“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” Mahatma Gandhi
The Importance of Self Discipline
Today I would like to briefly talk on the topic of discipline and how we can cultivate it in our lives to create willpower. Improving self-discipline for our purpose of growth means to learn, to learn about one’s self. Incorporating discipline into your daily life you are in a position to grow at a deep level. When you gain a deeper understanding of yourself you will become intimate with all your negative tendencies, all the things that rob you of your vital energy, the energy you need to transform your life. We will need to cultivate our willpower to overcome these tendencies.
To be able to be disciplined in the study of ourselves we will need to become more awake and conscious. We need to learn how to turn inward, to learn about our mind and the nature of our thoughts. Many of us will come to find how mechanical we really are. Mechanical means we react to life only from our past conditioning. If we manage to be less mechanical, less divided in ourselves, to have more control of ourselves, it will mean that our being has changed. You will notice a different dimension in your being which will give birth to a different quality of your will, a mind that is more attentive.
In developing your willpower it is important to have an aim, which will serve as the basis of your actions. For example, if your aim is to become more conscious and awake you can start observing small habits and start to struggle with them, through these small struggles, keeping your aim in your conscious awareness you will develop the willpower to transcend these habits.
Improving Self Discipline To Develop Will Power
It is important to watch and not express unnecessary talk, imagination, lying, and expressing negative emotions. Each time you are able to observe these internal manifestations and not express them; you will be cultivating your willpower and gaining the energy to transform your being. Transformation entails no effort, when you have a mind that has clarity, and the ability to perceive, no time is required to change. A clear mind is a happy mind, try and remember a time when you had an epiphany, you will see it was in a space where your mind was empty.
The more you observe yourself the more material you will have to learn from. You must learn to become a passive observer, to not suppress, or distort what you are observing. Being passive means being extremely alert, to be able to see all the subtleties of the mind. Anytime you suppress or try and control what you are observing will only produce conflict. If you look closely you will see the observer and the observed are the same thing, conflict arises when we see these internal movements as separate. When I observe anger within me, the anger is not separate from the part of me who is observing it, in other words, the thought is not separate from the thinker.
If we want to be more conscious, we need to study what prevents us from remembering ourselves, the acknowledgment of our very existence, our sense of “I am”. We must try to catch ourselves at moments when we are not conscious and little by little this will make us more conscious and create willpower.
To remember oneself one must have a certain control of negative emotions. Just observe yourself when you are fully expressing a negative emotion, you become lost and very mechanical. You must always study yourself and find weak spots where you can produce control. You will see that much of our energy is wasted in expressing negative emotions. As you grow your willpower you will begin to store up your energy, the very energy that will help you reach your desired aim.
Cultivating Self Discipline
Daily Actions: Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts that correspond with your aim and constant self-study. The more you nurture self-discipline the more it will help you in removing your inner contradictions.
Daily Moment of silence: Learn to be with your inner silence; learn not to run away from it. Silence is your key to developing an understanding of yourself and the world.
Thank you for reading my article, I would love to hear your perspective on how you cultivate your willpower or how you stay disciplined to achieve what you set out to do.
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Hi Ivan,
What a beautiful post! I agree with all that you wrote. To be in tune with one’s inner voice and to live accordingly takes time and practice. To be self-aware of why we do what we do is vital. Meditation is what helped me the most. I often do my morning meditation while going out for a walk. It clears my head and helps me to look at the day from a fresh perspective. Evening meditation often is of the traditional type of just sitting in silence.
All the answers that we seek are already within us…we just need to peel off the layers of crap and get to the core of who we are and that core is pretty awesome! 🙂
.-= Nadia – Happy Lotus´s last blog ..Being Creative =-.
Love this post, since it’s all about the concept of PRESENCE!
How I cultivate will power is by listening to the inner body like you suggest, and realize that many of my thoughts (all the negative ones and limiting beliefs) are caused by what I like to call my “inner chump”, who I’ve affectionately named “Eli”. Since I imagine that this Eli is just a puny little fake construct of my mind, I can obliterate him with my core self no problem, because my core is MUCH stronger than my mind. That way, it becomes effortless to shut out the negativity and just act from my core, rather than listen to the negative noise that’s in my brain.
.-= Brett – DareToExpress.com´s last blog ..4 Ways to Identify Your Inner Champion =-.
These are very deep thoughts. I myself am in a struggle to master this wisdom you have expounded here. Passive observer I have partially mastered, but being human I can never perfect it. I try my best to be conscious of myself and catch my thoughts whenever it is harboring negativity or conjuring illusions of fear. Deep within me, I know that I am more than what I can perceive. 🙂
Great post Ivan, I’ve been looking at the year ahead of me, trying to get focused on making it an even better year than 2009, and I will definitely remember the points you’ve made in this piece on self discipline.
once again thanks for contributing your own life experiences…hope all is well nadia 🙂 @Nadia – Happy Lotus:
I am glad to hear your on the right track…good luck on your journey my friend 🙂 and thanks for contributing and adding you perspective to the post 🙂 very much appreciated 🙂 @Brett – DareToExpress.com:
I agree we are all far more then we can perceive with our minds…we need to be in a state of “no mind” to understand our true and limitless nature…thanks so much for contributing to my site Walter…wish you the best on your journey…sounds like your on the right track…keep at it…@Walter:
it’s my pleasure my friend 🙂 @Troy Monaco:
Another great post. Thank you.
I do struggle with my self discipline and I know I need to control it. It certainly does not happen overnight and takes a period of adjustment.
I do find a quiet walk helps (as has already been suggested) as my discipline is not yet at a stage where I set aside the time to simply meditate – but this is certainly a stage of development to which I look forward. But tonight, for example, I have a Christmas card to deliver to someone the other side of town and I look forward to walking quietly there and back, simply to enjoy the thinking time (and the exercise!).
Certainly it is proving useful to do small things with an eye constantly on the aim – where I want to be in the future.
Many days bring frustration but I can see gradual improvements.
great article Ivan.. keep it up. it is liberating, inspiring and ofcourse encouraging to read ur article. hope to see more of ur works. two thumbs up.
thank you for the post wish me all luck in my trip to rebuild myself
my pleasure :)…good luck on the journey…it’s an amazing ride..take it all in 🙂
Great article! I am definitely struggling with self-discipline and I’m a writer. What I find most troubling is distractions. Distractions like old lovers I miss, obnoxious siblings and mindless internet surfing. Sometimes self-discipline can be deep and introspective like the way you talk about. But sometimes it’s just an unruly child that needs to get told to sit the *$&# down. I just find it so frustrating that no matter how passionate I am about writing and completing this work – I can revel in the least responsible habits for days. smh.
thank you so much you speak me here, and i love the way and words u express your concept. this is one of the best guides i have read to develop my consciousness and discipline. thanks a lot