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Self-discipline is inarguably one of the best skills you can have if you expect to be successful in life. There are many ways to build self-discipline, of course. And since not everybody shares the same goals, it manifests differently depending on who you ask or observe. But if you look across the board, you will find a pattern. Here are six traits that most highly self-disciplined people have in common.

                                    Six Traits Of Self-Disciplined People                   

1- Greater Self-Confidence

Do people who have more self-confidence also exhibit more self-discipline? Or is it that those who are more disciplined achieve more of their goals, and thus have more reasons to be confident?

Either way, the first trait many self-disciplined people have in common is greater self-confidence as compared to those with less self-control.

If you want to improve your self-discipline, it’s helpful first to consider your self-perception and self-worth. 

2- Structure & Routine

Secondly, you may have read that successful people rise earlier in the morning than their less-successful counterparts. But many don’t fit this description.

What disciplined people have in common isn’t specific times of day they rise or exact means of scheduling their time. It’s that they value and follow a routine of any variety.

Creating consistent habits in the form of steady routines can help you put much of your life on auto-pilot. Taking the guesswork out of many daily decisions is an effortless way to improve your self-discipline. 

3- Clearly Defined Goals

Third, everybody has goals. But the highly self-disciplined individual will have goals that are crystal clear.

How many people say “I’m going to be a millionaire by the time I’m forty”? That’s a goal, for sure. Someone with a high level of self-discipline would say, for example, “I’m going to be a millionaire by the time I turn forty, and I’m going to do this by…”. They would have a much clearer goal, a plan to execute it, and already be working toward reaching it.

If you want to uplevel your self-discipline, work on clarifying your goals. Select meaningful goals that are specific, timely, and have clearly defined steps that you can work on each day. 

4- Prioritize Self-Care

Next, a common trait of disciplined individuals is that they prioritize self-care. They understand that maintaining optimal health is crucial to remaining productive and sticking to their plans even when they don’t feel like it.

They are more likely to exercise regularly, eat healthfully, and get enough rest.

These people understand the importance of balance between work and play and make sure to incorporate enough of both into their lives. To most successful people work, and play is the same thing. You may look at a successful person and tag them with the title workaholic because you have been taught they can not stop working. You were not taught this from someone who enjoyed how they made their living.

How is your self-care routine? Most people could use a little work in one or more areas. Take some time to consider your physical, mental, social, financial, and spiritual wellness.

Commit to improving just a little in one or more areas, and see if your self-discipline increases as a result.

5- See Challenge As Opportunity

Self-disciplined people also are more likely to lean into challenges and adversity. A benchmark of self-discipline is to be relentless in the pursuit of your goals.

The thing is, there are always challenges in life. Things don’t always go to plan. Obstacles get in the way, and what separates self-disciplined people from those who aren’t, is that they believe every problem has a solution.

Additionally, they recognize that the more problems they solve, the more experience they have. They understand adversity only helps them grow, and they use that knowledge as fuel to keep moving forward despite the difficulty.

If you struggle with sticking to commitments you’ve made to yourself, consider why? Is it because you hit a challenge and backed away? Consider how you may change your response the next time something similar comes into play, and how you can grow from perseverance. 

6- Strong Boundaries

Finally, people with self-discipline and self-control have healthy boundaries. They know their worth, the value of their time, and have a clear roadmap for life.

Whereas many people struggle with saying “no” at times, preferring to “go with the flow,” those with self-discipline know the importance of weighing their options. They make decisions to further their goals once the decision is made they do not second guess themselves and change their minds.

How do you feel about your boundaries? How could you improve?

Final Thoughts

People sometimes assume that self-discipline means living a hard life, waking up long before the sunrise even if you’re a night owl), making extreme sacrifices, and living a dull life of all work, no play. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Self-discipline manifests differently in the lives of different people, yet if you look closely enough, you’ll find common traits that present all across the board.

Yes, You can be anything you want to be.  Remember when as a child you dreamt about becoming an astronaut, president, sports hero and the list goes on. At first, the adults were supportive and told you-you could become anything you wanted to be as long as you put your mind to it.  But you found out that their actions did not back those statements up. For they started to indoctrinate you into conformity and play it safe to get a good job, get married, and buy a house. 

When they told you-you could be anything you want to be, they had it right. Those dreams are possible.  With all the technological advances it is easier today.

How to be Whatever You Want to be

 Following your dream is easy. When you are not doing your job or busy with something that your present life needs you to do, what do you think and talk about? Is it being on the water boating? Then start to read about boats, marinas, sailing, and kayaking... Seek out people that have boats. Seek out people that make a living with boats. Congratulations

You will not be paid at this stage of your journey. You are not a professional yet. Getting paid is what makes you a professional, not how good you are. There are plenty of people that have more knowledge and skill than me. Yet they are not doing it. There is a Chinese proverb that says "Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it." I use that all the time when someone tells me with case studies in hand, why what I am doing cannot be done.

