The Magic of Consistency & Self Discipline!

Do you ever imagine living your best life? A life where you get to choose exactly how you live your life on your terms.

Most of us want the same things – financial security, a sense of fulfillment and long lasting happiness.  Quite often we have an innate understanding of the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve these things. However, our lack of self discipline and consistency prevent us from living our desired lives.

Sticking to New Year’s resolutions can be a challenge.  Most people are at their most motivated in January when they are fully dedicated to their resolutions however by February, their motivation is on the decline and they become inconsistent and attempt to justify the deviation from their resolutions.

Discipline: The Backbone of Success. Consistency: The Key to Long Term Success

A study by USA Today reported that only 4 percent of participants stuck to their New Year’s resolutions. It was also reported that of those who did follow through with their resolutions, 44 percent had made a written note of the resolutions.

Research shows that committing our goals to paper makes it more likely that we will achieve them. The act of  physically writing down our goals focuses our energy in the right places and reduces distractions.

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable – paramahansa yogananda

Writing out your goals makes it more likely that you’ll stick to them. The act of writing them out focuses your energy and helps to reduce distractions.

To maximize the power of the written word, use these Seven Steps For Effective Goal Setting as formulated by Dale Carnegie:

1. Pinpoint what is most important in your life. Goals need to be beneficial to you in order for you to stay committed to them. Take time to to examine your life and determine the areas that are most important for you to become the person you really want to be.
2. Set a goal and write it down. Once you have examined your life, set goals in the most important areas that you want to enhance. Is it becoming more involved in charity work? getting fitter? running a marathon? or maybe getting a business off the ground or perhaps writing a book? It may be something totally different and that’s fine  as long as it has meaning and importance to you.
3. Identify Obstacles. It is likely that there will be obstacles to achieving your goal. Identify those challenges and come up with a strategy for overcoming them.
4. Make a plan. Once you have a clear goal in mind, create a plan  or road map to give you a step – by step guide to accomplishing your goal.
5. Set a timeline. Goals should have a timeline with a start and stop date. This will help you to stay motivated in accomplishing the goal.
6. Commit and block time. With your goal in place and a plan to achieve it – ACT! It is vital that you take action if you want to achieve your goal. Make sure you are consistently working towards your goal. This may be  only 20 – 30  minutes a day once a week. Whatever it is, make sure that you block the time  out on your schedule and treat it as an important event that you cannot miss.
7. Get an accountability partner. Just as professional athletes have coaches, most successful people have a coach or someone that holds them accountable to the goals they have set for themselves. Your accountability partner or coach should be someone that will remind you of the goals you have set and propel  you towards the person you want to be.

Make this phase of your life, the time when you achieve all that is important yo you. Use these 7 steps consistently to achieve your goals  and become the person that you really want to be.

Benefits of Self Discipline and Consistency:

• Accomplish Goals
• Learn New Skills
• Self Awareness
• Become More Resilient
• Self Belief and Confidence
• Inspire Others
• Self Fulfillment
• Helps to Master and Regulate Emotions

Ditch these Seven Habits to tap into the magic of self discipline and consistency

1. Procrastination.
2. Staying in your comfort zone.
3. Neglecting your mental and physical health.
4. Being isolated from others.
5. Living above your means.
6. Rejecting constructive criticism and feedback.
7. Multitasking.

Becoming the best that you can be requires a full commitment to self discipline and consistency.  It also requires a willingness to be patient and to persevere even in the face of failure or setbacks.

Discipline Enables Focus – Focus Enables Consistency – Consistency Enables Discipline!

To become the person you really want to be will take consistent and disciplined effort everyday. It also requires the cultivation of a long term mindset focused on the outcome and goal that you want to achieve.

Success is a  journey, not a destination. We don’t achieve success overnight, success tends to be the result of a long term commitment to a process which has been fueled with discipline and consistency. Being self disciplined and consistent means showing up every day especially when we don’t feel like it. It means doing the work even when its hard, However the rewards of self discipline and consistency are without limit and will most likely propel you to a life you once thought was unattainable