The Battle Of Self-Discipline

Many people struggle to break bad habits from their past and to create new, healthy habits for their future. It is much easier to continue living in the ways that are normal for us than to battle our way to a better life. If, for example, we are used to watching endless hours of television each night it will certainly be hard for us to win the battle of breaking that habit. It will be even harder to replace television with constructive and healthy ways of spending time such as exercising or reading.

The battle to discipline ourselves is certainly one of the toughest battles that we face. It is much easier just let our lives happen than it is to be intentional in our choices and to proactively form habits rather than sit back while our habits are formed for us.

The road to self-discipline must begin with a deep sense of conviction. We must be convinced not only that victory in the battle is possible, but also that winning the battle of disciplining our lives is important. We will never remain long at a task we think is unimportant. It will always be the things that we place the highest value on that will receive our time and efforts, so each person must come to the place where the condition of their undisciplined life is of enough importance to work on.

Determining that the battle for self-discipline is one worth fighting is the first of many steps to achieving a different kind of life. You must take time to evaluate not only your current life but also the kind of life you want to work toward. This evaluating is basically a process of defining some goals for yourself. What battles do you want to focus on now? Is it important to you to see the old habit of inactivity broken, or will you spend your energies trying to stop smoking first? Do not move forward in trying to battle against your problems until you have clearly defined what they are and how you wish to be.

Once you have your 'battle goals' as we'll call them, the important thing is to simply begin. Begin tackling whatever goal you chose, just be sure that you begin. The hardest stage in any battle is the beginning, so you simply have to choose a day and start. If your eventual goal is to run a marathon you can begin by getting outside and jogging for five minutes. At the beginning stages of battle remember that anything is better than nothing. Days of more severe battle and discipline will undoubtedly come, so for now just get moving.

You will quickly realize that the battle to self-discipline is hard and long. You will also realize, however, that the battle is well worth the fight.