Self-control, as well as other skills, can be developed with the help of constant practice. Here are seven simple but effective exercises that can help you better control your temper and achieve your goals.
When it comes to the development of self-control, do not expect instant results. Regular practice and gradual progress will help save the results for a long period of time.
Day after day, your habits will lead you in the right or wrong direction. There are no neutral habits. You can move forward and develop self-discipline or slowly destroy your ability to exercise self-control.
Here are a few habits that seem insignificant, but in case of long-term practices, they can provide tremendous benefits.
1. Act in spite of discomfort
Something from which you will benefit in the long run is initially quite difficult to perform. For example, when you keep to a healthy diet for the first time, you do not feel the best way, but in the long run avoiding harmful food is very important for your body.
Remember: it is difficult only at the beginning. Your mind wants to stay in a comfort zone, but it is getting out of this area that will help to change your life for the better.
It happens this way with any process that brings positive results. For example, to write an article and receive your readers’ acclaim, you have to think a lot about the title, delete and re-write the beginning five times and walk a couple of kilometers around the room before inspiration comes to you.
2. Set your goals high
It is so easy to browse YouTube and watch funny videos… You can find enough time for this! However, you have to prioritize and determine the most important occupations for yourself.
Determine for yourself the most important goals in different spheres of life: health, well-being, relationships.
If you love chocolate and set a goal to lose 5 kilograms of excess weight, you should know that a short burst of dopamine after eating your favorite sweets is less important than your goal.
Of course, this does not mean that you are protected from all your bad habits just by defining goals for yourself. Remember that there will be no rapid changes; instead, you will have a long process of self-improvement. But every time you remind yourself of the ultimate goal, you find it a little easier to follow this goal.
Since we are talking about food, here’s a simple rule, which is very easy to follow. However, it is just as easy to ignore.
3. Wait for 5 minutes before you eat something
Or 10 minutes if you are really hungry. Nowadays, we are used to instant gratification of our needs and desires. Remember how annoyed you are when you have to wait for just 10 seconds before the slow site opens.
When it comes to food, we often feel emotional dependence on snacks or addiction to sweets rather than real hunger. So when you think you are hungry, in fact, it could be a trick of the mind to get a little psychological satisfaction that comes with eating.
Controlling the amount of food consumed is a huge problem which becomes apparent when you get to know your weight. But when you want to eat something, it is not so obvious.
Waiting for 5-10 minutes will give you time to pull yourself together and either completely refuse to eat or eat a much smaller amount of more useful products. In addition, you will realize that a little discomfort is sometimes useful. A meal will seem even more delicious when you expect and want it.
4. Set the sleep schedule
Regular falling asleep at the same time and getting up when you need to wake up is a big problem for many people. Here you need to understand that loss of control is a contagious thing.
If you lose control of one area of your life, it affects other areas as well.
That is, if you go to bed late and wake up the next day, you are more likely to fail to resist junk food; you will skip a workout in the gym and will postpone the execution of an important project.
At night, you are likely to surf the pages on the Internet without any special purpose. And it does not end when you go to bed. The next day you continue to do a lot of useless things.
On the other hand, when you set a sleep schedule for yourself and stick to it strictly, your morning starts with useful things – from what you have planned and what is really important.
The ability to control your desires when it is time to sleep affects your reactions and actions in the morning. If you have made the right choice, you will keep choosing right actions the next day.
5. Make your bed immediately after getting up
This is one of the most important items for productivity during the day. That is really so. Such a simple action as making your bed has a huge impact on the productivity and self-control during the day.
If you get out of bed and rush to the computer to check your email or to the kitchen to grab a slice or two, it sets the pace of the whole day. If you procrastinate when dealing with such simple tasks as making the bed, which only takes a minute of time, other tasks on your list will be equally pushed aside for the sake of entertainment and minor activities.
6. Arrange a 7-minute-long training
Most people intend to be engaged in sports or fitness from the start of a new year, the first day of a month, or even from Monday. Do not repeat the mistakes of others and begin to be engaged in it today.
Training for 7 minutes does not require any sportswear, equipment or going to a gym or the stadium. You will not find an excuse for yourself, except “I do not want it”, but it will not help appease your conscience.
7. Meditate for 5 minutes
Meditation is the same exercise for our mind as a workout for our muscles. It strengthens and improves our cognitive abilities. And the more we meditate the more self-control we gain. The ability to control our mind makes us simply invincible. In addition, everyday practice will help improve the discipline.
And how do you train your self-control?
