How To Improve Self-Discipline
(A Step-by-Step Guide)


Improving your discipline is one of the best things you can do for your quality of life and your happiness, by the end of this article I'll teach you how to learn self-discipline and I'll teach you how to improve self-discipline, so you won't experience anymore nights laying awake disappointed cause you did nothing with your day.



Let me start with a story,

When I was younger I used to do extra football training before the actual training, I'd go on the roof and pass against the wall for half an hour, then I'd shower to freshen up and go to my team training.

The thing was, I used to do this training on the roof after my afternoon nap (I used to rest after having lunch) and I'm gonna be honest, sometimes the bed felt a little too comfortable, so I'd be half awake battling my mind on whether I should get up and train or stay in bed for an extra 30 minutes.

And each time I gave in and watched that extra YouTube video a small part of me died, I'd be guilty because I chose comfort over doing what I know I should be doing.

It'd bug me all day, even before going to sleep I'd think about it, even if it was a really good day, that training session that I skipped would stain it.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, as a young man on self-improvement I know what it feels like to give in to instant gratification and suffer the consequences for it.

So what can you do?

There are 2 things:

Today we'll be talking about the second one.


What is Self-Discipline?

This is something we must know before we carry on.

Very simply, self-discipline is your ability to choose to do the right action over any other action that is attractive.


Discipline is doing something you don't want to do


And doing it because you know it's what should be done.

So choosing to train rather than to sleep in,

Choosing the fruit over the candy,

Choosing to control your anger than let it out wildly (although that is more on the self management side)

Mike Tyson even says that ;


Self-discipline is doing something you hate doing but doing it like you love it

Goggins do something you hate quote

How To Improve Your Self-Discipline

Knowing how to have self-discipline is a necessary skill for a fulfilling life.

QUICK EXTRACT : There were several studies that show that the more control people have over their life the happier they are, I read this in a finance book but we can use it in our case as well. Self-discipline gives us control over our actions, we can choose what to do, we can choose to do the productive thing over the thing that feels good in the moment.


So how do you improve self-discipline?

How do you LEARN self-discipline? (because it's a skill)

Well, now you're probably gonna get tired of me,

Self-discipline is a skill...

And just like any other skill it gets improved through practicing the skill.

And the practice to this skill is Doing Things You DON'T Want To Do

If you want to do it then it's not discipline!!!

Later on in this article I'll give you some exercises you can do to make it easier to improve your discipline.

Just see this skill like you do in a video game.

If you've done some things in your life that require discipline then it's probably not Level 1, it's at least at Level 3,

But put simply, the more you put it into action the more XP you get and the more it levels up.

goggins regret or discipline quote

There's a quote I like;


''No one ever regretted being disciplined''

(I hope you can tell how much I love this topic haha)


How To Improve Self-Discipline : Exercise #1

The first way I'd get you to improve your discipline is by getting you to make a habit tracker.

I'll even show you my personal habit tracker.

Yes, super simple, but it works.

There are even apps for this, although I prefer to do it manually.

It works because it gives you instant feedback on if you've been good or if you haven't.

Now instant feedback is so important because what gets measured gets improved.

If you don't know at what level you're currently at then you can't know if you've improved or not can you? 

Make the habit tracker 4-6 habits, too little and it's boring, too much and it's overwhelming to remember everything, for mine I have 5 habits on it.

5 habits is what I've found is the sweet spot, The PERFECT amount

I literally just write it out every month on an A4 piece of paper. (they're usually about month long as I use every line as a day)

My 5 habits are : 

1. Meditate

2. No Sugar

3. Training Recap/Thinking Time

4. Read Bible

5. Sleep w/o Phone

You don't have to copy me, you can customize it how you want, this is yours at the end of the day.

Include habits that aren't already solidified, so don't include brushing your teeth for example (although if you struggle with that don't be embarrassed to put it on).