At this point, it is good to have someone or a group of people who have successfully taken the less-traveled path to support you. The masses will try to pull you back into their world under the pretense that they are saving you from throwing everything you have a way and ending up with nothing. When the going gets rough, they will start to make sense. Without support from someone who has been through these times, your chances diminish.

You will keep your job and start in your spare time. Gradually getting things rolling until you have to make a decision to stay at the size you are. Or go all in and quit your present job. Through all this time a mentor who has gone before you is invaluable.

On The Job Training

There are plenty of people who went to college and studied to become a professional in a particular area of study. Many do not work in this area of study. They choose something different for various reasons after graduating from college. With a degree or not the 10,000-hour rule applies. You invest 10,000 into your goal, and you will be an expert in your chosen field.

Making it Big

Long before you become an expert, you will be successful at your chosen goal. You will be making enough money to support your family. You will be the envy of all the people you left behind that are "leading lives of quiet desperation." For they have sold out their dreams to play it safe. If they could admit to themselves that they sold out. They would tell you they are happy for you and wished they did what you did. But most will attribute your success to luck, or you cheated. You are now in the position to tell those leading lives of quiet desperation, they “can be anything you want to be”, too!  

My book "Preparing For The 7 Day Mental Diet" will help you show you how you can be anything you want to be. There is a link below to purchase the book.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The most important single step to huge success is Shoot for the stars. We had all dreamed big when we were kids. Most of us dreamed of being the President of the United States, sports star, astronaut, actor, model, writer, or a rock star... Being a writer was one for me.

These goals are pretty universal for most of us. Whatever your goal as a child was it did not take long for it to be labeled as foolish or impractical. If this did not happen to you, feel lucky. The adults in our life started to indoctrinate us into the world of practicality. All though well-meaning, practicality is not the path to fulfilling your dreams.

Very few of us were shown how to shoot for the stars. Our school systems are designed to get us to fall in line and be practical. There is no other way the schools can operate. You just need to know that this is the case so you can find the tools you need to find and follow your real dreams.

The most important single step to massive success is to find the talents God gave you and choose a big dream to use these talents. After you have found this dream make a decision to own it as your own.

What Does it Mean to Shoot for the Stars?

 Quite simply it means pulling out all the stops and doing everything you possibly can to get to where you need/want to be in life. Need and want's become one. If they are divided, then you will fail. When you find what your God-given talents are and you discover this dream inside you, it becomes a need. It is your destiny and purpose in life. This means putting 100% effort in and doing everything you possibly can to accomplish your aims.

I will use myself as an example. I always read a lot. When you read a lot, you dream of writing a book. I quit school. I was taught that this meant most doors would be shut to me when I quit school. My Dad taught me to work with what I had and never stop till you get it done. This took years before I figured out how to follow that training. In 2012 I stood in front of a group of men and told them if they were back in 2013 I would hand them a copy of a book I wrote.

At the time I did not know how to write, publish, design the cover, or pick and research a topic. I  shot for the stars. With only a dream and the commitment to write a book in 2013, I handed that group of gentlemen the book that I had written and published.

Accomplishing that dream empowered me to shut down the voices of practicality that warn me against failure and suggest the safe path in life.  The accomplished goal reminds me of what Henry Thoreau said: "most people lead lives of quiet desperation."  Since then I have written three other books. My last book "Discover Yourself Through Gratitude - A Journal" was the motivation to follow a dream of starting an online community where people can come and talk about developing Gratitude in their lives. That is how The Good Life Mall became a reality.

An indispensable tool in following my dreams is the people I choose to associate with. I need people

who dream big in my life. If you can not find other successful dreamers, use the people at The Good Life Mall till you do. Remember, the most important single step to immense success is to find your dream and go for it.

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay

People have a lot of different views about what it takes to succeed and what success indeed is. Believe it or not, success is not so much about what you achieve and your position in life, but the courage you had to stick it out and stay there, the journey that got you there in the first place and continues to keep you there.

You need the courage to hold on to your success. That courage and resilience are genuinely strong traits, not the achievement itself. Winston Churchill said it best, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

In this article, we are going to explain how success is not necessarily about the place you reach, but the courage it took you to get there. By the end of this article, we hope you will have the drive to show courage and resilience in fighting to hold onto your success.

Success is not final

As the famous quotation from Winston Churchill starts, “success is not final.” It is not a state that, once you reach it, you can not lose. You have to work to keep your success, and that work takes courage. You can not give in to failure, obstacles, or any other challenges. That courage and resilience will define your character as a successful individual. Successful people never give up or back down.

You can always come back from failure

No matter how bad the failure seems, there’s still a way back. There is always something you can do to come back from the defeat, so long as you dare to stick it out and get through it. That courage defines more of your success than achieving success in the first place. Success is not something you merely achieve and keep; you have to hang on to it and fight for it.

Your courage speaks for more than any success you achieve

Sure, achieving success in the first place is a feat, but holding on to it is the real success. The courage takes to overcome obstacles, potential failure, and hold on to your success no matter what speaks far louder than achieving success. Some can fall into success, but those people are far more likely to lose it.