By N.K.A. Ballal, Retd. Sr. Vice-President, ITDC
One walks into a dinner engagement. After the dinner is over, you notice a young man or a woman pick up their plates and politely ask their hostess if they can wash and keep back their dinner plates. How do you react? Wow, what an upbringing? Is this something in-born and genetic? Of course not. It is something taught, observed and inculcated, that is, self-discipline. It’s no rocket science. There are many important qualities that can contribute to a person’s achievements and happiness, but there is only one that begets sustainable, long-term success in all aspects of life: self-discipline. Whether in terms of your diet, fitness, work ethics or relationships, self-discipline is the number one trait needed to accomplish goals, lead a healthy lifestyle and ultimately be happy and make others around you happy too. When I was in service, I had a reputation of not coming late even for a morning shift at 6am, come rain or shine. The same trait continued all through my service. It became a habit and I could not think of going late even for a train journey or a movie? How did I develop this? No magic, a small stint of NCC in my school days did the trick. Automatically all people connected with you like your better -half, children, colleagues, subordinates also fall in line and develop this habit. Self-discipline is required in all aspects of one’s life even while doing things like consuming liquor. A person with self-discipline will never get drunk even if he or she has to consume liquor. They do it in moderation to keep company or decorum. People with high self-control are happier than those without. These people spent less time debating whether to indulge in behaviours detrimental to their health and are able to make positive decisions more easily. The self-disciplined did not allow their choices to be dictated by impulses or feelings. Instead, they made informed, rational decisions on a daily basis without feeling overly stressed or upset. Despite what many may think, self-discipline is a LEARNED BEHAVIOUR. It requires practice and repetition in your day-to-day life. To improve your own self-discipline, test out these 5 proven methods for gaining better control. This regimen will help you establish good habits, break bad ones and improve your control by making simple changes to your everyday routine. Improved self-discipline will allow you to live a freer life by helping you to make healthy choices, not emotional ones. Give it a shot.
