By Remez Sasson
Self discipline is one of the most important requirements for achieving success, but there is too often lack of self discipline.
Here are a few of the reasons responsible for lack of self discipline:
People are not born with self discipline; they need to develop it, but they don’t know how to do so.
The erroneous notion that self discipline is something difficult to attain and requires too much denials.
Negative mental programming and negative environment are also responsible for this lack.
Laziness and lack of enough inner strength prevent one from being more self disciplined. In this situation, one avoids doing things that require effort and persistence.
People prefer comfortable laziness, instead of actions that require effort. Laziness is comfortable, since it is pleasant and effortless, while self discipline requires effort.
Fear of failure is also a reason for lack of self discipline. It hold back initiative and being perseverant, and leads to lack of inner strength.
Temptations weaken self discipline. We are all subject to temptations in many forms every day. We are exposed to advertisements in newspapers, magazines and on TV, telling us to buy this or that. We see a huge array of products for sale in the supermarkets and in the shopping malls, and we are offered many ways to pass the time, such as TV programs, movies, restaurants, concerts, sports competitions and many other sorts of entertainment.
How can you ignore the beautifully arranged and tasty food at the supermarket, or resist watching a TV show, which offers a pleasant escape from daily life? Accepting and following all these pleasures indiscriminately, and without using common sense tend to weaken self discipline.
Lack of self-esteem is another factor that leads to lack of self discipline.
Lack of goals or purpose in life is also responsible for lack of self discipline and vice versa.
Procrastination is another reason of lack of self discipline.
Lack of willpower, motivation and ambition are also causes for lack of self discipline.
A weak state of health might also lead to weakness of this important ability.
These are just few of the reasons for lack of self discipline. This situation can be remedied, but few people know how. You can find more articles on this subject at this website, as well as a book with practical and proven techniques and exercises on how to overcome lack of self discipline.
Remez Sasson is an author and blogger. He is the founder of SuccessConsciousness.com, a website and blog about self improvement and spiritual growth.
Remez Sasson is the author of several life transforming books, containing a wealth of information, advice and guidance.
Remez wrote: Fear of failure is also a reason for lack of self discipline. It hold back initiative and being perseverant, and leads to lack of inner strength.
What’s sad is that people often don’t realize that the real failure in life is not taking action to work toward their goals. What I’ve learned as I’ve aged is that if I try something and fail, it’s much better than not having tried at all. I learn from every failure, and that’s the important thing.
As Confucius said:
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in getting up every time we do.
I also like your point about people being lazy in their comfort zone. I was in that state for a long time, even though it was more like a “discomfort zone.” One day I simply decided I didn’t want to live that way anymore. I wanted to try to make a difference, in my own life, and hopefully in other people’s lives.
Taking action and doing things is better then doing nothing, even if what you do fails. With positive attitude, willpower, and self discipline, you can learn from failure, get stronger and wiser, and then try again, with better chances to win.
Hi Mr Remez,
Whatever mentioned here is very true. One of my problem is the lack of self discipline. Without realising, my girls begins to show signs too. After reading your book, I knew the answer to my problems. I need to set things right so that my girls can emulate my actions and behaviour.
Thank you so much and may the Almighty bless you and family abundantly.
Not to be rude but a few of those things aren’t causes, but symptoms of a lack of self-discipline.
I am lazy because I am not disciplined, not the other way around. If I felt like getting up and doing things that aren’t necessarily comfortable or “fun” for the sake of improving my life, I would have discipline.
It’s even more applicable to procrastination and lack of willpower. Discipline is being able to do tasks on time and not push them back. I push back things I don’t want to do all the time, even when they’re beneficial to me. And that is the result, not the cause, of my discipline issues.
That being said, I agree with a lot of what you wrote.
Thank you TJ for your comment. What I meant was that when one is lazy, he or she don’t have enough desire and inner strength to practice self discipline. I have changed the paragraph relating to laziness to reflect more clearly this idea.
We all need a survival instinct and attach it to all our tasks and goals. If in order to survive we need to do certain things then self discipline is no problem. The trick is believing in ourselves and doing what is necessary to survive.
I think low self esteem comes into the equation too. If I don’t think I’m worth anything and that anything I do is likely to be useless or a waste of time, then I’m not going to bother to do very much. I’ll just let things slide.