My 30-day challenge - self-discipline

[clazzimoo]

Hi, I am a newcomer to this forum and I have read that some people journal their 30-day challenge. This is very interesting so I came up with a very chronic problem of mine, which is self-discipline.

By the end of this challenge, I want to:
1. develop a set of good habits (sleeping, exercise, work and relaxation.)
2. develop the habit of setting goals daily and monthly (maybe yearly, too?)
3. GET TO WORK (this is a habit would really like to have) on those goals.
4. alleviate my procrastination habit
5. improve my focus while working.
6. Start making priorities!

I have done the daily logs that Steve suggested, which requires me to note down when I do stuff and their time. I have not got the time to evaluate those but I will, soon. And I put this off not because I am procrastinating, but because I have more urgent matters to do now..! I will check in again later....

[stephencp]

Self-discipline for self-discipline's sake??

Don't force it. As long as you force it and do something that's not "really you" then eventually you'll go back to the way you "really are".

Figure out why you want what you want. Get yourself to love it, affirm it constantly and change on the inside first. Forcing your external behavior will rarely stick without changing the inside/motivation first.

Stephen

The Internet Largest Free Give Away Ever - ****************************

[oliver the highflyer]

Originally Posted by stephencp

Self-discipline for self-discipline's sake??

Don't force it. As long as you force it and do something that's not "really you" then eventually you'll go back to the way you "really are".

Figure out why you want what you want. Get yourself to love it, affirm it constantly and change on the inside first. Forcing your external behavior will rarely stick without changing the inside/motivation first.

Stephen

The Internet Largest Free Give Away Ever - ****************************

stephen, wat u said is so true, i should print it out and stick it to my wall lol

[Shaun Roach]

I read recently:

"Being successful is largely about gaining control over some aspects of the external world. But it is difficult to do that until you have control over the internal world."

I think self discipline is definitely worth pursing even if you have not found an overarching goal, yet.

[bradb]

clazzimoo, acknowledging your shortcomings and being proactive about changing them is a good thing. And there's no doubt that discipline is a most desirable quality for getting things done.

The problem with the goals you've listed though is that none of them are actionable. To make them actionable, be extremely specific, so that you can clearly measure whether you're doing what you've said you want to do.

For example, rather than having a goal to "develop a set of good habits", just list the habits you want to develop. Rather than having a habit to, say, "exercise every day", make it clearer, e.g., "run 20 minutes every other day". While it's unclear what you might count as "exercising" on a given day, it's 100% clear to figure out if you ran for 20 minutes.

Good luck.