Self-Discipline PDF

Having self-discipline and willpower is the ability to do difficult or unpleasant things because those things are better for your well-being in the long run.   Focus is one of the main pillars of self-discipline; a person who lacks the ability to focus is almost certainly one who will also lack di...

Having self-discipline and willpower is the ability to do difficult or unpleasant things because those things are better for your well-being in the long run.   Focus is one of the main pillars of self-discipline; a person who lacks the ability to focus is almost certainly one who will also lack discipline.   The three executive functions that we are most concerned with when it comes to being disciplined are working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility and adaptability. meditation being a useful tool for "strengthening" the areas of the brain that are responsible for executive functions, and thus self-discipline. meditation was shown to shrink the amygdala, which is generally responsible for the primal emotions, instincts, and drives that keep us alive   It's nearly impossible to achieve focus and self-discipline separately. Being disciplined in your pursuit of long-term goals is only possible if you can consistently focus on the decisions and actions that lead to accomplishing those goals.   Our brains have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to make our daily survival the top priority. And survival mode is essentially a green light for instant gratification and binge eating, as well as a myriad of other failures of self-discipline. the most effective way of maintaining discipline is by simply avoiding the situations that present the highest chances for failure. Whenever we are under a lot of stress, we are thrown back into our panicked "fight-or-flight" mode and are more likely to act instinctively and irrationally. Stress diverts energy away from the prefrontal cortex and causes us to focus more on short-term outcomes, which influences us to make regrettable decisions.