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“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”
wherever you began, it is possible to change and improve your self-discipline.
Being disciplined in your pursuit of long-term goals is only possible if you can consistently focus on the decisions and actions that lead to accomplishing those goals.
Remembering the “why” behind your actions keeps you grounded and gives you the fuel to push through difficulties.
People were most incentivized to work by the feeling of making consistent progress toward a meaningful goal.
autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
It will typically require a good deal of self-discipline to consistently overcome compulsion.
Discipline in avoiding triggers and willpower in fighting off desires once they come will be necessary in overcoming any habit.
The 40% Rule is straightforward. It says that when an individual’s mind begins telling them that they are physically or emotionally maxed out, in reality they have only pushed themselves to 40% of their full capacity.
the key to unlocking more potential is to push through the initial pain and the self-doubt
Expecting yourself to be capable, successful, and disciplined will make it all the more likely that you actually are.
Being able to relax and focus in order to avoid distractions from natural stress responses is essential for self-discipline.
“So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.”
if you want something, wait at least 10 minutes before getting it. It’s simple and leaves no room for debate or excuses.
many people tend to shoot for drastic and unsustainable changes, leading to inevitable failure.
Procrastination is the enemy of self-discipline because it often means we are waiting for perfect conditions to justify inaction to ourselves.
When everything feels comfortable and just right, it’s already too late and you’ve waited too long.
It doesn’t matter if that’s getting healthy, writing a book, or starting a business—the best time to start is now. There is almost no perfect timing you should be waiting for.
Discipline only happens through consistent action.
Each moment or decision stands on its own and you don’t get to “carry over” credit from past behavior.
Parkinson’s Law states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
You don’t make things more complex or difficult than they need to be just to fill the time.
It’s simply a fact that being disciplined is going to feel like a chore. The key quantity we need more of isn’t necessarily always self-discipline itself—it’s the amount of discomfort we can handle and tolerate.
Being disciplined comes down to choosing temporary discomfort that helps you in the long-term.
Urges are defined as impulses to engage in a habitual behavior or past addiction, and they are frequently manifested in physical sensations in the body, not just in thoughts.
softly focus on your breath to help you ride out the urges, imagining that they are waves and you are surfing across them.
Fighting urges is rarely effective, but curiously observing urges without identifying with them gives you much greater odds to overcome them.
when you choose an open attitude about your urges and watch them without fighting them, they subside much more quickly and effortlessly.
If you can successfully change your attitude about urges and temptations to one of curiosity instead of fear or resignation, you’ll also be able to change your behavior.
We are only interested in effective and sustainable solutions. In the case of overcoming urges, that solution is surfing the urge.
everything you think and feel is temporary, including desires.
Leaving your comfort zone is important because it teaches you that the things you fear aren’t as bad as they might seem.
Discomfort and struggle are what make you who you are.
Conserving your willpower is about removing the distractions and temptations that knock you off course.
compelling evidence supporting the concept of “out of sight, out of mind” as a means of improving discipline, and it applies to far more beyond your desk.
make it so that giving in to the temptation requires a lot of effort.
A covert dopamine addiction can be the downfall of your discipline and productivity.
Use small, incremental rewards to reinforce good habits and you’ll see improvements in your behavior and self-discipline as a result.
You can make it easy for yourself to choose whichever options most benefit you while also making it as difficult as possible to make harmful decisions.
a significant amount of your actions are just responses to your environment.
our decisions are significantly influenced by the people around us.
people simply fall into the same life habits and patterns of the people around them.
A deeply felt sense of loyalty, whether to people, country, or principles, can be a powerful source of self-discipline.
you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
If you find yourself in a room and you are the most accomplished person, or any other relevant superlative, it’s time to find a new room.
People who tell others of their goal lose their drive and are less likely to achieve it.
As long as you have someone to actively look up to, you will be passively improving yourself.
Whenever you seek to delay gratification, you use self-discipline.
The longer you stick with your positive behaviors the easier and more natural they’ll become.
Act on Behalf of Your Future Self
