How We Can Live Better With Discipline

Ever since we were young, our parents tell us to live our lives to the fullest extent, for that time lost will never come back. To “live our lives” holds different meanings for different people: for some, it is to live in complete hedonism, partying, drinking, and engaging in casual hookups. For others, it is to make the most of our time, forming relationships that’ll last, building fortune, and striving to help others.

Defining Discipline

While it isn’t bad to let loose once a while, unregulated indulgence in pleasure causes one to be puppeteered by one’s own desires, which in turn doesn’t allow us to actually live our lives. To gain that balance between building oneself and enjoying oneself, there needs to be a self-imposed set conduct to follow, which is known as Discipline.

With Discipline, we are not only more in control of ourselves, but we’re able to grasp our surroundings, and scout out opportunities more efficiently. By becoming more disciplined, we’re able to carry out what we truly want to do, with minimal distractions. To be disciplined is to have the ability to do more.

Since Discipline is self-imposed, everyone has different forms of discipline.

The Methods of Discipline

The most common one involves setting schedules for oneself, with time slots for specific activities. This is great for people who are starting out, since it is relatively easy to follow, is more flexible, and can fit many different activities.

For people who find using a schedule is not as effective, using a reward system works well. That means, for every action you do, you reward yourself. The most basic version is for each hour you work, to have about 10–15 minutes of recreational activity. The reward can be other things as well, such as having a sweet, having your favorite drink (preferably not alcohol), or interacting with some miscellaneous item that you might like.

However, some people are not able to follow a schedule outright, or use a reward system, either because they find a schedule/reward system too hard to follow, don’t have enough spare time for a consistent schedule, or they just forget about the schedule/reward system in the first place. This is where the next level comes in: directly training your habits.

Purpose of Habits

Although training one’s habits can be substantially more difficult than creating a schedule or setting up a reward system, if one perseveres, and develops good habits, it is infinitely more rewarding than just following a schedule or rewarding oneself. This is because the reason for your habits wouldn’t be to follow a predetermined path, or only acting for an instant reward, but rather for a higher purpose: the purpose of doing what you truly want to do.

Remember, a person is defined by their habits.

If you have good habits, you’re able to achieve more of what you want to do. Usually, passionate people force themselves to have discipline, since they wouldn’t be able to chase what they’re passionate about, if they didn’t have the means (discipline) to keep themselves on a straight path.

Either way, all of the previously mentioned methods involve some sort of consistency, which could develop into habits themselves. Consistency might sound terrifying for people that have commitment issues, but after a while, one realizes that it’s really not that bad. The main obstacle one should really worry about is reforming any old habits that may conflict with the new (and better!) habits you’re trying to learn.

To Wrap it All Up…

Ultimately, Discipline helps you realize your goals with less distractions. There are many ways of establishing Discipline, such as setting a schedule for yourself, using a reward method, or honing your habits. Any of these options achieve the same goal of optimizing your attention towards more significant, fulfilling aspects in your life, which in turn, make you happier.

With Discipline, it would be hard to find something you’re not able to do, given the patience and resources to do so.

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