It’s funny how self-discipline changes our perspective on life. When I was younger I loved going out with my friends to the early hours of the morning. Life was exciting and I was on a journey of self-discovery. As a young adult I soon learned that couldn’t function well for too long without adequate sleep. My body and brain began shutting down to the point that my work performance took a nose dive.
There was nobody to blame but myself because not being exhausted for work the next day was the one thing that I could control. When I realised what was happening I put a plan into action that worked for me. Deciding to get into bed by a certain time every night and sticking to it was a self-discipline that paid off in the long run by forming a good habit. However, it wasn’t that easy for me, but my perseverance and determination paid off. It was at that moment when I realised that making the most out of life meant using every good opportunity to build myself up.
Change Requires Effort
Wisdom can’t be proved unless someone practices it. We can agree with it, but unless we do it ourselves it will have no effect on us what so ever.
Self-discipline is vital to our lives because our natural talents can only point us in the direction we want to go, but, anything worth achieving in life takes hard work and commitment. It’s a choice.
Self-Discipline – Knowing How
Most of us want to be the best we can be at any given thing we set our hearts to do. What I found through experience is that being focused alone wasn’t enough. Clear thinking accompanied with realistic goals and a precise targeting plan of action gave me direction. There were times where I found myself busy working harder not smarter without a plan or goal to focus on. Not for the lack of willpower but being young I was definitely lacking self-discipline.
The plan of action gave me the necessary steps needed to take to get me there. Then I wrote down why this was important to me enabling my emotions to reconnect to the reasons behind what I was doing. Know your motives!
Example Of the ‘Whys’
- I want to lose weight to feel good about myself.
- I need to lose weight for a healthier body and mind.
- By losing weight I will fit into the clothes I already have and love.
Watch Your Thought Life
We live in a noisy world so it’s quite understandable that we can have noisy cluttered thinking. Sometimes things pop into our heads that are irrelevant to anything we are doing at the time. I classify this as ‘brain junk’. We can be distracted by entertaining these often useless and sometimes silly or intrusive thoughts, but do we really need to? I believe that, learning how to push unwanted thoughts out of our heads is a discipline we should all learn to master helping us to stay focused on the task at hand. We can do this also by thinking and meditating on good thoughts with logic, wisdom and truth.
Manage Your Time
Don’t waste time on mundane things. Use it wisely by being productive which may mean working, learning, reading or doing things that will benefit you. Helping others is a good way to take the focus of yourself or your own problems that will make you feel good about yourself.
Eat Well
A well balanced diet keeps your brain and body healthy. When everything is functioning the way it should, so will you! Don’t over eat and make sure you eat enough. Our bodies need nourishment from healthy foods.
Drink Plenty Of Water
Stay hydrated for peak performance of your brain and body. Furthermore your vital organs will thank you for it. Water hydrates your blood cells as well as the rest of your body. Eliminate toxins out of your body by drinking plenty of water.
Gain Adequate Sleep
The recommended amount of sleep we should have per night is from 7-9 hours. Sleep deprived brains and bodies cannot function at their peak.
Take Part In Regular Exercise
Half an hour a day is all it takes to get your circulation moving. As a result, it builds muscle and eliminates fat and toxins out of your body that will have a good effect on your brain.
Be On Time
No boss will appreciate tardiness. Get to work 15 minutes before you’re due to start your shift. This will give you time to prepare for the day ahead and will reflect on your reliability.
Be A Dependable Team Player
Be someone people can depend on. As a society we are a social network of people who for the most part depend on one another. At work we are a network of employees who rely on one another to get our jobs done. One person can let a whole team down so make sure you do your share.
Don’t Take Your Problems To Work
Leave those at home as most situations can certainly wait and won’t go anywhere. If you have excessive worries then talk to someone about it in confidence. Decide if you should let your supervisor know what you’re experiencing.
Learn To Say ‘No’
There are times at work when we can be overloaded with tasks that require us to work late. Too much work and not enough rest can lead to burnout. We need to know our own limits and be able say ‘no’ to the added stress.
Learn to say no to the demands of your social life that affect your health, your work and your family life.
Original Post – Pen With A View
Permission given.
By Sandra Ciminelli.
Have you thought about becoming a qualified counsellor? It’s a great opportunity to learn how you can extend God's love and grace to the hurting out in the community.
For those who would like to enrol in aifc’s accredited Christian counselling courses we have two intakes per year for courses commencing around the following months:
Enrolment Season - opens approximately 2 months prior to our courses commencing. Enrol online here during our enrolment season.
We also offer two modes of study:
A Master of Counselling course was introduced in 2018.