Formula of Five: Self-discipline (Part 1)
by Peter Amsterdam October 20, 2015
“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”1
Today we’re going to talk about an often elusive quality: self-discipline. The definition of self-discipline is “the ability to make yourself do things that should be done.” Most of us want to have more self-discipline in our lives, because we know that it is central to a meaningful life, but, rather ironically, it takes some self-discipline to install this good habit.
The first bit of good news is that self-discipline is a learned skill. Self-discipline is a muscle; the more you exercise it, the more it will increase. So if you’re not a particularly self-disciplined person, welcome to the club! But you can grow in self-discipline.
So, why do we need self-discipline? What are the benefits? We don’t want to exercise self-discipline just for the fun of it, because quite frankly, it’s just not all that fun. We want and need self-discipline because we want to progress. I’m sure you have a vision of something you want to see done, something you want to accomplish. You probably have a list of goals that you need to reach in order to realize your vision. And as we know, people who are self-disciplined are often more successful; they achieve what they are aiming for far more often and more quickly than those who consistently struggle to rein in their time and focus.
Exercising self-discipline also brings personal benefits to you. When practiced, it boosts your self-esteem, helps you to accomplish your goals, gives you a sense of accomplishment and knowledge that you’re doing your best, and it develops your character, and results in more time available for the things that are important to you.
Perhaps you feel the need to improve your prayer life, develop a morning routine, meditate regularly, spend more quality time with your kids, invest in your marriage, stop eating junk food, exercise regularly, complete a personal development or study course...
So let’s look at five practical points to self-discipline.
Number 1. Practice delayed gratification.
Or, put another way, be willing to hold out for the “better.” You may have heard of the famous “marshmallow experiment” conducted in the late 1960s. The experiment involved a group of four-year-olds who were given a marshmallow and told that they could eat that one marshmallow immediately, or if they could wait for 15 minutes, they would be given two marshmallows to eat. Seventy percent of the children gave up in less than a minute; only thirty percent were able to hold out for the second treat. Later studies evaluated the same group of kids when they were in their late teens, and in all cases, the children who, as four-year-olds, were able to delay their gratification outranked the others.
An article states:
The differences were astonishing. Those who had been able to control their impulses and delay gratification as four-year-olds were more effective socially and personally as teenagers. They had higher levels of assertiveness, self-confidence, trustworthiness, dependability, and a superior ability to control stress. Remarkably, their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were also 210 points higher than the "instant gratification" group!2
This study shows there is value in consciously choosing to put off doing something you want to do or enjoy now because you know there’s something more important that you need to do first or instead. This is a key principle to keep in mind in making daily decisions. Thankfully, this is a quality we can grow in—it’s a matter of conscious choice.
1 Proverbs 13:4 ESV.
2 Jim Clemmer, Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success (The Clemmer Group, 1999), 97.
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