Self Discipline
Do you have it? I sure don’t at the best of times.
How does one get a grip on it, or can one ever truly get that grip. I don’t think you can. Perhaps the answer is to try and get your “best” grip.
Weaknesses are there for a reason I reckon, embrace them – just try not to let them run all over the top of you 
So I live in my world where I have a gorgeous, busy family. A job that demands my brain at the best of times and a social calendar that is never really empty. So combining all these factors, the one thing I begin coming short on is time.
So I do all I have to and then this free time period pops up where I should
- go to the gym
- study
- contribute more to my memoir
- not attack the fridge like a brown bear on heat
- etc etc etc
Now those first 2 points I know will make me a much better person, I know some of you are hanging your heads and shaking them slightly saying that that notion alone is impossible. Stuart can’t get more awesome. I thank you for thinking that, but still I actually can.
But I digress, this time slot appears and I have to grab it and run (walk) upstairs, get my gym kit on and lace up the shoes and bust out the door headed straight for the gym or grab my iPad and read that PDF, research that trend. That is what I should be doing, what I actually do is say “aah I’ll go tomorrow and my focus will be much sharper, I’m not in the zone, blah blah blah” jeez you looking for an excuse come to me I’ll give you one, I have them lined up from her to Timbuktu. Yet the flip side is that if Cel asks me to mop the floors or vacuum the house I’m on it right away. Why? I reckon it’s because I want to a.) help her and b.) impress her. I want to do it straight away. Get it done and dusted. BOOM!!
I mean this post was drafted on the 24th November and it’s taken me 5 days to finally get it done. Come on that is ridonkulous.
I think I’m trying too hard being too hard on myself. Maybe I should be easier on myself. Set tiny targets and try them first like say 1 full on gym session a week, 20 mins of study a night and progress from there. My mind is perhaps thinking that it should do 5 sessions and when I don’t make 1 then any subsequent seems lost as the first was not made. It’s one theory for sure.
I do exercise a fair bit so it’s not as if I’m doing nothing. Currently I do
- Monday – Waterpolo game in the Valley (dead man walking at the end of that)
- Tuesday – 1km swim at lunchtime, 7.1 km walk/jog in the evening on the foreshore
- Wednesday – Supposed gym session in the evening
- Thursday – 2km swim at lunchtime, 7.1 km walk/jog in the evening on the foreshore
- Friday – 1km swim at lunch if I’m up for it. Supposed gym session in the evening
- Weekends currently nothing
So the only failures really are the gym sessions. Gyming on your own is crap though. If Bruce was living in Brissie it would be a whole other story. Yet I must persevere and try again and again. I’m going for the “best grip” policy. The one that gets me out the front door.
Self-discipline can empower you to overcome any addiction or lose any amount of weight. It can wipe out procrastination, disorder, and ignorance. Within the domain of problems it can solve, self-discipline is simply unmatched. Moreover, it becomes a powerful teammate when combined with other tools like passion, goal-setting, and planning.
I will get better and in the last week alone I can notice that my thinking is changing and I’m developing passions in my career again coupled with my will to become a healthier person. This is for my sake and for my families sake. I don’t want to die young. Yes it’s an extreme way to put it but one that makes me think. Self discipline is coming back and I will get it under control. Even if it brings me to my knees
Don’t compare yourself to other people. It won’t help. You’ll only find what you expect to find. If you think you’re weak, everyone else will seem stronger. If you think you’re strong, everyone else will seem weaker. There’s no point in doing this. Simply look at where you are now, and aim to get better as you go forward.