hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about how to make discipline your
superpower now let's begin number one ignore the norm while you know the importance of developing
self-discipline other people won't always understand they might think you're strange
for waking up before sunrise maybe they make fun of you for forcing yourself to be productive they
might even laugh every time you substitute a burger for a salad while you're trying to
rid your life of toxic habits they'll tell you that you're making life harder for no reason
that you should just let loose and have fun like everybody else but you're trying not to be like
everyone else the vast majority of people have no self-discipline they struggle with motivation and
find themselves wasting more time than they use as a result most people are unsatisfied
with how their life pans out they'll sit around years later and wonder about all the things they
could have done differently to accomplish their goals so yeah you're strange you're not like
most people but that's because you're doing something they couldn't you're building the
confidence and motivation to pursue your dreams instead of waiting for them to pass you by you're
looking into the future and taking concrete steps to achieve your definition of success none of that
would be possible without the self-discipline that you're developing right now because all those good
habits hone your work ethic and teach you how to use delayed gratification unlike most people you
can make sacrifices in the present and earn the successful future you envision for yourself so go
ahead let them call you weird let them tease you about your detail to-do lists or strict routines
you know that you're putting in all this hard work for a reason you're setting aside short term
rewards to improve the quality of your entire life the truth is in order to surpass most people you
have be different from most people now that might mean skipping a party to grind out another couple
of hours of work or being made fun of by people who don't understand the long-term benefits of
what you're doing either way ignoring the norm is an essential part of the process so don't be
afraid to embrace it number two execution plans setting clear and concise goals is a critical
part of building self-discipline but after you've established those manageable goals for yourself
well what do you do next think about goals like check points on your ultimate journey
towards success you have to stop at each one to get where you need to go but sometimes the road
from point A to point B has some twists and turns setting a goal doesn't tell you how to overcome
the roadblocks standing in your way that's where a detailed execution plan comes into the picture
after you've set your sights on a new goal take some time to figure out the strategies that
you'll use to get there what information have you learned along the way that might help you
can you anticipate any problems and find ways to work around them without an execution plan even
the most diligent goal setters may find themselves stagnating that lack of progress can really take
a toll on your motivation and self-discipline so devise a detailed execution plan to make sure you
never stop moving forward number three snowballing habits it takes approximately one to two months
for your brain to register a new habit or routine now of course that number fluctuates depending on
the type of behavior you're trying to learn let's take a bad habit like eating junk food for most
people it only takes a few days for your body to start craving salty snacks why well because habits
with powerful short term rewards are much easier for your brain to immediately latch on to a good
habit on the other hand requires your brain to make short-term sacrifices in favor of long-term
benefits these habits despite being much healthier for you take significantly longer for your brain
to internalize so how do you get the best of both worlds is there some way to create habits
that are healthy and easy to learn the trick is to start small and then snowball these little changes
into larger more impactful routines the goal is to increase the likelihood that you retain
those habits so instead of diving headfirst you should gradually ease your way in okay let's say
for example that you want to start working out for an hour every day but right now you don't exercise
at all what's the chances that this new behavior will become a habit hmm pretty low so you shrink
your ultimate goal down into something smaller and easier ok let's try going for a 15-minute
walk at the same time each day that sounds easy enough right there's very little drawback so it
won't take nearly as long for your body and brain to get on board once exercise becomes
a part of your daily routine you can turn those walks into runs you'll find the transition a lot
easier when your brain has a similar behavior to build off of it's already used to setting aside
time to workout so jogging it doesn't feel like a major change eventually jogging will feel like a
regular part of your routine too and when that happens you can increase the difficulty again
and slowly build toward your ultimate goal of an hour a day while snowballing takes a lot longer
than jumping right in there's a much higher chance that those good habits will actually
stick around number 4 consistent consumption hunger and self-discipline are a terrible
combination nothing's more destructive to your productivity than an empty stomach the noticeable
lack of energy leaves you fatigued and lazy low blood sugar triggers pessimism and ruins your
concentration and to make matters worse almost everyone gets super irritable when they haven't
eaten many people try to meet their health goals by cutting down their total food into this is
especially common for people who diet by counting calories they'll miss meals and starve themselves
just to decrease their daily consumption hmm but that kind of dieting is terrible for your body
and it wreaks havoc on your mental state if you want to promote self-discipline you shouldn't let
yourself go hungry whenever you hear your stomach growling don't wait to refuel the truth is that
you can and should eat whenever you're hungry as long as you're ingesting the right kinds of food
you should be regularly consuming foods rich in protein healthy fats and nutritious vitamins not
only do they foster a healthy body but they also supply you with enough energy to keep performing
at your best so feel free to enjoy all three meals and don't skimp on the snacks sometimes
a banana or a bag of almonds is all you need to stay disciplined and productive throughout
the day number five strategic information if you're having trouble avoiding bad habits try
to learn more about them and why they're so bad for you okay let's say you notice yourself eating
too much fast food you've been trying to shake this unhealthy habit but you just keep craving
a burger and fries hmm so what's the best way to retrain your brain you might start by watching a
documentary on how all of that processed food is made what ingredients do they use where does the
meat come from the goal is to discover exactly why it's so terrible for you and that way your brain
will have a hard time focusing on anything else whenever you come across a hamburger or chicken
nuggets those disturbing figures and images will pop into your head this trick takes advantage of a
psychological phenomenon called priming when your brain is predisposed to a certain kind of stimulus
that first stimulus affects the way you respond to a second stimulus okay imagine for example that
you're shown a picture of some gross food and then another picture of a beautiful sunset the
negative emotions from the first picture will carry over into the second in other words the
sunset won't seem nearly as appealing because you associated with gross food you can do essentially
the same thing with any bad habit all you have to do is create an aversive stimulus which is
actually pretty easy you can discover disturbing information about almost any bad habit somewhere
on the internet as an added bonus more information means you can make more educated decisions most
people just choose the option that looks the best on paper to lose weight they go running
to eat healthier they start stockpiling vegetables but different routines work better for different
people by diversifying your knowledge you'll gain more control over your habits and have an
easier time maintaining them number 6 negotiating time time management skills are paramount for
anyone developing self-discipline in life you're constantly balancing work independent projects
social engagements and more so time management skills are essential if you let yourself waste
too much time then you just start cutting corners or sacrificing your goals just to keep up the
last thing you want to do is compromise on the quality of your work so what's the best way to
organize your time before you do something ask yourself two things number one is it urgent and
number two is it important if the answer is yes to both questions then make those tasks
your top priorities spend as much time as you need even if it means sacrificing other plus
important tasks if it's urgent but not important then reserve it for your free time try to commit
as little time to these as possible because quality isn't all that crucial make sure you
also leave room for important but not urgent tasks like long-term goal setting you can tackle these
almost any time so don't be afraid to work slowly and carefully finally when it's not
urgent or important it's probably just another time waster when you organize your schedule by
importance and urgency you spend less time wondering what you're supposed to be doing
next this gives you a sense of direction which ultimately helps you stay on track hey thank you
for watching Top think and be sure to subscribe because more incredible content is on the way