This guest post was written by Liz O’Brien from Liz O’Brien talks…
I believe there’s a simple way that anyone can change their life and I’m going to tell you how.
Self-Discipline vs Motivation
We’re talking about cultivating self-discipline here, not motivation. These two things have a distinct difference. Motivation is based on having a particular mental or emotional state in order to complete a task. The problem with it inherently is that generally, you will only get things done when you feel good. Most people I know, myself included sometimes just don’t feel like doing stuff and if action is conditional on feelings then waiting for the right mood can quickly turn into procrastination.
Discipline, on the other hand, is separate from moods or feelings. It is the ability to do what you should be doing. It often means putting off your immediate comfort or desires in favor of long-term success. The great thing about cultivating discipline is that it is like an engine that once kickstarted, supplies energy to the system, the system is you!
Benefits of Discipline
We know that self-discipline does more than just help us get ahead in our career, it helps us achieve long-term goals, decreases anxiety, improves our relationships, increases our physical health, helps us to become more resilient and makes us just feel happier.
Despite knowing all the benefits of having self-discipline, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s hard to maintain. It comes down to self-preservation. Science tells us that our brains try to protect us from anything that causes us pain, risk or discomfort and so we often find our brains sabotaging our best intentions to move forward in achieving our goals no matter how good they will be for us in the long run, because right now they are uncomfortable and scary.
5 Minutes to Change Your Life
Here’s the thing, whatever it is that you need to do: whether it’s to start working on that business plan you’ve been thinking about for 3 years or helping your kids with their homework, whatever it is, my 5 minutes to change your life strategy is a tool that will help you to change your life, quite literally.
This is a tool that will stop whatever you are trying to get done from feeling like an onerous chore. All you have to do is to start the task knowing you only have to do it for 5 minutes, then you get to walk away. You don’t have to think about it or even complete the task, you just have to sit with it for 5 minutes and then walk away. That’s it, but tomorrow you have to do it, again and again, the day after.
When you follow my ‘5 minutes to change your life’ strategy you will find that it’s totally possible to follow through on the things you have been finding it so difficult to do. Your confidence and self-discipline will grow and over time you’ll see dramatic improvements in your life.
Author Bio:
Liz O’Brien is an entrepreneur, life and business strategist and speaker with more than 20 years of experience in business having built three successful businesses from the ground up. Liz’s mission is to help transform as many lives as possible, inspiring people to live a life of purpose, success, and happiness.
For more information and free resources visit www.lizobrientalks.com or say hi on Instagram @lizobrientalks
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Comments 8
I love this strategy and know that it works. We can get easily overwhelmed when the task or goal is too large. So breaking it down into the smallest, most doable entity is the best way to move forward consistently. You keep building from one small success to the next.
Thanks so much Linda, I love the strategy too, it definitely works. I really believe big achievements are usually made up of all the small consistent things you do. Consistency and persistence will get you there.
Liz
Interesting approach! I would probably want to have to stop spending time on “it” every day and would likely push to do it for more than five minutes so I could just “get ‘er done!”
I totally agree with you on that Janet. More often than not I’ll push through and keep going to get things done. It’s actually amazing how much we can get don’t when we commit to ourselves to just do it.
Liz
What a great idea for getting over the mental hurdle of initiation. I agree that feelings can definitely undermine us. They are real and powerful, but they often don’t facilitate good decisions. By setting a firm limit on our level of commitment to an uncomfortable task, we make it easier to follow through. Nice to you meet you here on Ronni’s blog, Liz!
Thanks Seana for your comments, it’s lovely to meet you too ? You are spot on about our feelings undermining us and sometimes not helping us make good decisions. Once we know how to navigate our tricky brain (which doesn’t like us to do anything that’s too uncomfortable or hard) we can achieve so much.
Liz
Informative post, this is. It is always nice to come across a post that is useful.
Thank you! I’m so happy you found this helpful. Did you have a chance to look at my other posts? I hope to hear from you again.
Ronni