Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.
Elbert Hubbard.
I used to rely heavily on motivation to get things done. Motivational videos acted as both music and sustenance for my brain, but only for a short period. It assisted me in developing my self-confidence, creating a vision for myself, developing healthy habits, and improving my self-esteem, among other things.
I was in a zone – the zone where I felt overconfident about my talents. For me – that dreamy kid – everything was possible, everything. I had my dream car, my dream house, lived in numerous places and travelled a lot, but they were all in my imagination, existing only in my dreams. I even created a road map for achieving my “dreams”: at what age I will complete my education, which car I will drive to college and what kind of money I will earn by what age. But they were only dreams and not “goals”.
Now that I’m older, all those goals and all those plans are messed up. And I realized that motivational material is useless. It’s only to “make you feel wonderful at a specific time.” And I squandered a lot of time in that zone (almost 5-6 years).
Fast forward to today, I use the least amount of motivation. Only when I need some help, I put on some good ones – after scanning through 10-15 videos.
And when you look at successful people they don’t rely on motivation stuff. They just do the things that they love and they just do it.
Why is motivation only a temporary solution?
First of all, it’s an external factor or a cue that gives a boost of energy for a short period of time – that is only until the video ends.
After the video ends, most people don’t work because the burden of taking action is a lot more. Motivation will give the mindset of thinking big, and taking big actions, but in the end, it won’t tell you where to start and how to start.
It’s your narrative, your story to complete. And everyone has a different story and a different goal. And everyone takes different steps to complete their desired goals.
And to achieve your goals you need discipline. What really is discipline?
How can you use discipline to make your life better?
Discipline is all about doing the tasks because it must get done. Not because you feel like doing it. You just complete the task because it is important.
Now hang on, let this soak in first. Find out do you, maybe, depend on motivation or any other external factors for making decisions in your life?
Life Design 