Victoria S. DorsanoFounder, Be Victorious Coaching · Be Victorious Coaching · Systems > Willpower

How to develop self-discipline the RIGHT way

26 Mar 2024 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker argues that self‑discipline is a learnable skill rather than an innate trait. The key to building it is to turn the desired behavior into a non‑negotiable micro‑habit—something so tiny that there is no room for excuses (e.g., drinking half a glass of water first thing each morning). By consistently performing this micro‑action, you practice the discipline muscle, making larger goals (like going to the gym, eating healthier, or drinking more water) more attainable. The speaker emphasizes that starting with an extremely small, unavoidable task can be a game‑changing way to reframe discipline as a practice you can develop.

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One of the biggest components of learning to be more disciplined and actually practicing the skill set of discipline— because yes, it is a skill set— it is learning to make whatever you are trying to be more disciplined in a non-negotiable, meaning not giving yourself any out to negotiate with yourself at all. And this can be hard when we're trying to do things like go to the gym more often or eat healthier or drink more water in the day. But if you break that thing down into something so small, like I'm gonna have half a glass of water every morning, first thing when I wake up, every single morning, non-negotiable. You don't leave yourself any wiggle room to get out of that behavior, then you are practicing the skill set of discipline. So if you're struggling with yourself and you're finding that you continue to just not have the discipline that you really want, then find a super small thing that you can start to work on practicing the skill of discipline with. This practice has been game-changing for me to think of discipline as a skill rather than just something you have or don't have.