The Value of Self-Discipline: I Made It, I'm My Own Boss... Now What?
Freedom Vs. Responsibility
How to balance both and benefit your business using self-discipline
I'm sure that more than once, when you've told a friend or acquaintance that you're an entrepreneur and run your own business, you've heard comments like:
"That's great, you're your own boss, no one tells you what to do anymore." "I'm so jealous, you must have so much free time." "Now you can do whatever you want, no rules to follow." ... and other similar remarks.
Do you relate to this? Have you heard it before?
If you've heard it, as I have countless times, you're probably rolling your eyes or making a face right now because you know how mistaken these statements are.
When you decide to start your own business, especially after having been an employee and working for others, you experience mixed feelings.
On one hand, there is indeed a sense of FREEDOM. The freedom to make decisions, to set a schedule that fits your routines and personal life, to take vacations or days off without asking anyone's permission, to find the work environment where you feel best, and ultimately, the freedom to be the author of your own rules.
However, at the same time, you're taking on a great RESPONSIBILITY. The responsibility to sustain yourself through your business, to satisfy your customers, to uphold the ethics and honesty of your company, to follow legal guidelines. And if you have employees, you also have responsibilities towards them and their families: the responsibility to provide a safe working environment, to allow them to grow professionally and financially, to ensure fair compensation in line with their contributions. In short, the responsibility to follow your own rules.
So, being my own boss is fantastic and exciting... but it also brings apprehension and anxiety.
In my journey through the world of entrepreneurship, I've found that the best way to handle this anxiety while achieving goals is through SELF-DISCIPLINE.
We don't have a boss to impose discipline and demands on us... So we have to impose them ourselves. Self-discipline is defined as the ability to follow self-imposed rules.
When we are employees working within the structures of other companies, there are generally disciplines to follow. There are consequences for meeting or not meeting them, deadlines, and time obligations. Often there are even plans established by others. When we are our own bosses, we must take all this on directly.
Self-discipline facilitates taking action. It allows you to choose to act and follow a plan regardless of your mood or emotions. It doesn't matter if you feel like it or not, if you feel well or not, self-discipline lets you act according to the plan.
And having self-discipline is not easy. We are often the first to sabotage our own rules and be lenient with ourselves. Lack of self-discipline makes it difficult to achieve goals, and therefore, to be productive, efficient, and successful.
The good news? Self-discipline can be trained. It's like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it gets and the easier it is to put into action.
Today I reviewed what other experts have said about the various ways to develop and maintain this value called Self-Discipline. I've summarized in 7 points the basic aspects and steps to follow for this training, based on what I learned from these articles:
Set a Goal. Self-discipline must have a meaningful intention. If it's pointless, there's no way to force ourselves to execute it. Establish priorities and set a clear goal you want to achieve with self-discipline.
Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses in relation to achieving the goal and calibrate your objectives according to your capabilities. Don't demand impossible tasks or goals that you're not prepared for, as you'll only get frustrated. If a goal requires a skill you don't have, you must first make an additional plan to acquire that skill before embarking on this plan.
Create a Plan. Decide in advance how you will achieve the goal. List the necessary resources and steps, and the tasks you must undertake to achieve it. Never start by improvising.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency. Once you have the plan, follow it. Even if you don't feel like it one day, even if something else is more tempting. Don't look for excuses. Follow the plan.
Facilitate Your Internal Motivation and Willpower. There are many different elements that work for motivation and willpower. Some people respond well to rewards and reinforcements (you allow yourself a small break, something you like, if you complete the task), others to reminders (you put up memos, sticky notes on your desk, alarms on your phone, notes in your planner, anything that reminds you to complete the task), and others to punishments (you deprive yourself of something you like if you don't complete the task). There isn't a single rule for this point; it depends on what best fits the task and your personal style. The important thing is to find any resource that truly helps you maintain motivation.
Focus. Eliminate distractions while you complete the task. Remove any possible distractions. If possible, cut off communications (don't answer calls, don't respond to emails) until you're done. Use any resource that helps you concentrate.
Work with Dates, Calendars, and Schedules. If it's a task you need to repeat daily, set a fixed schedule. If it's a task that needs to be finished within a specific time, set a deadline. Never leave the completion of the task open-ended.
Self-discipline works for small things and big projects. If we learn to train it in small, seemingly unimportant things, it will be easier to apply it to more significant matters.
After this brief summary, I want to close today's article with a short exercise to start training self-discipline.
Choose a simple task that helps improve your efficiency or productivity at work. It could be something as simple as setting a time to get up, keeping a calendar or planner, restricting the times you access social media, or setting a specific time for sales calls. Any task is good. Just find something very specific, easy to plan, and follow up on, and that allows you to see a positive result for your business.
Try to be consistent with this task for at least three weeks before giving up or deciding to change the procedure. Give self-discipline time to show you the results.