{"id":1497,"date":"2010-01-29T09:26:27","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T17:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2013-08-21T09:40:48","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T17:40:48","slug":"can-you-learn-to-be-self-disciplined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/can-you-learn-to-be-self-disciplined\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Learn to be Self-Disciplined?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A lot of people have quite a fatalistic attitude towards self-discipline. They see themselves as essentially undisciplined people who lack the stamina to follow through on their decisions. They might talk about a \u201cprocrastination problem\u201d or \u201cno will power\u201d. They blame their lack of self-discipline for their inability to get their business off the ground, or finish college, or successfully quit smoking or diet.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe that any <\/em><\/strong>of us are lost causes when it comes to self-discipline.<\/strong> I also don\u2019t think that any of us are born with iron wills or great tenacity: it\u2019s something which we learn.<\/p>\n

Short-Time Pleasure<\/h2>\n

A lack of self-discipline is often the result of a focus on short-term pleasure over long-term rewards. You might have experienced this a lot as a teen or in college, prioritising partying or computer games over studying! And, at the time, you might have been quite annoyed by adults who tried to persuade you to knuckle down and get on with your homework. Perhaps you used to blow your allowance money on CDs, only to end up broke and unable to go out with friends.<\/p>\n

As we grow up, we learn (sometimes painfully) that it\u2019s often worth enduring some short-term difficulties in order to have longer-term happiness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How You Developed Self-Discipline<\/h2>\n

In most cases, we become more self-disciplined as we grow older. If you think back to your childhood or teens, you can probably remember times when you had almost no self-discipline. I suspect that now:<\/p>\n