Paul Petrone says self-discipline is essential to a successful life and career — but for those who lack it there is hope.
Credit: RichVintage
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Stanford University psychologist, Walter Mischel conducted a series of experiments now referred to as the ‘marshmallow tests’.
He put a single marshmallow on a plate in front of a child.
He then told the child that they could either eat the one marshmallow now, or they could wait 10 minutes and get two marshmallows.
Some waited; others ate the marshmallow right away.
Then he tracked each child’s success in life through factors like educational attainment and body mass index.
What he found was the children who could wait the 10 minutes to get the two marshmallows led significantly more successful lives.
Self-discipline really matters.
If you have the self-discipline to delay your gratification — like some of the kids did by not eating the marshmallow right away — you’ll have a more successful life.
How do you improve your self-discipline?
In his LinkedIn Learning course, Success Habits, Chris Croft gives seven tips for doing exactly that.
Articulate the bigger purpose behind each task:
If you have a clear understanding of your goals and how this task fits within them, you are much more likely to complete it.
“The biggest source of self-discipline is to have a reason to do the task,” Mr Croft said.
“For example, say you have a flat tyre, your purpose is clear — change the tyre as quickly as possible so you can get on your way.
You are going to do that task, no matter how tired you feel.”
To make this happen effectively at scale, you need clear goals you are fully aligned behind.
That’ll ensure you always have a clear purpose behind the tasks you take on.
Find a method that works for you for overcoming procrastination:
There are a million strategies for doing this.
Some people give themselves fake deadlines.
Others break tasks into smaller chunks and take them one-by-one. Others use a reward system.
It doesn’t matter which strategy you use for overcoming procrastination, so long as you have one and it works.
Uncover your habits and patterns that make you undisciplined:
When you fail on self-discipline, how and when does it happen?
Is it usually after work? Is it harder to focus at home, versus at a coffee shop? Is it when you don’t get enough sleep?
Be aware of what works and what doesn’t.
Then you can put yourself in situations where you are more disciplined.
Remove temptations:
For many of us (myself included) our cell-phone is our biggest distraction.
So, when you need to focus, put it in aeroplane mode or put it in another room.
Pay attention to your workspace.
Remove the television from where you work. Don’t have food there. Keep it clean.
The less temptations you have around you, the better results you’ll get.
Consider meditation:
Study after study has proven that meditation reduces anxiety and increases focus and self-discipline.
It’s hard to make meditation a regular habit but, once you do, it does have a tremendously positive effect.
Establish good habits by starting small:
I’ll tell a personal story that proves Mr Croft’s point.
For years, I was overweight, and would always try really intense workout routines to shed the kilos.
I’d stay committed to the routine for two weeks, tops, and then I’d go back to my old routine.
One day, I just started walking three kilometres a day.
It was an easy, small step; so easy it was hard to justify not doing it.
Over time, walking became part of my routine, and I lost the weight.
There is a temptation to go big and to try to rearrange your life overnight.
By starting small and easy, you have a much better chance of actually incorporating a new habit into your routine.
Measure your progress:
There’s an old business adage that goes: “What you can’t measure, you can’t improve and what you do measure generally improves.”
Rather than setting a vague or ambiguous goal, if you can put some metric behind it, you’ll have a much better chance of succeeding.
For example, lose X amount of weight in X days, or write X amount of words each day.
The more specific and measurable your goal is, the more likely you are to achieve it.
*Paul Petrone is a former journalist who specialises in content and social media marketing.
This article initially appeared at LinkedIn Learning.com.
