Self-Discipline in the Job and Private Life: A Guide to Become More Self-Disciplined and More Successful at Your Workplace and in Life

By Gilles Kröger

If you’re ready to focus on mastering the art of self-discipline, then this book is your golden ticket to achieving great success. Always!

Do you tend to take on too much at a time and burn out before seeing any results? We’ve all been there. We set big goals and have even bigger ambitions, but we struggle to commit to the daily tasks and routines to get us there.

Perhaps you’ve come further than the rest of us, pushing the boundaries, yet you just can’t seem to bounce back to the daily grind after a minor setback. It can be frustrating to think long-term when we give in to guilty pleasures, like hitting the snooze button and missing that morning run, all for a few more Zs!

We end up feeling like we’re losing time and have no control over what happens next because our immediate circumstances dictate our future.

What if I told you everything you want is more attainable than ever with the knowledge I’ll share in this book?

This easy-to-follow guide gives you all the tools you need. It prepares you for what to expect and how to overcome challenges—on the job or in your personal life. Welcome to a proactive game plan for achieving whatever you put your mind to!

Inside Self-Discipline in the Job and Private Life, you will discover:

How to develop self-discipline to achieve greatness.

How to deal with temptations.

Why self-discipline is necessary at work.

How to always follow through on commitments.

And most importantly, how to keep the momentum going!




And yes, there’s plenty more where that came from!

Think of the bigger picture—a more focused, disciplined, and successful version of yourself.

It’s time to level up, develop lasting self-discipline, and make every day count! It all starts with this book. Why wait?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9781446601242

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

As a teenager, I had a hard time in high school because I was mocked mercilessly for being overweight. I was subject to a series of jokes and nicknames, even when it came to friends and family in all good humor. I, however, didn't like it one bit. More than the constant humiliation, what bothered me the most was that I didn’t feel as active as I was a few years ago. I also didn’t know how to go on a diet or which were the right kind of exercises to lose weight, and it drove me crazy. I did not have a concrete goal to follow, which led me to try different things and succeed at nothing. My weight remained and so did my unhealthy eating habits—not to mention the sedentary life of someone who isn’t athletic at all.

Finally, a nutritionist guided me in the right direction by telling me to go step-by-step and not expect results in a matter of days, or even weeks. She even told me to not keep checking the weighing scale as that would be a source of constant disappointment. In fact, her first advice to me was to accept my weight. I was baffled at first, but she said that since I have the weight and it's not going anywhere immediately, I might as well stop fussing over it. The less I criticized myself the more I began feeling positive about my goal. I even took the help of my guidance counselor at school who helped me overcome the constant negativity I got through people that I could not avoid.

But why am I telling you all of this? Wasn’t it enough to just say that I became fitter and got the body I wanted in two years? No, it wasn’t enough, because I didn’t get healthier by following a diet. I did it through self-discipline. It took me a lot to persevere, learn the importance of following a routine, and not get tempted by junk food. I was also able to deal with the constant negativity around me through making friends who supported me in my goals and further encouraged me when I made a mistake or failed to finish the workout. There’s a lot that went into my fitness journey, and it was all possible because of self-discipline.

I’m sure that like me, you have a goal—and no matter how big, how personal, or how professional it is, self-discipline is the only way you’re going to be able to achieve it. I say this because high-achieving goals in life, be it fitness, improving relationships, making money, becoming successful, or learning something, are all long-term goals. Since you’re in it for a long-haul, you will get distracted and fall prey to temptation once the initial excitement of becoming successful wears off. It wears off because one needs strength, persistence, hard work, and genuine effort over and over again for a period of time to achieve the final goal. These are all traits that one can build through self-discipline, and to keep away from distractions, we need self-control.

It is of utmost importance that you learn to adopt self-discipline in life but most importantly, you need to understand its significance, magnitude, and power. So, let’s get started on this incredible journey!

Chapter 1:

The Driving Force

A

s we scroll through various posts on self-discipline on social media, we are usually presented with a list of ways to achieve it. The neatly listed bullet points seem effective and targeted at all the areas we need to work on, and thus appears to be a simple, achievable to-do list. We save it promptly because after reading it we feel motivated. We start to think to ourselves, tomorrow is the day I’ll wake up early, get some exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, and sit down to work by 9 a.m. You set an alarm on your phone and look forward to the day your life will change and you would have achieved self-discipline. The next morning, however, you either end up sleeping in, or can’t keep the phone away the night before, or maybe aren’t able to sleep at all because of an irregular circadian rhythm.

