PPI #151: Why You Can’t Stay Disciplined

Most people think that self discipline is hard and not fun. But viewing it that way will guarantee that you remain undisciplined. And if you remain undisciplined, your chances of achieving whatever it is that you hope to achieve is virtually zero. Today I'm going to share with you the main reasons why you're not able to stay disciplined and more importantly, how to overcome each of them.

Hi, my name is Eric Partaker and I'm a peak performance expert at 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, discipline did not come easy for me. For decades, I waged a war between my procrastinating, undisciplined self and this ideal of becoming a more disciplined person. But over time, by using the strategies that I'm going to share with you today, I developed my self discipline and started to achieve my dreams and goals. And you can too. The first thing that people do that sabotages their ability to stay self disciplined is that they actively do things that lead to them becoming undisciplined. They put themselves in situations or with people, or engage in activities that lead to them acting in an undisciplined way. So you need to seriously ask yourself, are you sabotaging your ability to stay self disciplined by doing certain things? And then if you were to subtract some of those things or do less of them, would that increase your ability to stay disciplined? The second thing that people do that makes it difficult to stay disciplined is that they basically walk around in life having a big safety net around them. You know, they're afraid to do things that will make them uncomfortable. They're afraid to do things that they haven't done before, and so they play it safe. Now this fights or goes against self discipline. Why? Because very much self discipline is about doing things when you don't even feel like doing them, doing things when it might be more comfortable to not do something. So we have to shed ourself of this need to feel that things must be comfortable and safe all the time. Our path to growth, our path to development lies outside of our comfort zone. And the best way to foster increased self discipline or the best way to stay disciplined is to make sure that you're discarding that safety net, that you're recognizing that that your true growth, development and opportunity lies outside of what feels safe and comfortable for you in this moment. The number three reason why people make it difficult to stay disciplined is that they focus on perfection. Rather than progress. The name of the game is progress, not perfection. Perfection is impossible to achieve. And if we can just get better little by little every day, that's the goal, to make progress. And so one of the simple ways that you can do that, to actually focus on progress rather than perfection, is to think of the most imprecise, like, imperfect version, one step that you can take towards whatever your goal is. What's the smallest thing that you can do that is not even perfect, but that would represent a little bit of progress. And just focus on doing that rather than trying to get it all done. Focus on choosing to start whatever it is, rather than having to finish absolutely everything all at once. Last but not least, the way that people sabotage their ability to stay disciplined is that they don't respect the need for balance. Your willpower, your discipline, it's like a muscle, and you can stress that muscle, but then you need time for rest and recovery. If you're constantly trying to stay disciplined without any rest and recovery, eventually you will exhaust yourself. And the way to make sure that you stay balanced is by making sure that you're prioritizing your sleep, your nutrition, your exercise, and your mental clarity. So let's take sleep, for example. We need to make sure that we're getting eight hours of sleep, or else we're very likely to not be able to maintain our ability to stay disciplined. When that first temptation, for example, presents itself to us. If we're a little bit tired and we're kind of run down, we're likely to give in to that temptation. If you have eight hours of restful sleep, you are far less likely to give in to that temptation. And what's the best way to maximize your sleep? Well, I'll give you one very quick, simple tip. Shut off all the electronics one hour before bedtime such that you can get a full eight hours of sleep. Why? Because when you do that, you'll increase the melatonin production in your brain by a factor of two times. And melatonin is a sleep inducing hormone which, if present in enough quantity in your brain, will allow you to sleep in the most deep restorative state for the longest period of time. Waking up the next day with those full eight hours, you are much more likely to stay disciplined because of that rest and restoration that you received during the previous night. When it comes to nutrition, studies have shown that when we eat bad foods, sugary foods, processed foods, foods that just don't naturally occur within nature, foods that are made in a factory, it leads to us being less likely to maintain our discipline throughout the course of the day. We're more likely to have a spike in energy and then suddenly a big drop. And it's in that trough period when we're kind of feeling a little bit run down that we're also in those same moments that we're likely to give in to further temptation, that we're likely to not stay on that disciplined track. And on the exercise front, this is a fantastic way to stay balanced and to keep your discipline up is actually to make sure that you're getting morning exercise. When you exercise in the morning, it gives you a 12 hour mood boost. And when you're in a good mood, you're, you're more likely to be able to maintain the discipline that you're seeking for the goals and the dreams that you're working on and trying to achieve. Finally, mental clarity. If we have an anxious mind, if we have an overwhelmed mind, if we have a worrying mind, it will be difficult to maintain our discipline once again. So how do we create more mental clarity? Multiple ways. You can do it through prayer, you could do it through meditation, you could do it through relaxation techniques, but engage in some type of practice that will blow those clouds away and give you that free kind of clarity that you need in your mind so that you can maintain the discipline or at least be in a better position to not give in to temptation and maintain that discipline to achieve the things that you want in your work and life. 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 ericpartaker.com where you can pick up a free digital copy of my new best selling book, the Three Alarms.