Routines, processes, and organized desks…Yuck! So often we rebel against the things that in reality would make our lives easier and better. Discipline. As young children we heard our parents talking about discipline. We began to associate discipline with punishment. Yet they are two completely different things.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, punishment is defined as “suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution; a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure or severe, rough, or disastrous treatment”. On the other hand, discipline is defined as “training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character; control gained by enforcing obedience or order; orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior”.

Think of discipline as a measuring tool for maturity and self-love, when done in moderation. Sometimes we can be over disciplined and go overboard. We all know people who are over disciplined but not necessarily well rounded. They may be disciplined in cleaning their homes, making all of their calls, doing the same thing day in and day out – no matter what. They are less disciplined in the softer areas such as contacting and reaching out to others, using tools to open themselves to spontaneity and being sensitive to those around them. The character played by Robert De Niro in the new movie “Meet the Parents” is an example of such a character. He was overly disciplined to the point that he was oblivious to the human’s ability to communicate using body and facial communication. He was so obsessive in his disciplined ways that he overlooked his daughter’s feelings and was unable to see how his disciplined behavior was causing others to behave irrationally. While it is true that too much discipline can stop our humanness, life without discipline is without success, without accomplishment and is filled with negativity.

Discipline in moderation and with clarity moves our lives forward. When we become disciplined in bill paying, our credit goes up. When we are disciplined about making our beds in the morning and cleaning up after ourselves, we feel good about our homes. When we are disciplined about our eating, then we are trim and healthy.
In business, discipline plays a major role in our success. Setting up a marketing plan and sales plan for our businesses (whether we own our own or work for someone) is the first step. It is our discipline that motivates us, on a daily basis, to implement the plan and make a difference in how our businesses grow.

Often, there will be days when we don’t feel like doing something: exercising, making cold calls, sending out the letters we promised. When we don’t do the tasks we promised ourselves that we would do, we begin the process of negative thinking. We begin to tell ourselves “See, I have proof you aren’t as good as you thought” This kind of negative thinking leads us to more unproductive negative thinking that further erodes our confidence.

Here are 6 strategies that you can use to help yourself become more disciplined in your life:

1. Have a plan for the day. Don’t make it a long list. Start by limiting it to three things. Focus on your work. What item absolutely must get accomplished? That is number one. Plan what food you will eat and when you will exercise. That’s it.
   
2. As you do the task you agreed to do or eat the food plan you have, check it off. There is a terrific feeling to accomplishing a task.
   
3. Call someone with whom you can share your plan. In the beginning it may require two calls a day. For the last five years I have a ‘buddy’ that I call to stay on task.
   
4. Make it simple. There are truly only three things that you MUST get done. Do those. Anything else is gravy.
   
5. Create a routine and start small. Put your keys in the same place. Make your calls at the same time. Write your memos at the same time. In this way, you stop “churning” about when something will get done because you have already established the time in your day.
   
6. Acknowledge yourself when you complete a disciplined day. Write yourself a note saying great job or just take a moment to note the satisfying feeling you get from being disciplined.

Pegine Echevarria, MSW, copyrights all material on this site. Information from this site may be reprinted or quoted by members of the media, provided a specific credit to Pegine Echevarria, MSW is included.
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