The list you found on social media may work out too, but only for a day or two, and then you come back to your regular, laidback self. Why does that happen? Why are we not able to stick to the plan which is listed out so intelligently and seems so simple to do? Why are we not able to shape our lives when the master plan is right in front of us? Is something wrong with the list, or is there something wrong with us? The answer is that neither the list is wrong nor is there something wrong with you. You can achieve whatever you set your eyes on; however, in order to do that, you need the right approach.

So let’s approach this topic in the right way by understanding what exactly it means to have self-discipline in the first place. We can dig deeper into the thoughts of visionaries who have decades of research and data on to better understand the workings of self-discipline. Let’s also have a look at the corresponding terms like self-control and self-regulation which will act as tools to build this discipline. We’ll also look at what factors motivate a person to maintain discipline in life and what would the world be without it. While it all may seem overwhelming right now, if you achieve the goal of self-discipline, you could set higher goals and achieve more in life.

What is Self-Discipline?

The need for self-discipline emerges from the need to accomplish one or many goals as well as to form habits. It is also required to become organized, focused, less distracted and lead a superior life in terms of health and money. A key definition will help you establish what self-discipline really means and what it takes to have it.

"The concept of self-discipline is defined in terms of self-organization, mobilization, and commitment and includes among its essential attributes concentration, control of impulse, self-motivation, and the ability to face and overcome stress. - Dr. Amitai Etzioni, a renowned sociologist, notes in his book, An immodest agenda: Rebuilding America before the twenty‐first century" (Etzioni, 1983).

Each quality that can be found in a person is mentioned in this definition. A person needs to be organized so that each day can be productive. Setting achievable targets and giving ourselves time in our to-do list can be beneficial and you’ll find yourself at ease by the end of the day. Each task accomplished in your organizer will keep you motivated and urge you to go all the way. You can even plan your weekends better in order to reach places in time and make the most of the fun days of the week. Isn’t that something to look forward to?

The second need of the hour is mobilization which simply means, ‘to move’. Keep moving till you’ve met your achieved target. Even on days you feel like you can't show up, that’s mobility. Doing a little today will keep you motivated for doing a little more tomorrow. Most importantly, commit to your goal. As I’ve mentioned before, a simple task like waking up early the next day might not end up happening, but waking up at least a half an hour earlier than your usual time is achievable. Build it up gradually and voila, you’re looking at a habit—a commitment.

Etzioni’s definition of self-discipline also applies extensively to his sociological teachings. He insisted on making self-discipline a compulsion in school and instilled the idea of giving them homework everyday, which they should complete independently. Sounds a bit too strict? Well, consider this: academic scholars and high-achieving students pay attention to their classwork, do their homework diligently, and have problem-solving capabilities owing to regular practice of what they learn at school. In fact, these abilities can be useful in every aspect of life, and one can continue to remain a high-achiever and an all-rounder as a result of this dedication to excellence. You may say many of the brilliant minds like Albert Einstein weren’t great students, however, minds like his did demonstrate the same traits. This is the reason why Einstein was not only able to achieve greatly in theoretical physics, but was also able to teach himself how to play the violin. It is precisely what Etzioni’s vision was back then, and it applies even today, be it for students or adults. High-achieving students and adults, going by Etzioni’s research, are the kids who exhibit traits like self-control and self-regulation. These traits form the pillars of self-discipline. Let’s learn a little about these terms as well.

Self Control

In a noteworthy article on self control, published by the National Academy of Sciences, its author, Angela L. Duckworth says that individuals with self-control deal better with their behavioral, emotional, and attentional impulses and in doing so are able to achieve long term goals. She has also said that, Monikers for self-control vary widely and include delay of gratification, effortful control, willpower, executive control, time preference, self discipline, self-regulation, and ego strength (Duckworth, 2011).

Believe it or not, our minds are already trained in having self control. The reason you finish your work at your workplace instead of procrastinating so that you can avoid being at the workplace beyond the stipulated working hours is self control. Self control is also the reason you avoid losing your temper on your child when they are making a fuss. Instead you try to reason with them rather than shouting because you know it will affect their upbringing. I’m sure you can find many more examples in your lives when you’ve demonstrated self-control.

However, there may be certain areas you might be struggling to implement this control, like eating a second piece of cake, not going to