What traps and consumes you, could be the key to what frees you

behind every closed door is a new opportunity

we're afraid of closed doors

because we're afraid of ourselves and what we can accomplish

once we open it and walk into that room...

behind the door of fear

lies an unabound confidence that screams to be free

a confidence that wants to shine

behind the door of doubt

is a strong faith

one that wants to believe again

a faith that wants to move the impossible

behind the door of failure

is success waiting to be achieved

dreams realized and human potential actualized...

What traps and consumes you could be the key to what frees you,

So when will you decide to open your doors and free yourself

from the world you know

and the world you call your home

whose address resides in you?

I've been thinking alot about this topic lately, so I decided to speak on it!

Self discipline, in my eyes, is the ability to stay committed to a goal despite the obstacles and temptations that encourage us to veer from our goals.  It is the human ability to pay attention to our “angelic side”.  We learn to disregard the “other shoulder” and focus instead on the goal at hand.

As a coach and, more importantly, as a person that continually seeks self-improvement, I am always looking for that silver lining that keeps us disciplined.  What are the ways that we can stay disciplined and committed towards our goals?  Maybe, you want to lose 20 pounds in three months because you’re about to go on a cruise in the Bahamas.  Or, maybe you want to commit to minimizing your Facebook usage because it’s consuming your social life to the point where you forgot how to have a face-to-face conversation.

Whatever the case maybe, this is something, for one reason or another that speaks to the values you wish to embody in your life, at least at this particular moment in time.  You’ve said to yourself, “I’m tired of living like this, or looking that, or acting this way, or treating others that way.”  You’ve decided that there needs to be a change.  The current paradigm or actions do not fit with your personal intended outcome(s).  So let’s commit to that change and wear the badge of self-discipline.

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10. Create a routine for yourself

One of the easiest ways that I’ve found that help people to stay committed to a goal is to create routines.  The more routine your actions become, the more difficult it is to stray from the “automatic”.

9. Constantly remind yourself of your commitment

Have you ever gone through a weight loss plan and just wanted to quit?  You wanted to throw your hands in the air and grab two quarter pounders with cheese and a large French fries.  You might even throw in the regular soda because you’re officially done with the aspartame in Diet coke.

 It’s at that moment that you have to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing!  Once you come back to that commitment, you can fight life’s urges that ask you to “satisfy your impulses”.

8. Learn to have fun within the discipline. 

Make it your own.  Turn it into a game.  Trick your psychology to make you want to stay disciplined.

7. Create a confidences journal

In order to stay committed to the longer term goal, you have to see how it’s impacting you in the short term.  At the end of each day, set aside 10-15 minutes to write in your “confidence journal”.  Write down a list of things that you are confident in having completed at the day’s end. 

Example:

·         Goal: To minimize caffeine intake

o   1. Consumed two bottles of water today

o   2. When I was tired, I stretched for ten minutes

o   3.  I spaced out my energy output during my work day to create balance

6. Have others hold you accountable. 

Tell at least two other people about your goal for the week, month or year.  Explain it to them in detail both with the short and long term.  Ask them to check in with you periodically to see how you’re doing.  At the beginning , you can have them check in with you more frequently.  As time goes on, you can decrease the accountability support, until you internalize it for yourself.

5. After (X) weeks, re-evaluate your goal.  Is this something you still want to stay committed to?

If the answer is “YES” then think about how you want to continue and what changes you might need to make in order to stay on track.

If the answer is “NO”, reassess where/why you have given up on this goal.  Was the goal unrealistic?  Is the goal no longer relevant towards your current lifestyle?  Is it causing you to veer from your values?

4.    Assess your resources

Do you have the resources you need to reach your goal? 

3.  Eliminate the excess: Trim the fat

One of the main reasons it’s hard for people to remain disciplined is because their lives are full of excess.  There is far too much stimulation.  Even the most disciplined of us will find it difficult to maintain resolve in the midst of heightened stimulation.  So, why not minimize it?  Take away or discontinue the things in your life that make it hard for you to stay committed.  Do you want to be more social in a live setting?  Limit yourself to a certain number of social networking sites each day, and instead, commit yourself to what you’re seeking—set up weekend dates or look up activities that will put you in situations that will help you to achieve your goal(s).  

2. CELEBRATE. 

Once you’ve reached your short or long term goal, celebrate!  It will sustain you in the long run. J  Be happy that you’ve been able to weather the storms and beat the odds.  Your quest of self-discipline wasn’t a fad.  It’s now a part of your identity.  Let it be your life.  Live in a disciplined way of balance. 

1. What’s the main way you stay self disciplined?  Let this focus you.

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My birthday is just around the corner.  March 19th will come and go, signifying another year both come and gone.  I feel good about my 26th birthday and I feel even better about where I'm at now in my life.  I've learned alot and I've experience both the beauties and harsh realities of life.  As I progress through each year, I continue to think about where I've been, where I am, and where I want to be going.

To put it simply, I want to continue living life in both love and laughter.  I want to continue to give where I can and receive when I need to. Now, more than ever, I feel like I am striking that balance between my need to be of service and also my desire to "enjoy the finer things in life".  In the past, I feel like my life was lived as a connection of polar opposites.  There would be moments of shear joy and moments of shear desparation, sadness and depression.  However, now I feel as though my emotions are far more stabilized.  Additionally, I feel like "my core" is stronger than it has ever been.  I don't feel like an empty well giving to the thirsty thousands.  Instead, I feel as though I am an abundant waterfall pouring my soul into those I meet and being replenished continually in turn.

On my birthday wish list, I want to continue to keep it simple.  I wish to never want more than I can handle or take on what I don't need.  I wish to continue loving and being loved.  I wish to live in clarity more often than in confusion.  I wish to live in my strongest power unencumbered by the self defeating nature of myself or others.  Daily, weekly and monthly in the year of 26 I will live in my highest beauty, owning and possessing the spirit of POSSIBILITY.