How to Build Self-Discipline (Resource Page) • The Disciplined Rebel

This guide goes step-by-step through what you need to do to build self-discipline. It includes links to articles and Reddit posts I’ve written which will help you along your journey. (Some of the articles contain YouTube videos as well if you prefer that route).

A word of caution before you begin —> Make sure to actually apply this advice!

The best advice in the world is only helpful if you use it.

My recommendation: As you read, take time to reflect on how you can apply the methods and tactics to your life. And in-between every major section, take a break and practice what you’ve learned for at least a few days (in some cases more).

As you work your way through this guide, if what you’ve learned has made a positive impact on your life (even a small one), I’d love to hear about it!

Either drop a comment on one of my YouTube videos or Reddit posts. Or feel free to email me directly at info@disciplinedrebel.com. I’m also on Twitter if you prefer.

And make sure to sign up for The Disciplined Rebel Newsletter to get updated as I add EVEN MORE resources to this page. (This guide will continue to grow over time).

My Story (How Building Self-Discipline Changed My Life)

This section is about my story, and how self-discipline completely transformed my life!

10 years ago I was the biggest procrastinator in the world. But then I started developing self-discipline, and my life began to change dramatically.

I used to spend all day playing video games, eating junk food, and feeling sorry for myself.

Then in my early 20s, I started turning my life around. And it all started with getting self-disciplined in one area —> Exercise.

Exercise was the spark that changed my life.

First, exercise led to eating healthier and getting a job at a gym.

Then, those things led to gaining confidence in myself, getting a girlfriend, and improving my social skills.

Now a days, while I’m far from perfect, my life is a million times better! I can’t even begin to tell you just how dramatically better things are now!

Over time, I acquired even more good habits, like mediating, journaling, and managing my finances better. I also developed much better relationships with friends and family, and I’ve had a successful career. And best of all, I am happily married to my wife, Abby.

One thing I started realizing as I’ve gone through my journey, is that every time I improved my self-discipline in 1 area of my life, that made it easier to get self-disciplined in other areas of my life. I call this idea The Spillover Effect —> more on this later!

Now that you’ve heard a bit about my story, and how dramatically self-discipline has changed my life, it’s time to walk through how to make these same changes in your life.

How to Get Started on Your Journey to Build Self-Discipline

In this section, I provide some inspiration for how to get started.

“Start small —> Everything, even the biggest goals and dreams, all begin with small steps.” – The Disciplined Rebel

Here are my recommendations for the first of my articles and Reddit posts to read, to get started on your journey to build self-discipline:

Why Self-Discipline is Important: Learn what self-discipline is and why it is important to develop, through this article/video.
Why Self-Discipline is Difficult (And How to Make it Easier): Ever wonder WHY self-discipline is so difficult? This article/video tells you why self-discipline is hard and how to make it EASIER. Including 5 methods which have helped me COMPLETELY TRANSFORM my life over the last 10 years.
The Spillover Effect – Part 1: Sometimes progress in 1 area (even if really small) can lead to a series of exponential breakthroughs in other areas of your life (I call this “The Spillover Effect”)
The Spillover Effect – Part 2: HOW to make The Spillover Effect work for YOU
Past vs. Present vs. Future-Focused Mindsets: Don’t think “If I had only done XXX for the last year”, instead think “If I spend the next year doing XXX, just imagine how amazing it will be” (Re-frame your mindset from past-focused to future/present-focused).
Positive Affirmations for Self-Discipline & Focus: Positive affirmations for self-discipline can help reframe your mindset and make it easier to focus on your goals. Read all about how affirmations work and get over 50 self-discipline affirmations (in video & text formats).

How to Form Good Habits

The section contains my best resources on how to form good habits.

“You don’t have to do everything all at once – just focus on 1 thing at a time and your life will start to improve exponentially.” – The Disciplined Rebel

How to Learn to be Consistent (A Wise Way to Live): In this article/video, I talk about how to make consistent progress towards your goals. Including a 9-step method for how to stay consistent.
How to Focus on the Process Not the Outcome (For True Joy AND Success): This article/video discusses why, when, and how to focus on the PROCESS (including a 3-Step Method for HOW to focus on the process, which you will definitely want to check out!)
How to Learn to Enjoy the Process (11 Methods): In Part 2 of my series on how to focus on the process, I provide 11 new strategies for how to enjoy the process of pursuing a goal.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards – Which Are Better?: This post explains in detail how to reward yourself to best stick to your goals (and be happier while doing so).
11 Secrets to Forming Good Habits That Stick: An overview of how to form positive habits.
How to Stick to a Workout Schedule (It’s Not as Painful as You Might Think): This article/video talks about how to STICK to a workout routine. And it has nothing to do with how much motivation or willpower you have.

How to Break Bad Habits

This section contains my best resources on how to break bad habits.

