Pump yourself with the whip

Are you among the lucky ones who set a goal and go directly to it, scattering obstacles in different directions? Cool! But even superheroes have a time when it is very difficult to organize themselves. And here you will come to the aid ... whip. No, not real, but very effective.

Steve Pavlina, a well-known foreign blogger, spreads self-discipline into five pillars. The acronym "A WHIP" (translated from English whip) means:

A (acceptance) - acceptance
W (willpower) - willpower
H (hard work) - hard work
I (industry) - diligence
P (persistence) - perseverance
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When I see what goals SmartProgress project participants achieve (reach Lingvaleo level 25, work all day with maximum concentration, lose weight) I understand that the five pillars of self-discipline are hidden behind the check mark “Goal completed”. Self-discipline is the ability to force yourself to act regardless of your emotional state. “I have no mood”, “Something is not being written to me,” “I can’t force myself to start working” - these phrases should not sound. They decided to do it - they did it.



The good news is that self-discipline can be developed! Kelly McGonial in her book Will Power. How to develop and strengthen "writes:" Over the past decade, neuroscientists have found that the brain - as a student thirsting for knowledge - is amazingly sensitive to any experience. Ask him to solve every day problems, and he will become stronger in math. Ask him to worry more often, and he will become more restless. Ask to concentrate, and he will become much more attentive. Your brain will not just learn how to do these tasks better - it will rebuild itself according to your request. Some parts of the brain will thicken, more gray matter will appear in them - so the muscles grow from training. ”

General principles of self-discipline

1. It is possible to train self-discipline! And it inspires confidence. I occasionally hear from people: "If you need to force yourself to go to the goal, think about whether you need it, is it yours." Yes, enthusiasm is a good, useful thing, but you cannot get very far with certain emotions, and by training yourself it is easier to achieve the desired results. If you compare useful skills and actions necessary to achieve success with a team, then self-discipline in this Success Team is a key player. And besides her, the team must be goal-setting, planning and excitement.

2. Just as muscles are needed to build muscle, self-discipline is required to increase self-discipline. Start training with the optimal load. If you come to the gym and at the first session decide to work with a 32-pound weight, then in return you will receive at least painful sensations. Sudden jerks to the goal will also bring defeat.
If you are a freelancer working remotely, then you know how it is sometimes difficult to force yourself to work for several hours without being distracted. Suppose you decide to work a full 8-hour working day, concentrating as much as possible. One day it happened, and the second day failed. It's okay, so you did one approach for 8 hours, and the two approaches are too much for you. Let's go back a bit. How long can you successfully do 5 times (that is, a whole week)? Two hours, one or even 30 minutes? If you feel that 30 minutes is too easy for you, then complicate the task, but do it gradually.

3. Do not compare yourself with other people, it will not help. You will find only what you expect to find, for example, if you think you are weak, then others will seem stronger. Just look where you are now and try to become better by going forward.



The five pillars of self-discipline (A WHIP)

Acceptance

Steve advises finding your weakest side, recognizing and accepting your abilities. Only then should an improvement program be developed. Start with simple things that are exactly on your shoulder, and then move on to more complex ones.
When deciding to achieve a goal (get up early, concentrate on work, read professional literature daily), make sure that you perceive reality accurately and consciously recognize it. If people enter your office during the day, the telephone rings, the chef can suddenly call you, then concentrating on work for 8 hours is simply unrealistic. But two hours of focused activity you can do. Therefore, do not reproach yourself for failure, accept the surrounding reality as it is.

Willpower

Often, it is considered a synonym for self-discipline. Willpower is the ability to establish, in which direction to move, a temporary accelerator. Steve Pavlina believes that willpower is variable, it creates a short-term impulse. Therefore, you need to choose a goal, develop a plan and begin to execute it. Willpower will be used by you as a catalyst, and when it dries out, you will need a developed plan.
For example, deciding to concentrate on work, at first you will do it with the help of willpower. But after a day or two, you want to check social networks, watch a video on the Internet or call friends. Therefore, in advance include in the plan, for example, blocking social networks.

Hard work

In the struggle with oneself only hard work will help. You need to be aware that achieving the goal is not always going effortlessly. Getting up and going on after another failure is perhaps the most difficult thing in the whole process, but it is worthily rewarded with moral satisfaction, increasing self-esteem and obtaining the desired result. In addition, some goals, such as weight reduction, will only succumb to you as a result of hard work. Yes, you can somehow motivate yourself, give yourself rewards, but only incredible efforts will bring you closer to your goal.

Diligence (industry)

It is about doing the work in a timely manner, and no matter whether it is light or heavy. Sort letters in your inbox, get rid of extra papers, submit reports on time, edit the text time after time - there is a lot of routine in our life. Thanks to self-discipline, you can work at any time, regardless of the enthusiasm or interesting things. Even routine and petty affairs must be performed, and not postponed. The constant “pushing back” of cases will accumulate them, and then you will have to use several times more zeal to make out everything.
Consider: if some things take a lot of time, can they be delegated or automated? For example, in my mailbox, the automatic layout of letters in different folders is configured. This is really cool! Business letters, personal mail, mailings, hobbies do not mix in a single stream, and I can always see the history of correspondence and tune in to the working mode.

Perseverance

As Steve Pavlina says: “Perseverance is the ability to act regardless of your mood. You put pressure on the problem, even when you want to quit. ” You continue to work, not listening to your inner voice, saying persistently: “Listen, well, you can’t work hard, and indeed, you have already done so much, take a rest. All the more, there is still no mood to work in. ” Like it or not, want to continue or not - all this does not matter. Self-discipline encourages you to perseverance and perseverance. And perseverance in dreams = perseverance in actions.



Well, in conclusion. Self-discipline is changing our lives for the better. We accept our strengths and weaknesses, train our willpower, sometimes we work hard, and sometimes diligently cope with the routine, but we do all this with constancy and perseverance.
When the level of your self-discipline allows you to successfully solve the most difficult tasks for you, then consider that you have in your hands the key to the treasury called “Efficiency”. You will achieve such high results that are inaccessible to people following in the wake of their own weaknesses. Teach yourself any good habit, become an planning expert, deal with debts, finally get up early in the morning, lose weight - in general, you will achieve all this and much more. For example, capture the universe or even two.