probably be more motivated<\/a> to follow through with opening it than someone who is opening a business solely for personal profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins says that if you fight your urges, it makes them last longer and grow stronger<\/strong>, which puts you at greater risk of succumbing to them. You probably already know this if anyone\u2019s ever told you not to think about something. When you try to suppress a thought, your focus on that topic typically grows stronger. So, instead of suppressing your urges, allow yourself to experience them with an awareness that they\u2019re temporary. Hollins explains that this will help you stop identifying with your emotions and give you a position of power over them, which allows them to pass more easily. One way to do this is to picture your urge as a passing storm that comes on strong and then fades away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins emphasizes the importance of believing that you\u2019re capable of maintaining discipline to reach your goals<\/a>. To affirm your strength when you feel weak, remember these tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Practice the 40% Rule<\/strong>. Developed by Navy SEALs, this rule means that when you feel like you\u2019ve reached your physical or mental limit amidst a challenge, you\u2019ve only exerted about 40% of what you have left in the tank. The 40% rule is supported by evidence for the placebo effect<\/a>, which is the influence our beliefs have on real-world outcomes. If you believe you have what it takes to maintain discipline\u2014even when it gets hard\u2014you\u2019ll find the willpower to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember the progress you\u2019ve already made<\/strong>. By giving yourself credit for how far you\u2019ve already come in your journey to your goal and taking inventory of the ways you\u2019re capable of achieving your goal, you\u2019ll empower yourself<\/a> to push forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins suggests that you can delay gratification<\/a> to gain more in the long run if you identify with your future self<\/a><\/strong>. When you realize your future self will reap whatever seeds you sow in the present, you\u2019ll be less likely to give in to fruitless temptations. Consider how your future self will be able to enjoy relaxation and fun more wholly when you know you\u2019ve already accomplished the things you were supposed to. If you don\u2019t do what you\u2019re supposed to, you\u2019ll likely be stressed about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To think about your future self more easily and avoid unhealthy rationalizations, apply the 10-10-10 rule<\/strong>. This means thinking about how the decision you\u2019re facing will affect you 10 minutes from now, 10 hours from now, and 10 days from now. To demonstrate the 10-10-10 rule, imagine you want to stop working to watch TV. Consider how in ten minutes you\u2019ll have made no further progress on your tasks. In ten hours, you\u2019ll probably have forgotten whatever you watched on TV, but you\u2019ll still be bothered by the work you still need to finish. In ten days, the TV you watched will have been inconsequential to progressing toward your goals, but any work you completed will have brought you that much further along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it\u2019s important to develop a disciplined mindset, Hollins also suggests some practical strategies to help you build lasting habits that will push you toward your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins recommends that if you\u2019re tempted by something that would lead to a lapse in discipline, wait 10 minutes before giving in<\/strong>. By doing this, you\u2019ll allow the impulse to fade, while giving yourself time to make a more rational decision about what to do. If you still have the urge after the time has passed, you can allow yourself to give in. Hollins explains that this strategy filters out a lot of unnecessary and thoughtless breaks in our discipline. When you do this enough, you\u2019ll also prove to yourself that you can resist temptations and build confidence<\/a> in your ability to stick to your plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins says that because discipline can be very uncomfortable, it\u2019s important to build your tolerance to discomfort. For example, you can add physically uncomfortable things to your daily routine, such as setting your morning alarm an hour earlier than you normally do or doubling your typical running distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins points out that stress management plays a large part in our ability to maintain discipline. If you go into fight or flight mode, you\u2019ll stop using your higher brain and revert to impulsive instincts<\/strong>, which may lead you to break your disciplined routine. To avoid stressing out and losing control of their behavior, Navy SEALs use box breaths to stay calm. This involves breathing in for four seconds, holding your breath for four seconds, then exhaling for four seconds. By regulating your breath in this manner, you can trigger the rest of your nervous system to relax when you notice yourself becoming stressed (breathing hard, sweating, and so on).<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Hollins, perfectionism makes us afraid to try new things because it makes us believe that the only success is perfect success. If you always wait for the perfect conditions to chase your goal, you\u2019ll never begin. Your circumstances will never be completely perfect. Hollins explains that this is just a rationalization for inaction. To combat perfectionism<\/a>, practice the 75% rule<\/strong>\u2014when you feel about 75% sure you can do something, do it<\/strong>. If you wait for certainty, you\u2019ll never act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hollins recommends setting ambitious deadlines and doing your best to stick to them. Without strict deadlines, we tend to flounder around. To demonstrate how stagnating procrastination can be, Hollins highlights Parkinson\u2019s Law<\/a><\/strong>, which states that we expand the time it takes to complete tasks<\/a> to fit the time window we\u2019ve allotted for them. For example, if you give yourself a week to finish a project for work, you may delve into nitpicky tasks that aren\u2019t essential to the project\u2019s objectives in order to stretch the project\u2019s duration until the deadline. On the other hand, if you set a more aggressive deadline, like two days, you\u2019ll work only on the essential elements of the project in order to complete it in time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you give in to impulsive behavior? Do you know how to gain self-discipline? Peter Hollins, the author of The Science of Self-Discipline, has a variety of internal strategies to improve your discipline in the long run. By becoming more self-disciplined, you’ll be able to endure the distractions life throws at you and steadily progress toward your goals. Let’s look at how to gain self-discipline with these emotional and logical tools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":118645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,9,43],"tags":[1335],"class_list":["post-118362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-the-science-of-self-discipline","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nDevelop Internal Discipline<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Emotional Tools to Build Discipline<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Find Your Reason to be Disciplined<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Fight Your Impulses, Observe Them<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Remind Yourself That You\u2019re Capable of Maintaining Discipline<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Consider Your Future Self<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Logistical Tools to Build Discipline<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Build Discipline Using the 10-Minute Rule<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Condition Yourself to Endure Discomfort<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Manage Stress With <\/strong>Box Breathing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Resist Perfectionism With the 75% Rule<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Prevent Procrastination by Setting Deadlines<\/h4>\n\n\n\n