“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” – Colin Powell
Whenever you set out to achieve a goal, no matter what that goal is, it’s always going to require a certain amount of self-discipline. Any type of personal success can’t be achieved without it. Whether the success you’re striving for has to do with your career, your health, fitness, even your finances.
It is probably one of the most, if not the most important quality necessary to achieve excellence in anything you do. You might think that natural talent is what allows other people to reach their high levels of success. And although that may play a role, even natural talent won’t count for much unless it is supercharged by self-discipline.
What Self Discipline Can Do for You
To some extent, self-discipline can overcome lack of natural talent. Exercising self-discipline could make the difference between an averagely talented individual doing something surprising with their lives and a naturally talented individual realizing very little of their potential. No matter how much natural talent you have, it will be wasted without self-discipline.
Self-discipline, like a muscle, could be developed with practice. As the famous quote by Aristotle goes “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” So, self-discipline is the consistent practice of good habits that will allow you to achieve excellence. So just like achieving any other goal, if you want to achieve financial-success you’ll need self-discipline.
“Stay focused and stay determined. Don’t look to anyone else to be your determination – have self-determination. It will take you very far.” – Justice Smith
To be successful in anything, including managing your finances, you need to repeatedly practice good habits. In order to repeatedly practice good habits, you have to first realize the importance of self-discipline. Forming good habits through self-discipline is more specifically about being able to control your impulses, behavior and even your emotions.
It’s the ability to resist the desire of instant gratification today for the satisfaction of fulfilling your more meaningful, long term goals of tomorrow. Self-discipline provides you with that feeling of real accomplishment earned through sheer intensity of sustained focus. It’s that focus of your mind and efforts that will allow you to preserver until you accomplish your goals.
It doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you enjoy. It just means you need to learn to focus on making conscious, deliberate choices as opposed to allowing your emotions, bad habits, other people’s opinions (or whatever), determine the choices you make or actions you take. Sometimes it’s about changing your perspective so you focus on what will give you the results you want.
If you truly want to succeed at anything, then self-discipline is essential. Anyone who has attained any type of great achievement has done so because they have been able to control and direct their own inner lives and activities to the degree which has enabled them to become super achievers in what they do. So, get disciplined with your finances, stay focused and achieve financial freedom!
“Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” – John Irving
When you look at people who’ve reached high levels of success, it might make you envy their discipline that helped get them there. But you have to remember that self-discipline is not something that’s gained overnight. It’s gained by setting clear, manageable, attainable goals and a desire to achieve them. Just like developing any other muscle you can also develop your self-discipline.
It will take time, so start by taking small steps to develop good habits of self-discipline. You need to get a clear picture and decide what you want. The best way to form that picture is to start with the end in mind. Start with what you want your future to look like and work backwards from there based on how far into the future you’re setting your goals for.
The key part of this process is getting to know yourself, what triggers certain emotions and remove or replace those triggers based on your goals. Consistency is another key part to developing good habits. So establish and use daily routines to instill the necessary habits that will lead you toward your goals. And visualize achieving those goals.
By focusing on your long-term goals and not giving in to instant gratification you can develop your self-discipline muscle. No matter what your current financial situation is, wealth building and financial freedom will ultimately depend on self-discipline. Be patient with the process of developing good habits, believe in yourself and your vision for your future and make it happen!
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