Discipline is one of the soft skills that sounds good but harder to execute.
However, discipline has helped for me, before I retired and to even now. It is not an innate trait, but something I learned along the way. For example, I graduated with two bachelor degrees. Not to impress but to illustrate that without the discipline I couldn’t have managed the course loads.
Similarly, I spent twenty weeks before a marathon on training and getting myself ready. Certainly, the race is the crucible, but sticking with the training plan day-in and day-out, week after week, is the discipline. And for me the result is always tangible.
As a skill, anybody can learn to be disciplined. Necessity is the mother of all skills. Here are what I found useful: 1) Having a clear goal or vision helps focusing the mind, 2) A plan to achieve the end result is a must. And 3) Adherence to the plan through self motivation and repetitions.
Last word of advise – like most muscles, discipline can be developed but also lost if left unused.
How do you keep your discipline? And how has it given you an edge in your chosen field?
Running with Buddha 