Do you control life or do you allow your life to control you? You might find yourself reacting to every little thing that happens to you if you don’t exercise this one principal which is the dreaded thing called discipline. You have a choice when it comes to being disciplined, and you either choose the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The pain of discipline weighs ounces but the pain of regret weighs tons. You might buy something on your credit card that you know you can’t afford; the instant gratification feels good until you see your credit card statement and now you have to pay back what you bought plus interest. So although you’ve bought those new shoes or you’re going on that European vacation, you’re now pushing yourself further into financial lack.
Or maybe you don’t know how to discipline your emotions so you’ve said something mean and hurtful in an argument with your boyfriend. Once those words come out of your mouth, you can’t take them back and as a result of your lack of discipline in the area of your emotions, you’re now faced with an unnecessary break-up.
I know being disciplined is not fun at first but the rewards that you experience in the end are one thousand times better than the instant gratification you receive by not being disciplined. Who wants to wake up an extra hour earlier to work out? Most people don’t but when you begin to do so and you see the results then your drive to achieve your fitness goal will be intensified.
Discipline is always rewarded. The key to remaining disciplined is consistency and learning to delay your gratification. You have to continuously exercise discipline so that you can become stronger at it. Start by giving yourself realistic goals so that you can grow in confidence. For example, let’s say that you want to pay off 50% of your credit card debt within the next year. One of the first things you can do is not put anything on your credit card that you cannot pay back in full at the end of the month for the next 12 months. Instead of saying that you won’t ever use your credit cards again, you’re exercising discipline to only charge what you can pay back.
Be careful not to get satisfied with incomplete, mediocre results which you’ll be tempted to do when you’ve been consistent for a while and think that you “deserve” a splurge. You might be exercising discipline for a few months and although you haven’t hit your goal, you decide to treat yourself by spending more than you can pay back. You tell yourself that it’s only this one time but it’s only opening the door for you to experience the pain of regret later. Or let’s say you’ve decided to exercise discipline by choosing not to date anyone who doesn’t share the same morals and vision for marriage as you do. You’re doing great for a few months and out of your loneliness, you decide to go back to dating someone that you know you have no business dealing with anymore.
Choose plan A for your life instead of being content with plan B, C, D or even E. What I mean is that you’re in control of experiencing the best that life has to offer you but if you keep making bad decisions, you’re going to experience the pain of plan B and plan C. If what you’re doing right now is jeopardizing your overall success, is it worth it? I don’t think so.
I know you want the best of life and it begins with you.
Take some time over the next few days to determine where you lack discipline in your life. Is it in your finances, emotions, eating habits, time management, or daily routine? Once you determine that, write down your plan to become more disciplined in that area. Maybe you have to eliminate some toxic relationships, put yourself on a budget or start packing your own healthy meals to work – it’s time to grow up and learn to delay your gratification.
I know it’s not easy but even 5-year olds are starting to understand how much more rewarding being disciplined can be! Watch this hilarious video and I promise you that if they can do it, so can you!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy