10 Key Examples of Self Discipline

1. The Ability To Resist

Women who practice self-discipline don't just excel at resisting temptation, they are smart enough to remove any trace of temptation from their lives. That goes for distractions, too. There is a lot of self-discipline required to put your phone away and get to the task at hand or to turn the television off and shift your focus to what really needs to be done. Those with self-discipline have the ability to do that without thinking.

This is something you can practice in small ways before you work up to the bigger temptations in your life. For example, if you crave junk food then remove any trace of it from your home.

2. Eat Well

How is this an act of self-discipline? Well, your blood sugar might have more to do with your resolve than you think. When it dips not only does your focus suffer, but your brain isn't functioning at optimum performance. It also means you're more likely to make the wrong decisions, even if they are normally easy for you. Plus, you end up in a bad mood.

Don't just eat well, be sure to eat regularly, too, and that will require some planning.

3. It Can Be Uncomfortable

If you want to improve your self-discipline you will need to change your routine and not only can that be awkward it is often uncomfortable, too. Unfortunately, a lot of the decisions we make are based on habit rather than the actual process of decision making, which means bad habits can be difficult to break. Therefore, shaking things up will give you a better chance of breaking bad habits and building new healthy ones.

4. Schedule Rewards

Yes, even adults need rewards and self-discipline doesn't mean total deprivation. So, make sure you reward yourself and make time for treats and breaks.

5. Learn To Forgive

When you are learning to practice self-discipline, you will experience bumps. When you are faced with a setback, you must learn to forgive yourself for your slip up and then move on.

6. Rise To The Occasion

There are different schools of thought as to whether self-discipline is a finite or abundant resource. Believing it to be abundant often serves as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It means you balance your workload more appropriately and are ready to rise to the occasion when it presents itself.

7. Time Management

Part and parcel of rising to the occasion is knowing how best to manage your time, this is a great example of self-discipline. You manage your workload and have the energy to tackle everything that's on your plate.

8. Exercise

The ability to exercise when you could be doing fun stuff is a true act of self-discipline. Every time you choose to workout, you are choosing health and wellness instead of other pursuits.

9. Sleep

Like diet and exercise, a good night's sleep is something that fuels your ability to practice self-discipline. You're more likely to make the wrong decisions and give in to distractions and temptations when you're exhausted.

10. Follow Through

Want to be self-disciplined? Learn to follow through, those with self-discipline always do.

13 Ways to Reinvent Yourself

1. Experiment

Trying new things, like continuous learning, exposes you to a whole new world. Experimentation also helps you take risks, which is important for stretching you beyond your current capabilities.

2. Reinventing yourself is good for your health

Change is useful for your body, as it releases happy hormones like dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin.

If you don’t feel well, that’ all the more reason to work hard at changing your life, as the process can help you feel better.

3. Make a list every day

Before you start your day, make a list of your areas of focus. You’ll soon notice patterns, which tells you where your passions lie or where your priorities lie.

Set daily goals, and make these your priority before doing other, more routine tasks.

4. Be bold

Reinventing yourself takes courage It’s not always easy, but be bold.

No one else has to agree with or even understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Boldness shows your confidence in your abilities to achieve your dreams.

5. Don’t explain yourself

When others question your choices or ask you questions about your decision to reinvent yourself, be honest but don’t feel you have to justify yourself.

You make your reinvention decisions because of your needs and desires, and no one else should have a say in that choice.

You have to live with your decisions, so it doesn’t matter what others want or think.

6. Get out of your comfort zone

If you really want to reinvent yourself, break out of all those habits and comforts of your former life.

Break the mold to explore all the possibilities that life has to offer. Trying new things is the only way to explore new options.

7. Be realistic

While it may not be possible to become an astronaut after middle age, it’s never too late to explore a career in engineering, space exploration, aeronautics, or other fields that are connected to outer space.

Think outside the box to find a realistic outlet for your passions.

8. While money isn’t everything, it is necessary

Yes, following your passion is a wonderful endeavor, it’s also important that you can support yourself.

Explore ways to turn your passion into a career that can support your financial goals, and you’ll have the best of both worlds.

9. Stay on top of your finances

Reinvention may cost you money. If you need to learn new skills or acquire a new degree to accomplish your new goals, that will take money.

If you change careers, your salary will likely change, as well.

Manage your money well, create a budget that includes all the costs of your reinvention, and learn to manage a variable income carefully.

10. Today’s a new day

No matter what, every day is a chance to reinvent yourself. Change never stops. Welcome and embrace this opportunity each and every day.

If you have a passion for something but no skill yet, start today by practicing your new habit

If you want to paint, get your supplies and paint. If you want to be a writer, sit down today and write something.

The minute you decide you are something or that you do something, you are on the path to reinvention.

11. Don’t worry about what others want you to do

Choose yourself and your freedom over the desires of others. It’s your life. Lead it how you want.

12. Turn a weakness into a strength

If you are introverted, become the best listener.

If you struggle to write clearly, become the world’s best proofreader.

13. Teach

When you have passion about a topic, consider sharing it with others.

Make a YouTube video and start by putting your knowledge out there for the world.

15 Ways To Reinvent Yourself

1. Wait until you are really ready for change

Sometimes, we are forced into making changes due to life’s circumstances. But, until you are really ready and want to change, you won’t be able to enact the lasting change necessary for reinvention.

2. Network with others

If you are interested in developing and reinventing yourself, it’s important to stay connected to other people.

Get to know new people to expose you to new habits and perspectives. This about how you can connect with your friends, family, online communities, colleagues, experts in your chosen field, and thought or spiritual leaders.

All of these people have something to offer your transformation.

3. Having trouble coming up with your ideas for reinvention? Practice just generating ideas

Creative and introspection muscles atrophy when they are not used, so practice using them before making big decisions.

Spend a week just creating as many new and exciting options and ideas as possible, without judging any design for any reason.

Focus on quantity, and practice every day to build up those habits of mind.

4. Get up earlier

If you are continually searching for time to engage in the work required to reinvent yourself, start setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier and use the quiet morning alone time to focus on yourself.

When no one else is awake, you’ll find you get more done in a short amount of time at this hour, too.

5. Remember to take it one step at a time

Reinventing yourself is a lengthy process. It can take years to reach your ultimate goals.

Instead of just focusing on the result, remember to concentrate on what you can do today. Put one foot in front of the other, and focus on today.

6. Get enough rest

Sleeping at least seven hours each night is vital for maintaining your health and having the energy you need to reach your goals.

No one can survive and thrive while being sleep deprived, so be sure you are getting enough sleep.

7. Learn from a mentor

 There are many different types of mentors, and they are everywhere.

 You can learn directly from people in your life, from authors, from online communities, through new experiences, by traveling, and be watching videos online.

Soak it all up, and learn from everything you can.

8. Set your priorities

 You won’t be able to accomplish everything you need to all at once when reinventing yourself.

 Decide what is most important, and work on that goal first.

 Prioritize your most-needed or important goals and new habits first so you can make the most from your change process.

9. Learn from failure 

Failure is just an opportunity to get feedback.

It’s what you do with that knowledge that defines you. Learn from your failures and try again.

10. Be silent

 When the challenges of reinvention start to feel overwhelming, sit in silence. Don’t do anything, don’t talk to anyone. Just be in the moment.

 Meditate or focus on the quiet, focus on your breathing, and remember that tomorrow is another chance to try again.

11. If you are struggling to identify your passion in life, try this exercise

 Go to a bookstore and walk through the shelves.

Browse all the topics. Which of these would you be willing to read 100 books about? In what area are you intrigued and curious?

If you pick a focus and find a few weeks later that perhaps that wasn’t really your passion, try again. There’s no deadline. You have as much time as you want to pick your passion.

12. Make interesting choices

 What do you want your biography to say at the end of your life?

 Make adventurous choices, and your story will be adventurous. Make predictable choices, and your story will be predictable. It’s up to you.

13. Practice honesty

Being honest with yourself and others is important for acknowledging your successes as well as your failures.

When you struggle, share this with others, as they may be able to help you succeed in your next attempt.

When you are proud of your accomplishments, celebrate with others, too.

14. Practice daily gratitude

Becoming grateful for what you have and what you have already accomplished can help you through your reinvention process.

Spend ten minutes each day acknowledging your gifts and accomplishments.

15. Keep learning

Read books, take classes, go to conferences, but always keep learning, no matter what. Reinvention means you need to become a new person, and that means learning new things.

 Continuous learning allows you to develop new mental habits, consider new ideas and perspectives, and learn what you need to help you accomplish your dreams.

5 Life Skills That Are All About Your Self-Care

1. Stress Relief

Everyone is intimately acquainted with stress. Stress seems to collect as naturally as dust and likewise has an accumulating effect.

The National Institute of Health states that chronic stress can lead to suppressed sleep, decreased immune response, headaches, muscle pain, and much more.

Stress can have a significant toll on you both physically and mentally. While stress is unavoidable, relieving stress is a skill that can be developed.

Stress can be relieved in a variety of ways and figuring out what your stress-relieving methods are can be fun and exciting.

Some stress-relieving methods to try can include exercise, social interaction, reading, music, sleeping, or meditation. Whatever form your stress relief comes in, the key is to understand how that functions in your daily life.

Next, develop the ability to detect when your stress levels are reaching their maximum. Being able to sense when the stress tank is getting full and emptying it before it overflows will help you avoid many unnecessary struggles and hardships. This seemingly little, but actually significant skill, will allow you to avoid a lot of clean up.

2. Self-Motivation

TED Talks are brief 10-20 min videos of expert speakers discussing a variety of topics from a wide range of industries.

These videos are extremely popular due to their motivational and inspiring themes, but these extremal mediums are typically the only catalyst for a brief time, while self-motivation is a skill that can be developed and has a substantially longer-lasting effect.

Self-motivation is a skill that can be developed by identifying your strengths and areas of passion. Focusing and putting your efforts into the areas that you are naturally good at and enjoy creates an environment for consistent success.

Nothing increases self-motivation like consistent success. And knowing that you have the ability to put yourself in a position to have consistent success increases the self-motivating cycle.

3. Receiving Feedback

Feedback is typically from an external source and comes in a variety of forms. Sometimes the feedback is sought, many times it isn’t. Yet the way we receive feedback is a skill that is all about you. There are certain characteristics that come with receiving feedback and it’s these characteristics that can be developed.

Characteristics like: being prepared to receive and expect to receive feedback. Also, being open to and interested in receiving feedback all enhance your ability to benefit from it.

Likewise, our perspective on feedback, is a skill that can be further developed. Feedback is simply information. Information that is processed and sorted into helpful or unhelpful categories.

Perspective allows us to properly view both the good and the bad. Feedback ultimately is like a pair of shoes. If you think the shoe fits, then wear it. If it doesn’t fit, then don’t wear them.

4. Apologizing

“I am sorry,” might be the 3 most difficult words that you will ever have to say. Yet, apologizing is a skill that is all about you. Yes, apologizing helps rectify the situation with the other person, but it not just about them.

Apologizing releases you from any emotional burdens you may be holding onto. Developing this skill can have a greater impact on yourself than those around you.

5. Living A Life Of Gratitude

This last skill might possibly be the most difficult and yet the most critical life skill that is all about you. This is due to the fact that the soil that gratitude works are internal more than external. In order to develop this skill, it requires that you practice it daily and with intention.

Develop this skill by identifying 3 specific things that you are thankful for each day. The key here is to be specific. For example, you might be thankful for your job, but what specifically about your job.

Maybe it’s the flexible hours, or the type of work that you do, or a specific person that you work with. Being specific about your gratitude makes it real and tangible. Performing it every day makes it a lifestyle.

 It’s All About You

At times, it may feel uncomfortable to talk about and develop skills that are about you. But there should be no hesitation and difficulty with this because no one is going to put in the work on yourself more than you. So, don’t be hesitant or afraid. But dig-in, achieve and master the 5 skills that are all about you.

5 Ways To Renew Your Commitment To Your Wellbeing

The New Year is here, and as usual, we throw all of our good habits out the window. It’s not just healthy eating that gets dropped, we fail to exercise, we eat more junk food, and by the time the end of the year rolls around we need an overhaul.

While you shouldn’t wait for the new year to commit to your wellbeing, it is a good time to hit the restart button.

In the spirit of the New Year, I decided to share five ways you can renew your commitment to your wellbeing. I’m going back to basics.

1. Take a Moment

Your mind and body need rest just as much as each other. We are so connected today that even when we rest our body, our mind keeps going.

Whether you take a weekend off of technology or you disconnect for a few hours, there are a few other ways you can commit to your wellbeing.

Meditation is a great way to reduce your blood pressure, relieve stress, and improve your focus. Your wellbeing will thank you.

2. Forgive

You cannot underestimate how powerful forgiveness is. The holiday season can bring up a lot of frustrations and feelings as we sit down to sup with family members, we don’t see eye to eye with.

As though the stress of shopping and cooking wasn’t enough, there’s the politics of avoiding politics at the dinner table. Let go of that grudge and when necessary, ask for forgiveness!

3. Community

Humans are social beings. We rely on a strong social network to get us through the most difficult times. It makes us less vulnerable to sickness, stress, and improves resilience.

Loneliness comes with a wide range of health problems so, there is a real danger when you cut yourself off from friends and family. You need to surround yourself with the right people. Don’t hang out with any negative people – choose positive people.

It doesn’t matter how busy you are at work, how much running around you do for the family, make time for friends. You need to socialize, it’s crucial to your wellbeing.

4. Give Back

Giving truly is good for the soul. So, make sure you find a way to contribute to your community. It may be with your money, but it could be with your time. Whichever you have more of, but preferably the latter.

One of the greatest benefits of giving yourself to others is the stress relief that it brings. It also boosts your self-esteem and makes you happier. There’s a lot of reasons helping does a body good.

Why not check out your local community center to find out where you can be of help. It may be helping feed the homeless community, passing out goody bags to people who sleep rough, or coaching a kid’s team.

 5. Consider the End

This isn’t to suggest you should focus on death. What it means is that you should be mindful that life is short. When you consider that, does that change how you look after yourself? It should.

The most common causes of death are tied to our lifestyle. So, by committing yourself to your wellbeing should help you reduce your risk factors for these lifestyle diseases.

While you’re at it – throw yourself into life because there’s no guarantee of tomorrow. So, love, laugh, and truly live your life. You can do that while still looking after your health and wellbeing.

There are so many different aspects of life and choices that you make that contribute to your wellbeing. You don’t have to wait for the new year to renew your commitment, but it’s a great place to start.