Posts tagged Self Discipline
Making My Own Decisions
Nov 2nd
Do you have difficulty making your own decisions? Do you allow others to tell you what to do because you feel relieved that you finally don’t have to make those decisions yourself? Do you feel uneasy when you have to make decisions of your own because you don’t really know what you genuinely want?
If you do, believe me, you’re not alone. Many adolescents feel very unsure of themselves when they have to make quick decisions. Even adults are in the same position. However, what it is important to note that you can improve your decision making to the point where you feel very confident making decisions. Here are a few tips that you could try.
1. Don’t let your parents, or anyone else, make decisions for you all the time. However, you must show the adults in your life that you can make proper decisions. This takes practise and diligence. It may even take a bit of effort and self-discipline. But it is possible.
2. Many times what you want to do right off the bat isn’t the right thing. Take your time when making a decision. Step back from a decision for a while, say, a day or a week, if you have the time and the luxury to do so. The longer you can spend making the decision, the better.
3. If you have to make a decision right away, try to remove yourself from the immediate situation for a half an hour or an hour and just think about what you should do in a level headed way. This should give you the objectivity needed to make a decision you won’t regret.
4. Don’t be afraid to take some extra time if it is an important or long-term decision. Many of you are just far too quick to make important decisions. Find creative ways to buy extra time before making a decision. You may want to pretend you have to be somewhere important.
5. Try to make ‘right’ decisions. By practising this over time, you could become a much more self-confident decision maker, and your parents may leave you to make decisions for yourself more often. And that is a reward in itself, because there is nothing worse than experiencing the angst of a parent insisting that (s)he always makes decisions on your behalf.
By following these steps, you will become much more able to make effective decisions. And this will make your life so much easier. You won’t have to involve yourself in peer pressure, and who knows, your parents may even be proud of you over time. And how great is that, huh?
Work on Your Weaknesses First
Oct 23rd
We all know somebody who’s excellent in some parts of their lives, but performs poorly at others. You might be such a person yourself.
They are also the lowest-hanging fruit on the self-improvement tree. To develop basic skills in some area usually has a much bigger payoff than to improve in an area where we are already skilled. It’s often the first few lessons in any endeavor where we learn and improve the most.
The advice is simple – step out of what you’re most comfortable with and concentrate on improving those things that directly affect you and that you’re really bad at.
Perhaps you have poor social skills, or maybe your financial literacy isn’t that good. Maybe your fitness level needs some work, or your self-discipline is poor. Have you always been terrible at managing money, or is your numeracy not as good as it could be? Perhaps your personal appearance and hygiene could do with some work, or your education level is much below what you’d like it to be.
Whatever your greatest weakness is, you probably already know all about it. But instead of fixing what’s clearly broken, you may instead prefer to tinker with what you’ve got that works.
Don’t make the mistake of only working on what you’re good at.
Decide today what the greatest weakness you have that needs improving is. And make a plan to improve yourself in that area. You may want to write your plan down, or merely work it out in your head. It doesn’t matter so long as you take active steps to address it.
Your ultimate goal should be to turn your weakness into a strength. Surprise those who know you by filling in the gaps in your character and excelling in something that they always thought you were terrible at.
And surprise yourself by improving the area of your character you have always secretly been ashamed of.
