We’ve all heard the saying, “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing RIGHT!” While the underlying message here is to encourage us to do things with excellence, unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to a perfectionistic and “all-or-nothing” mindset where we avoid even attempting certain things out of fear that we won’t do them well. This type of thinking can often contribute to burnout, inconsistency, and quitting.
Focusing less on doing things the “right way” and more on building discipline through consistent routines can make it easier to establish new habits, whether your goal is to start an exercise plan or maybe to drink more water. We may think that we need to “muster up motivation” to make positive changes in our lifestyle habits.
However, motivation often comes and goes. If we are depending on feeling “motivated” to make changes, we are likely to give up (or never start!); discouragement or burnout often creep in and kill our motivation. Discipline is built on consistent actions we take to “show-up” for ourselves. Let’s look at three keys to building discipline!
Key #1 – Flexibility
One helpful thing to consider when setting goals and making lifestyle changes is to plan flexibility into your goals. This helps to avoid feelings of failure when the unexpected happens. If your goals are flexible, you can make up for a miss at another time!
Example 1: Instead of having a goal to go for a walk every day, consider setting a goal of a certain number of steps or a certain amount of time you will walk each week.
Example 2: Instead of setting a sleep goal to go to bed by a certain time every night, consider making a goal to implement a wind-down routine (read, stretching, journaling) for 15-30 minutes before going to sleep.
Key #2 – Consistency (not perfection)
Consistent, imperfect actions will outperform short bursts of perfection over time. Think about the little paths you see made by ants in your backyard; the paths didn’t develop overnight… they were formed by the ants consistently walking that path over a period of time! It’s important to remember that one bad day does not erase one’s progress; learn to recover quickly from missteps. The good news about “falling off the wagon” is that you can always get back on!
Example 1: While working to quit smoking, you had a stressful day at work and decided to have a cigarette once you reached home. Instead of giving up on your goal after smoking the cigarette, you remember how far you’ve come and know that one step back won’t erase your previous hard work!
Example 2: Your goal is to go to the gym 3 times a week. You went on vacation and missed a week of workouts. Instead of giving up on your goal, you know that you can get back on track again!
Key # 3 – Honor commitments to yourself
Every time you follow through on a promise to yourself, you strengthen your commitment and build on that habit toward discipline. It’s helpful to start with small commitments you know you can keep as you work toward bigger goals that you have.
Example 1: You want to cut out the 3+ sodas you drink today and drink only water. Start by switching out one of the sodas for water.
Example 2: You want to run a 5K. Start by scheduling a 1K run into your week and slowly build up by increasing distance, frequency and speed.
Self-discipline doesn’t happen overnight, however with small consistent actions you can develop discipline that will help you to successfully reach your goals even when your motivation wears thin. For more help information, check out our related blog, “3 Practical Ways to Develop Healthier Habits Now”