TALKING ABOUT SELF PART 1: SELF - DISCIPLINE IS TRULY SELF-LOVE

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Greetings sweethearts😊, i strongly believe the Christmas celebration was good on your side and you're doing very well. Today i want to talk about self discipline which is very important for everyone so lets start with the basics;

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Self-discipline is the ability to control yourself and to make yourself work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell you what to do.Source

The ability to control one's feelings and overcome one's weaknesses.Source

Self-discipline is the ability to push yourself forward, stay motivated, and take action, regardless of how you're feeling, physically or emotionally. You are showing it when you intentionally choose to pursue something better for yourself, and you do it in spite of factors like distractions, hard work, or unfavorable odds.Source

If you search online or in different dictionaries there are various ways the word self-discipline is defined but one thing we can gather is that self discipline is necessary to achieve our goals and its not something that just comes you need to practise it or learn it.

In todays world, there are tons and tons of distractions or temptations from every corner. You might be trying to study for a test just when your favorite movie pops up or wanting to fast when this visitor brings your favourite meal or trying to study when its party night and so on. I remember one time my dad came with one fungi medicine and all of us were required to take it ( that stuff is super bitter ) but you have to stop sugar, milk or anything flour while taking it. That was the week my mom had just restocked the tea stuffs and every visitor was coming with either bread or something made with flour. If i stayed alone honestly i would have paused the drug. All I'm saying is that self discipline is very important for you to successfully achieve any goal or avoid what you're not supposed to d. In fact self discipline as Will Smith says is the definition of self love. If you love yourself you will discipline yourself like maybe staying home to prepare for that test even when your friends are out partying or stoping yourself from doing what you might later regret. It might be difficult at the start but practice and consistency will help a whole lot. To be happy, you gotta love yourself and when you love yourself you will discipline yourself, your behavior etc for the best.

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NOW HOW CAN WE INCREASE OR LEARN HOW TO BE DISCIPLINED

Build little habits: There is a saying that little drops make an ocean same way you can't discipline yourself in one day, it's s a whole process. Say you are trying to stop smoking it'll be harder to stop completely at once say if you normally smoke 5 sticks a day you can reduce to 3 then maybe 1 and then zero. Or you're trying to write a book but you barely make progress, you can make a habit of writing for 5 to 10mins daily and over time it can be increased. Whatever the goal is, start small start somewhere.

Don't just give up: I really like the verse 2 of one barbie song which can relate to this case.

Nothing′s gonna break me
Gonna get it right
Even if it takes me
Doing it a thousand times
Trying once is easy
Discipline is hard
But nothing can defeat me
If the change is in my heart...Full lyrics

You don't just give up because you failed the first or second or even 3rd time. Just because you are trying to stay away unhealthy food doesn't mean it'll stop existing or the urge will just go away. The temptations might even be more when you try to avoid something, you might even discover yourself only after you've done what you're trying to stop but it doesn't mean you should stop there you simply try again and again till you get it. Even with the best intentions or plans we do fail or fall sometimes and it can be hard but you ought to learn from it not let it keep you from moving forward.

Set clear goals or expectations: What are your expectations in one month or one year, or at work or financially or academically and so on. When you define your expectations clearly, its easily to discipline yourself towards that goal.

Learn to be grateful: While on your journey towards self discipline, you'll fail but there will be small wins that can help motivate you to keep moving. Say you trying to stay healthy and the moment you eat that chocolate you start feeling miserable forgetting when you gave away that soft drink for thesame goal, when you drank water or excised earlier for the same reason. Be grateful for the little success and use it to motivate yourself. You might even want to try writing 1-3 things daily you were grateful for.

Go over your goals; You can keep goalz youve written maybe in a book you open often or place it on your door etc where you can remind yourself of what you want to achieve. When your goals are on your mind it can help keep you motivated and disciplined.

Try to eliminate distractions: Anything that takes out time you could be using to move closer to your goal is a distraction. If your goal is to keep fit and you know chocolate won't help you then don't keep it at home. If your goal is to be more focused at work and your phone is a distraction, you can even turn it off during work hours or put it in your drawer.

One step at a time: You can focus on getting one goal done before moving to the next goal. Maybe you planned to learn some "side skills" after school like doing nails, tailoring, plaiting, baking etc. You can't just enroll in all at same time, focus on one before moving to the next. Same with self discipline you can learn how to be more organized, how to make better decisions or set goals all at one time just because you want to increase your self discipline, trying taking one step at a time.

There are lots of things one can do to begin self discipline or grow what you already which i might have left out or not fully explained have but always remember these;
START SMALL
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
PRACTISE DAILY
REVISE YOUR GOALS
Self discipline DOESN'T REQUIRE PERFECTION, YOU WILL FAIL OR FALL but FAILURE IS PART OF SUCCESS so recognise where you fail, reward the success and keep moving.
And importantly TRY TO SACRIFICE SHORT TERM PLEASURES FOR YOUR LONG TERM GOAL.

Like i said I may have left out a lot but i do hope you learnt at least one thing. Thankz for reading.