In this blog series, we will discuss the 7 battlegrounds you will face on your journey to freedom. We know that the battle is won or lost in the mind so today we focus on Mental Discipline. You will only succeed if you learn how to use failure to your advantage. So let's learn from one of our freedom coaches, Shane, how we can turn our failures into success and cultivate the discipline of mental toughness.
Part 1: Mental Discipline
What is the first thing you think of when you hear of mental discipline? For some it might be, "I am so tough, nothing will ever bother me". For others it might be, "I will never procrastinate again because I have mental discipline". Or you might be a part of the group that is asking, "Why do I even need mental discipline?". No matter if you find yourselves in one of these groups or another group not mentioned, we all need mental discipline. We need to work it, grow it, and live it.
There are a lot of aspects that we could focus on when it comes to mental discipline or mental toughness as I like to call it. But to me, one of the biggest keys to having mental discipline is learning to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. This is going to look different for everyone because there are so many different personalities, backgrounds, and cultures; but I will share a few general things that we can all do.
The key to mental discipline is learning to be comfortable in the uncomfortable.
Disrupt your routine and do something different. Most of us have some kind of comfortable routine, but we need to disrupt it occasionally because it subconsciously makes us uncomfortable, and feels weird to do something different than we normally do. Maybe it is something as simple as changing the route you normally take to work or school. For some of you that is torture and for others no big deal, this is where you have to do the work to figure out how to disrupt your routine and make yourself uncomfortable.
Do something in the short-term that you know you will probably fail at. You're sure you'll fall flat on your face if you do it. It is good for our mental discipline to try something that scares us because we know failure will most likely happen. You see, when we fail at something or try something new it causes us to want to try and get better at it and it helps us build determination and diligence.
Go do something hard or out of character for you in the long-term. Maybe it is learning a new instrument, writing a book, learning a new sport, or learning a new language. Doing something long-term helps us build an attitude of comfortableness in the failing, forcing us to get up again and again and again. I don’t know about you, but I know that as a human I hate failure. I hate doing the hard things, but it is how I usually grow the most. Remember that when we do this, we are running a marathon not a sprint. It will take some time but it will be worth it.
If you found this helpful and would like to talk with Shane more about Mental Discipline, you can book a 1-hour coaching call with him where he will go in-depth with you on this topic, help you discover your next steps, and hold you accountable to freedom.
Maybe you feel stuck in another area of life. Book a quick Freedom Check, select a coach, and learn how to break free.
Related Posts