Other habits to include may be :

  • Reading
  • Journaling
  • Saying good morning to a stranger
  • Quitting an addiction
  • Phone screen time limit
  • Sleeping earlier
  • Instagram/social media Limit
  • Eating a fruit
  • Learning a new skill (maybe juggling or an instrument)
  • Keeping a clean room
  • Making your bed when you wake up
  • Doing house work (dishes, trash, walk the dog etc)
  • Reflecting (my version of thinking time)

There are many many things you can do.

What I do to make it more fun is that I got a red and green pen and depending on whether I did or didn't do the habit I have to mark it in that pen in a tick or an X.

This makes things slightly more fun, even just the fact that there's a little colour on the paper.

Another thing I did to make it more fun is I stuck it on the wall right next to my desk. Using tape on the corners I taped it to my wall so I can't put it in a drawer and forget about it, I see it. Every. Single. Day.

And 'mma tell you bro, there's nothing like the feeling of getting 100% on your habit tracker for the first time, taking a photo and sending it to your friend like you're a little kid who just discovered that dinosaurs had feathers.

I do want to mention that the PERFECT 100% habit tracker came after a girl rejected me. I was so p*ssed I said to myself;

''Okay okay, watch this, this month I'm just gonna use the green pen and you'll see how you messed up!''

Kinda cringe if I say it out loud? Maybe, actually probably.

But did it work? Absolutely. 

And there's a lesson in there, turn every defeat into a win. Always turn things in your favor.

My Own Habit Tracker

As promised this is my own personal habit tracker, the one I told you about, when I got 100% after a girl rejected me.

(Note : The habits are slightly different than they are right now, I've changed it a bit)

(Note 2 : N/A under training recap doesn't mean I skipped it, it just means that I didn't have team training that day)

Haha you can even notice the paint coming off because of the tape

my habit tracker

How To Improve Self-Discipline : Exercise #2

This one is heavy on the bro science, but hear me out.

Do Something That Makes You EXTREMELY Uncomfortable

Like how I said that I got a perfect habit tracker after a girl rejected me, I used every ounce of my courage to pick up the phone and call her that night and even though I didn't get the response I wanted I still got a massive boost in my discipline through that exposure to the uncomfortable.

Because think about it, if you were VERY uncomfortable and then you have to do something MILDLY uncomfortable it will seem easy.

It's basic reasoning, if I've done something that is 8/10 on difficulty, then doing something 5/10 will feel easy.

Once I've used this to jump in freezing water,

So I woke up early one day and decided to go for a swim,

Now I was scared to jump in the water for 2 reasons;

1. It was high up

2. It was cold

So I used this technique to reason things out. I said to myself;

''Look bro, I know this is hard but you've done harder things in the past, you've literally played professional football, played with and against elite athletes, played in front of hundreds of people all watching your every move, you moved out at 17 to play football, you've been away from family, you've done things that would have crumbled other people, and now you're scared of some water??'

I jumped in MAX 10 seconds after I said that to myself

Listing things that I've done that are way harder than jumping in the water made me realise that it's just my brain making up excuses to stay comfortable, and it's not that I am not good enough cause that was already proved wrong by all these things I've done, it was just that I needed the self-discipline to do the hard thing, which now seemed a lot easier when compared to these things that I've done.

I was even kinda making fun of the water, seeing it as just a small obstacle compared to these monumental things.


Bonus : How To Master Self-Discipline

This is a topic that can be an article in itself, but I'd still like to give you a quick rundown.

Mastering self-discipline is all about a principle called progressive overload.

This is used in the gym where overtime you slowly increase the weight (difficuly) of your activity,

The same principle can be used to improve your discipline.

So you start small and slowly slowly increase,

This way you're not overwhelmed and give up straight away.

Because think about it, if I tell to Meditate for 30mins and you've Never Meditated before you'll get bored and quit, you won't sustain it.

But if I tell you to Meditate for 2mins, you'll be like ''Oh this is easy'' (it's not), but you'll start to build some momentum and the task is not too daunting for you.

I'll leave you off with a quote by legendary Self-Improvement Speaker Jim Rohn;


''If you can't handle the little disciplines, then you certainly won't be able to handle the big disciplines''


And as always...

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