PPI #150: Struggling with Self Discipline?

Without self discipline, success is impossible because success will always require you to do things that you don't feel like doing. Now, if you struggle with self discipline and fail to grab a hold of it, fail to become more disciplined, your life will be dominated by regret. But it doesn't have to be. Because today we're going to explore the secrets of building unshakable self discipline. Showing you how to master self control and maintain habits that will help you achieve your goals.

Hi, my name is Eric Partaker and I'm a peak performance expert and I've also been recognized as the CEO of the year. I'm also the author of two best selling books including the Three Alarms. Now, if you think that you can never be disciplined, stop. You absolutely can install the self discipline that you need and seek in life. I used to be a horrible procrastinator, Used to be horrible at discipline, but I got better at it. I and today I'm going to prove it to you by showing you exactly what you need to do to up your game as well. So the first thing that you can do is have a strong enough reason for whatever it is that you're trying to stay disciplined at and put a date on it. Tapping into your motive for the mission is extremely important. Don't for example, just say that I'm just going to go to the gym day in and day out. Have a goal. What is it that you want to achieve by when? Is it a certain amount of weight that you want to lose? Do you want to look in a certain way, but create a deadline and attach a visualization to that. Whether it's a visualization of someone else or perhaps how you've been in the past. But make sure that you understand why you're doing it. Visualize it and have a date for achieving it. Number two, optimize your environment. If you're trying to drink less alcohol, for example, keeping your fridge stocked with beer and wine is not going to help you. If you're trying to eat less sugar, well then stop bringing it into the house to begin with. Optimize your surroundings to support your success. Optimize your environment. Install these conditions that enable you to achieve the discipline that you seek. Get temptation out of the picture. Don't even bring it into the house, for example. Avoid the things that provide temptation. Avoid the things that are likely to cause a break in your discipline. Number three, assign an accountability partner. There's no point in going alone and don't feel that you need to do everything just by yourself. If you incredibly powerful to have somebody there alongside of you who's cheering you on, who can check on your progress updates. And this could simply be a friend, for example, or a colleague. And that you agree to have what's called a weekly accountability meeting or a call where you're going to hop on the phone or hop on, you know, a video conference or meetup and you're going to state how did you perform against your goals or your targets for the week prior and what is it that you're going to be doing in the week ahead. Create these weekly commitment contracts with each other through the help of an accountability partner. You don't have to go it alone. And every great sports star out there knows, for example, that to achieve their best, they need the help of an accountability partner in the form of a mentor or a coach to help them get there. The same goes for business as well. People always need the help of a mentor or a coach to help them achieve even greater results. They need that extra support and accountability. And, and it's the same for you, developing your self discipline. So whatever it is that you'd like to be more disciplined towards, get an accountability partner to both set your goals and review your commitments on a weekly basis. Next up is start with small bite sized chunks. So whatever it is that you're trying to be disciplined towards, once again, break that down into steps. In the beginning, velocity is not important. It's about just getting in the game. You know, remember the saying, journey of a thousand miles begins with just a single step. So what is the smallest action that you can take that moves you closer towards your goal? And just focus on doing these small bite sized chunks. Just focus on such small actions that you can't possibly fail. The simplest things that you can do in the beginning, just to get in the game over time, you can build out these chunks into bigger and bigger actions and you can increase your speed. But in the beginning, small bite size just get in the game. The fifth thing is to expect bumps in the road. The path to success is never linear. There's always going to be setbacks, there's always going to be plateaus. But the key to discipline is to maintain that small, consistent, steady effort even when things aren't going to plan, even when you don't feel like it. And one of the best ways to do that is to simply expect the bumps in the road to come. Expect that there will be obstacles. Visualize them in your head and ask yourself, my most disciplined version of me when that obstacle shows up. Whether it's the feeling of, you know, not participating in a certain thing or doing something or when something external disrupts the day and the flow. What would my most disciplined self do in those. In those moments? Not the current version of you, the most disciplined version of you. Play that video reel in your head, see in your mind's eye that obstacle, that bump in the road happening. And the most disciplined version of you responding in that situation. And by doing this, not only are you anticipating the inevitable setbacks and disruptions, but you're also visualizing how the very best version of you, the most disciplined version of you, would handle and overcome those and actually use those obstacles as a way to fuel your fire, to fuel your strength. Because think about this. If you are able to stay disciplined even in those moments when you're disrupted, interrupted, or don't feel like being disciplined, you will become unstoppable. Last but not least, remember to enjoy the process. It's the process itself which is the path to mastery. It's the process itself which leads to us feeling and building our discipline. So remember to enjoy that process. Don't just be focused on the destination. The process itself yields so many benefits. So embrace those plateaus. Embrace those setbacks. Enjoy the process. Enjoy your path to becoming a more disciplined version of you. And I'd love to hear from you. So don't forget to leave a comment and a rating as well. And if you'd like to get a copy of my new book, the Three Alarms, please head over to my website at ericpartaker.com that's E R I C eric partaker.com where you can pick up a free digital copy of my new best selling book, the Three Alarms.