Believe it or not, strong and healthy self-discipline is within the reach of virtually anyone. Of course it doesn’t come free. There’s a price to pay.

But before you start reminding yourself of all the times you’ve fallen short in the discipline department, and how you may never have what it takes… just stop.

I have some good news for you. The past is not the future, and the way you did things in the past is not an accurate indicator of what you can do today. In fact, if you’ve had disappointments – even failures – in the past, you should be glad. Those let-downs can give you more motivation (not less) to try harder in changing things for the better.

So with the understanding that self-discipline CAN be built into a strong personal habit, let’s begin, shall we?

This is the first segment of guest writer Faye Hollands’ three-part series on how to create greater natural discipline in all that we do. Now let’s look at…

How to Build Self-Discipline Fast – The Key to Success
By Faye Hollands

Napoleon Hill once also said that “all things are possible” with self-discipline and after spending a lifetime studying successful people he knew what he was talking about. So if you’re struggling to achieve your goals here’s how to increase your level of self-discipline and start achieving the things you want in life…

Moods, Appetites and Passions

Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state. As Stephen R. Covey once wrote, “the undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions”, and without self-discipline the knowledge, skill or opportunity you have is likely to be of little or no use. Put it this way, if you’re trying to lose weight there’s no point in knowing all the right and wrong things to eat and the most effective exercise regimes if you have no self-discipline to put them into action!

So how can you increase your level of self-discipline? In this 3-part series I’m going to take you through the key steps to increasing your level of self-discipline so that you can start taking action regardless of how you feel.

Step 1: Self-Knowledge

Discipline is about doing what is best for yourself regardless of how you feel in the moment, so it’s important to have a clear sense of self-knowledge and awareness in order to practice self-discipline effectively.

To do this you need to decide what behaviour is required to achieve your goals and values. The first step for most people in doing this is to spend some quality time analysing what your goals and values actually are.

Regarding values, these are the emotional states you would like to experience on a consistent basis and your list of values reflects the one’s you WANT in your life rather than the ones you think you SHOULD have. As most of my clients will tell you, values are far more complex than a short list of words that roll off the end of your tongue, so if you’d like to know more about how to determine your values simply send me an email.

I highly recommend taking the time to get clear on what your goals, dreams and ambitions are, and the values that are important to you – this crucial information provides the backbone to determining what needs to be done in order to achieve your goals and therefore where you need to apply self-discipline.

Step 2: Commitment

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that it’s not enough to simply write out your goals and values, you need to be committed to achieving them. If you’re NOT committed you won’t see any problem with “having another drink”, “hitting the snooze button one more time” or “popping out for that last cigarette” …. you get the drift!

Planning helps increase commitment because it allows you to focus on what’s really important and ensure that relevant tasks become part of your day allowing you to move closer to achieving your goals. Put bluntly, people don’t generally get what they want by ambling through life, hoping, wishing and waiting – it takes commitment and organisation to get there.

If you struggle with commitment, start by making a conscious decision to do what you say you’re going to do, and plan a specific time in your schedule to get it done. Give that time the same respect you would a client meeting, and keep track of how often you follow through with your commitments. Remember – what gets measured gets improved!

Next week I’ll continue to dive more deeply into the keys to self-discipline, and if you’d like my updates sent direct to your email simply follow the links below and subscribe to my Outshine Consulting newsletter – a blast of inspiration to keep you on track to success!

Written by Faye Hollands, Director at Outshine Consulting and The Success Rules.com. Faye specialises in working with entrepreneurs, business owners and ambitious professionals who want to achieve significant success in the fastest, easiest and most economical way possible.

At this moment you are just one click away from discovering Faye’s time-tested secrets to accelerating your personal and professional success. Simply click the following link to receive FREE INSTANT ACCESS to a recording of Faye’s recent teleseminar and discover her proven strategies on “How To Actually Achieve Your Goals in 2009″. Click here: http://www.outshineconsulting.com.au/Download.html

Alternatively please visit http://www.outshineconsulting.com.au where you can enjoy a wealth of free coaching resources to help you accelerate your success.

Back to Charles:
Simple, huh?

First step: know who you are. Figure out what’s really, really important to you – your core values – and then base all your decisions on those essential values. This lets you know instantly if a decision or a goal doesn’t fit you well. Result – fewer and fewer poor decisions. More and more goals that really, actually, honestly turn you on, get you excited and kick you into action.

Second step: make sure you’re commited to your goals. Let’s face it, without commitment, none of us is going to work on a goal anyway, so this knack of commitment is a crucial part of the skill we’re building in self-discipline.

Ready for the second article in this series? Read on.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

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1. Part 2: Will Power Is a Limited Tool
2. Discipline – The Unpopular Side of Self Help
3. Part 3: Success – Waiting Won’t Get You There
4. Self Motivation Is Super Simple! Part 3
5. Indecisive? Scientists Discover Why, But Offer Little Help
6. Self Motivation Is Super Simple! Part 1
7. Self Motivation Is Super Simple! Part 2
8. Self Motivation Is Super Simple! Part 4