“When you start to try to break a habit, it’s going to be EXTREMELY hard, so don’t feel overly guilty when you slip up a little. Instead, focus on limiting the damage and getting back on track as soon as you can. If you can prevent a full downward spiral, that’s still a huge victory.” – The Disciplined Rebel

Moderating Behavior —> Using The Who What When Where Why Method: A full, in-depth guide on how to control bad habits, which you get if you signup for my newsletter (for free).
How to Change the Habit of Sleeping Late (Simple, Practical Methods): This article/video talks about how to WAKE UP earlier and GO TO BED earlier. Keep in mind, I don’t think you have to wake up early to be successful. But many people ask me how to shift their sleep schedule earlier, so I wanted to share what has helped me TRANSFORM from night owl to early riser.
How to Cure Your Phone Addiction: Read this article/video to figure out how to BREAK your phone addiction, using several POWERFUL strategies which have helped me cure my own phone addiction.
How To Stop Playing Video Games So Much (6 Ways): In this article/video, I provide 6 simple strategies for how to REDUCE video game time. These strategies really helped me cut back on my own video game playing.

How to Stop Procrastinating

This section is about how to re-wire your brain to stop procrastinating, and to start following through with your goals.

“Procrastination is not about a lack of motivation (no one has perfect willpower) —> It’s about understanding the emotions that are creating resistance (guilt, regret, fear, etc.) and developing systems that enable you to push past that resistance.” – The Disciplined Rebel

How to Stop Putting Off Work (& Get Stuff Done!): In this article/video I discuss two things. First, I talk about WHY you put off working on things. And second, I go over HOW to stop putting off work, and start getting stuff done.
If you want to do X, Y, and Z, get started with X (even if you don’t know how to do Y and Z yet): A Reddit post about The Perfectionist Mindset vs. The Action-Oriented Mindset.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things (And How to Stop): This article talks about why you procrastinate, why you procrastinate important things EVEN MORE, and how to stop procrastinating.
Why You Are Motivated at Night but Not in the Morning: A lot of people tend to get motivated at NIGHT but lose that motivation when they WAKE UP the next day. If that scenario has happened to you before, then this article/video will help you clarify what is going on —> And how to FIX it.

Improve Your Time Management Skills

This section contains resources on how to be organized and productive.

“The most well thought out organizational system in the world is useless if you don’t use it.” – The Disciplined Rebel

How to Break Down Goals Into Steps (To Make ANY Goal Manageable): In this article/video, I share a simple system for how to break goals into smaller pieces. Including why breaking goals into tiny steps is so important, and 3 pro tips to keep in mind when breaking down your goals.
17 Simple, Yet Highly Effective To-Do List Strategies: Learn why to-do lists are important and how to set up the most ideal to-do list system for YOU —> Your organizational system can make it much easier for you to build self-discipline if done the right way (but if done the wrong way organization/planning can become a form of procrastination).
How to Start Your Day Off Right (19 Morning Routine Tips): Create the perfect morning routine that fits your needs —> How to decide when to wake up, what to eat, how long your routine should be, etc.

Overcome Obstacles

This section is about how to overcome the obstacles that make it harder to build self-discipline.

“The secret to dealing with obstacles, is to know when to push through and when to give yourself a break.” – The Disciplined Rebel

How to Get Out of a Rut (23 Tactics): Everyone gets in ruts at certain points in their lives, including myself —> Here are 23 tactics which can help you get out of ruts, and back on track towards your goals.
31 Ways to Stop Stressing Over Things You Can’t Control: When things happen which are outside of your control, it can be very stressful (and stress makes being self-discipline a lot harder) —> This article gives 31 methods for how to reduce the stress you feel over the uncontrollable parts of our lives.
How to Be Self-Disciplined in Tough Times: Self-discipline is hard enough when times are normal, but can seem nearly impossible when going through something challenging —> Learn how to keep working to your goals when times are tough (and when to give yourself a break).

Find Happiness and Balance in Life

This section is about finding happiness and balance —> The stuff that makes self-discipline worth it.

“Self-discipline done wrong (pushing yourself too far, burning out, being hard on yourself) won’t last long, but self-discipline done right (taking things one step at a time, living a balanced life, being kind to yourself) will last a lifetime.” – The Disciplined Rebel

How to Live a Balanced Life (A 7-Step Action Plan): This article discusses what it means to live a balanced life, what parts of your life to balance, and my 7-Step Action Plan for How to Live a Balanced Life —> Balance makes self-discipline sustainable for the long-term.
Accepting Yourself is the Key to True Happiness: This post talks about how no goals or achievements are going to make you happy if you aren’t happy with yourself. “If you think [Insert X] is going to bring you happiness, it’s not —> The only way to be truly happy is to learn to accept yourself right now.”
How to Change Your Life in Your 20s: I started becoming self-disciplined in my mid-20s. So, I wanted to share some tips on how I started transforming my life at that age. And of course, developing self-discipline was a big part of it. Side note – there’s still plenty of time to change if you are beyond your 20s like me 🙂

Next Steps to Build Self-Discipline

As mentioned earlier in this guide, all of this is only going to help if you APPLY it to your life. So go out there and start putting these words into ACTION!

Don’t forget to sign up for The Disciplined Rebel Newsletter if you haven’t already, to get the latest updates —> There is much more to come!

Best of luck on your journey to BUILD self-discipline!