Spiritual and Alternative Healing

Posted By lailah on January 7, 2009

Welcome back!

Do you set goals for yourself and follow through?

Self discipline is the ability to stick to a plan and regimen in order to attain a desired goal. A goal begins with a thought and is fostered through the imagination. The reason we sometimes have difficulty disciplining ourselves is because we don’t fully believe in our abilities to achieve it, we’re unfocused, or we’re impatient. The constant slew of negative thoughts makes us lose hope.

It’s important to understand that nothing begins without first a thought. That thought develops as your imagination builds upon it. You begin acting on the picture, and it becomes reality. Once your conscious mind firmly believes in what you’re intending to do, it will be manifested. The self discipline comes as a result of believing in what you want and letting nothing stand in your way.

Personal Example

I trained for my first marathon in 2002. I joined a running team and had six months of training. I’m not a natural runner, but it was something I wanted to accomplish. I ran six days a week in preparation. Each evening I put on my running shoes and took to the streets! Believe me, some days were harder than others!

As I ran with aching feet and dropping stamina, I imagined myself crossing the finish line with my family at the sidelines cheering me on. Sometimes the imagery was so powerful I would get chills and a boost in energy. My self discipline to get out and train each day occurred organically as my imagination determined my goal.
The day of the race my family stood 100 yards from the finish line on the sidelines cheering and waiting to see me run through. For the extra boost I needed, my dad and brother snuck under the rope separating the runners from the crowd. Each ran alongside me and the three of us crossed the finish line together with me in the middle.

Steps to Self Discipline

Focus on the End Result. This is where your imagination comes into play. The end result is already there, you just have to meet it. You’re merely following the steps to your destination. The key is creating the belief firmly into your mind that you will achieve your goal. I had a vision for creating this website. I imagined myself working on it and as a result everything fell into place. I discovered Site Build It to help me create this site at the point where I was feeling in over my head because I had no prior experience with website building. Deep inside I knew and firmly believed I could do this. The steps in between came to me so that I could meet my destination.

Make the Decision. Once you decide to make the change, stick to it. Pretend there is no other option and live your life with this goal in mind. Whenever you catch yourself falling off track, or thinking about falling off track, immediately disconnect from that counterproductive line of thinking that’s keeping you farther from self discipline.

Set Goals. It’s a process. You can’t jump from point A to point Z. If you have 50 pounds to lose, focus on the immediate goals and change your diet and begin exercising. Begin by doing what you need to do to lose the first two pounds in the first week. As you move forward, the pounds begin to shed and you’ll end up at your goal. That brings me to the next point…

Commend Yourself. As you stay on track, you’ll notice little improvements. Each little positive change is bringing you closer to your goal and inspires you to continue. In order to see more positive changes, you must continue on the right path. This is your incentive and self discipline becomes easier.

Write Things Down. For my marathon, I had a calendar for each day of training. I knew exactly how long I needed to run for that day. As each day passed, I crossed out another box. The calendar was in plain view and I knew my goals for the day. Write down your list and place it where you’ll see it each day. Wake up to this and go to sleep with this.

Create a Schedule. Most importantly, keep a schedule that you can stick with. I know my creative juices work best in the evening so I stick to this routine to write. I also have more energy in the evening so I hit the gym then. Know yourself.

Do a Little. Sometimes we just don’t have the motivation to do something with full gusto. Depending on the goal, you don’t have to work diligently everyday, but you’ll feel more productive and less regretful if you do at least a little.

Get Excited. It’s a lot easier to discipline yourself into doing something you’re enjoying. Your mind is easily influenced. If you have two contradicting thoughts, the most powerful wins. If you’re telling yourself to do something, but your mind is also telling you you’re not good enough or you’re on your way to failure, chances are you’re going to quit. Focus on the rewards only, not the process or the challenges. Losing weight takes a lot of motivation. Don’t focus on the 50 pounds you’re trying to lose. That makes it sound like an impossible task and it’s easy to lose motivation. Instead focus on how well you’re going to feel and look. You’ll get there!

Work with the Subconscious Mind. Have you ever tried to remember somebody’s name and the harder you rack your brain, the farther away from the answer you seem to be? Then 5 hours later while you’re about to fall asleep the name George pops into your mind out of nowhere! Your mind doesn’t work well with resistance. Things happen when life is flowing freely like the wind. Forcing yourself to stick to a plan while your mind is resisting won’t get you anywhere. Get your thoughts in accordance with your desires and most importantly use your imagination!



Here are some more articles you may enjoy

Relaxation Techniques

Self Discovery

Self Empowerment

Return from self discipline to Spiritual and Alternative Healing

Categories: Self Love
Tags: develop self discipline, how to have self discipline, self discipline