How to Improve Self Discipline and Focus?

I often hear the question, “How do I improve my self-discipline and focus?”

This question bothers many people since they often encounter situations that require these skills, but they realize that they lack them. In order to possess these skills, you need to develop them.

These skills are not taught at school, and most people do not know how to improve them.

On top of this, we encounter every day many distractions and situations that do not allow us to focus, and which weaken our discipline and resolutions.

You Can Improve Self-Discipline and Focus

If you ask people about self-discipline and focus, they would agree that they are important and necessary skills. However, they believe that these skills are hard to get. They think that improving them would require a lot of time and effort, which they do not want to invest.

True, improving your discipline and focus requires time and some effort on your part, but it is not so hard improving them.

People devote hours every day to watching TV, gossiping, texting, and interacting with their mobile phones. However, to improve self-discipline and focus, you need just a fraction of this time.

Some Thoughts about Discipline and Focus

• “A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.”
  – Dalai Lama
• “Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.”
  – Julie Andrews
• “If you focus on the possible when you experience difficult situations, YOU CAN positively change your outlook, reduce your stress, and concentrate on achieving things that otherwise may not have been possible.”
  – Catherine Pulsifer

There are various simple techniques for improving your self-discipline and focus, about which I have written in many of my articles.

I know these techniques work, because I have used them personally, and people who have used them, keep telling me how these techniques have helped them too.

The difficult part about improving discipline and focus is remembering to improve them and keep improving them, despite the temptation to stop.

It is important not to listen to your mind, which might put up some resistance, since it does not like change and does not like to be disciplined.

One of the ways to keep going and not giving up is to remind yourself often, why you need these skills, and how they would help you in your life.

Discipline and focus increase your ability to follow through with whatever you do. These are most useful skills, enabling you to fulfill your promises and resolutions, and follow through with your ambitions and goals.

The better discipline and focus you possess, the easier it becomes to follow through with whatever you do.

Nowadays, in the age of the Internet you can easily find information about these topics. However, I would like to recommend a few articles and books that I have written, which produce real results.

Articles and Books for Improving Self-Discipline and Focus

Articles about improving self-discipline:
Willpower and Self-Discipline – Guidance and Exercises
Self-Discipline Benefits and Importance
How to Strengthen Your Willpower – Tips and Advice
Do You Finish What You Start Doing?

Articles about improving focus and concentration:
The Power of Concentration
Concentration Exercises for Training the Mind
Tips to Improve Concentration
Your Attention Span and How to Improve It

I would also like to mention my book, “Build up Your Willpower and Self-discipline”, where I have written extensively about willpower and self-discipline, and provided exercises for improving them.

In this book you will find simple exercises, which do not require special times and conditions to practice, and that you can practice at any time and place.

As a by-product of practicing the simple exercises, you will not only improve your willpower and self-discipline, but you would also strengthen your ability to make decisions and follow them.

You will also learn to overcome procrastination and indecisiveness, and increase your inner strength, perseverance and patience.

The other book I would like to recommend is “Focus Your Attention”. It teaches, guides, and shows how to improve your focus with the help of simple exercises.

I would like to emphasize that one can start improving her or his discipline and focus at any age, and any degree of improvement is worthwhile. Even practicing just a fraction of what is offered in these books and articles, will take you a long way toward better discipline and focus.