Accepting Your Current Self-Discipline Level
Every now and then I take a look in Steve Pavlina’s archives for some articles that helped me in the past. This one
really got to me on self-discipline and seeing where you truly are. I know myself all too well to pass this up. If I keep denying where I am and acting like I live this life of awesome productivity, I will be lying to myself and others. Although my life is getting better every day and I am accomplishing much, I still find I waste a lot of time doing ‘nothing.’ It’s not really nothing, but it is not something that will get me closer to my goals, my goals being vague enough already. I would love to pursue a career in comedy, in some facet or another, but my intuitive side is saying that I can contribute more. I guess maybe I am shying away from it because I realize the intense commitment it will take for me to do so. My mission is to show people how to live more fulfilling lives and mark the trivial as trivial and start living for what matters. Show people the interconnectedness of everything on this planet, everything in this universe. And, to me, this makes sense on every level, but it takes time to really grasp the extent of it, and that will take quite a bit of self-discipline.
Here are some questions Steve decided to put out there for digestion into the acceptance of my level of self-discipline:
Do you shower/bathe every day? No
Do you get up at the same time every morning? Including weekends? No
Are you overweight? No
Do you have any addictions (caffeine, nicotine, sugar, etc.) you’d like to break but haven’t? No
Is your email inbox empty right now? No
Is your office neat and well organized? Yes
Is your home neat and well organized? Somewhat
How much time do you waste in a typical day? On a weekend? 90-230 min
If you make a promise to someone, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it? 55%
If you make a promise to yourself, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it? 10%
Could you fast for one day? No
How well organized is your computer’s hard drive? Very
How often do you exercise? Hardly ever
What’s the greatest physical challenge you’ve ever faced, and how long ago was it? Brain cancer, five years
How many hours of focused work do you complete in a typical workday? Maybe one
How many items on your to do list are older than 90 days? What’s a to-do list
Do you have clear, written goals? Do you have written plans to achieve them? No
If you lost your job, how much time would you spend each day looking for a new one, and how long would you maintain that level of effort? Honestly, I would probably try and start a home-based business.
How much TV do you currently watch? Could you give up TV for 30 days? Very little, if any
How do you look right now? What does your appearance say about your level of discipline (clothes, grooming, etc)? Not much
Do you primarily select foods to eat based on health considerations or on taste/satiety? Usually health
When was the last time you consciously adopted a positive new habit? Discontinued a bad habit? Not too long ago
Are you in debt? Do you consider this debt an investment or a mistake? I will be in debt very soon. An investment
Did you decide in advance to be reading this blog right now, or did it just happen? Yes, I did decide in advance
Can you tell me what you’ll be doing tomorrow? Next weekend? Working tomorrow, the same next weekend
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall level of self-discipline? 3-4
What more could you accomplish if you could answer that last question with a 9 or 10? I could become an amazing stand-up comedian, writer, speaker, etc.
Part of me lagging on the self-discipline and really going after my goals is I have this tendency to always worry about what others close to me will think. If I were to dive into some sort of spiritual quest, I don’t want people I care about saying things like, “You’re crazy,” or “You need a real job. Think about security.” And I blame myself for holding back on these things. Those irrational fears and stress only exist in my mind and if I keep holding out on this, I will be denying the whole world, even the universe, an amazing gift I have. I really need to do some serious work on my beliefs about the world and people in general. I have to open myself up to others and accept that only through tackling a goal like this head-on will I be able to acccomplish it.
This will require an insane amount of self-discipline. I need to be able to take the appropriate action regardless of how I feel. I am not always going to be motivated, but if I can discipline myself to take action regardless, I will be much closer to where I need to be. I’ve started to see this blossom, but I am nowhere near where I need to be. But I will not rush myself. I will get there when I get there. But even at work now, I am starting to write out little sayings on pieces of register paper. My favorite so far was: “The belief that you need a job exists only if you choose to believe it.” If I were to tell that to my family, my belief system says that they will debunk it, saying that if you do not have a job, do not take the secure route, you will never succeed in life.
I am going back to college for the experience of learning with like minds. When you put out the intention to meet people who are on the same vibrational level as you, you need to act on anything that will bring me closer to this ideal. Upon visiting the campus, I found some people there that are obviously vibrating at a high frequency, people I can learn from, people I can give to. I truly believe, in a way, that we are the sum of all our experiences. We become what we experience. If we learn from every experience, we take that knowledge with us to tackle the next one and the next one. And this is how I am hoping to build this self-discipline. Start out small and work my way up. It’s so easy to use the avoidance behavior, but challenging myself to really push myself into the realm of getting things done is going to be rewarding.
Upon unearthing these Pavlina articles, the Do it Now article comes to mind. I used to think about building self-discipline, but I neve really took that step towards doing it. I would think about how great it would be, getting some sort of emotional high off that, and then sink back down to my low-awareness living. In a way, I was what you would call a self-help junkie. To my credit, I have made significant strides in the past year-and-a-half, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. I remain patient with myself and keep working towards where I see myself. These things do not happen overnight and I accept it. But actually (and I do mean actually) taking steps in the right direction is something that will become easier the more I do it. And I just need to think of the benefit it will have on everyone in my reality. It will lead the world and the universe towards great changes. It will offer solutions to common problems we now experience. And if I do not do this, I know I will have wasted my life.
This is something I am truly passionate about, something many people may have a hard time understanding, but there comes a time in my life where I need to pursue the goals that are right for me, no matter what others think. And what I am doing is such a noble purpose that if anyone has a problem with it, they resist the idea themselves. Maybe my ego is getting involved a little, hoping there are some profound quotes with my name at the bottom in the future (and always in italics). But I know I have the ability to make some significant strides and the first step is to build a comepetency for what I am doing and how to make a living doing so. And then, the fun begins. Wish me luck.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:19 am
Good Luck.