Why Self-Discipline is Important (11 Key Reasons)

Have you ever wondered why self-discipline is important?

This article is going to help answer that question. I am going to go over:

  1. WHAT self-discipline is
  2. Why self-discipline can be CHALLENGING
  3. Why self-discipline is IMPORTANT

Including providing 11 huge reasons WHY self-discipline is IMPORTANT, and can transform your life!

Table of Contents
1) What Self-Discipline Is
2) Why Self-Discipline Can Be Challenging
3) 11 Reasons Why Self-Discipline is Important
4) How to Build Self-Discipline

What Self-Discipline Is

Here is the definition of self-discipline according to a few sources:

“The ability to make yourself do things when you should, even if you do not want to do them.” (Cambridge Dictionary)

“Discipline and training of oneself, usually for improvement.” (Dictionary.com)

“The ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it.” (Oxford Dictionary)

“The ability to make yourself do things that should be done.” (Merriam-Webster)

Common Themes Across Definitions

Although the definitions vary a bit, a few key themes emerge.

Self-discipline is about…

  • Controlling yourself
  • Making yourself do things
  • Self-improvement

The Meaning of Self-Discipline

Here is a definition which ties all these themes together:

Self-discipline is about learning to control yourself so you can work towards your goals, even when no one is forcing you to do so.

Why Self-Discipline Can Be Challenging

Why is it that self-discipline can be challenging for a lot of people?

Controlling Yourself is the Hard Part

The “controlling yourself” aspect is the big challenge.

You often know what you need to do to achieve a goal. (Or at least you have the capacity to learn the knowledge and skills which are required).

But despite knowing what you need to get done, consistently working towards your goals without procrastinating or getting distracted can be difficult.

Imagine if you were a character in a video game, and you were controlling yourself. Self-discipline wouldn’t be an issue.

You simply would click a button and you would do whatever you needed to get done.

Level 1:

  • Make your video game self take a programming course
  • Make your video game self apply for fancy tech jobs with super high salaries
  • Don’t let your video game self get discouraged and sit in pajamas all day re-watching all The Lord of the Rings movies

Level 2:

  • Make your video game self stick to a diet
  • Make your video game self exercise
  • Don’t let your video game self give up and binge on Doritos and ice cream until four in the morning

Just imagine how successful your actual self would be if you treated yourself the way you would treat your video game self?

The problem is, in real life, there are a few challenges that you don’t have in the video game scenario.

Real-Life Challenges to Being Self-Disciplined

  • Needing to mentally and/or physically exert yourself
  • Dealing with emotions, such as worry, doubt, or fear
  • Conflicting priorities that make it difficult to determine what to focus on
  • Having a vague sense of what you need to do, but not knowing the specific steps involved or how to get started
  • Being impacted by tough life events or going through bad ruts that make self-discipline even harder

These are enormous obstacles, but are possible to overcome.

11 Reasons Why Self-Discipline is Important

Although self-discipline can be hard, it is worth developing, because it is capable of transforming your life in monumental ways.

Here are 11 reasons why self-discipline is important to develop.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #1: Self-Discipline Helps You Achieve Your Goals

One of the biggest reasons to learn self-discipline, is that it will help you follow through with your goals.

Although there are some things you can get done without self-discipline, most goals require self-discipline to accomplish.

Why?

For most things in life, no one is going to be there to force you to follow through with those things every step of the way.

When you are a kid, you can get by without self-discipline because your parents and teachers tell you to do things.

But at some point, you need self-discipline to get things done.

The amazing thing about self-discipline, is once you build it, you can use it to accomplish any goal you want.

Whether that is:

  • Getting in better shape
  • Studying
  • Advancing your career
  • Forming stronger connections with people
  • Starting a business
  • Meditating
  • Learning an instrument
  • Writing a book

Or whatever else you dream of doing.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #2: Self-Discipline Benefits Your Future Self

There is a theory called Present Bias which states that most of the time we do things to benefit our Present Selves, and we discount the effects our actions have on our Future Selves.

For example, you eat a cookie because it tastes good in the moment.

Even though you know that in the future too many cookies can negatively impact your health.

Self-discipline gives you the power of delayed gratification. Which means you can resist short-term rewards in favor of long-term benefits.

And the best thing about self-discipline is you don’t ALWAYS have to delay gratification.

Your Present Self matters too.

But self-discipline puts you in charge. So you have the ability to do things which are hard in the moment, but benefit your Future Self.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #3: Self-Discipline Involves Forming Good Habits

Habits can be extremely powerful.

Habits are about getting things so ingrained into your routine that you consistently do them without giving them a second thought.

A big part of self-discipline involves forming good habits that enable you to stick with your goals for the long-run.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #4: Self-Discipline Helps You Break Bad Habits

On the flip side of good habits, are bad habits.

Examples include:

Keep in mind, some bad habits are very personal and what is bad for one person might not be bad for another.

For example, I know people who spend large periods of the day playing video games and are perfectly happy.

But there are other people who want to reduce how much time they devote to video games, so they have more time for other stuff.

Whatever you consider you bad habits, self-discipline will help you control them – by either reducing the amount of time you spend on them or eliminating them entirely.

Side note, here are a few resources on how to break bad habits you may find helpful:

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #5: Self-Discipline Helps You Stop Procrastinating

Another reason why self-discipline is important, is that it helps you stop procrastinating.

Procrastination is the act of putting something off that you need or want to get done.

Self-discipline helps you reduce the amount of time you spend procrastinating, and helps you get started with the things you have been postponing.

Side note – Here is an article with more information on how to stop procrastinating.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #6: The Spillover Effect

The Spillover Effect is the idea that sometimes progress in one area (even if really small) can lead to a series of exponential breakthroughs in other areas of your life.

This effect is really strong when it comes to self-discipline.

Since as you build self-discipline in one area of your life, you often start seeing positive changes in other areas of your life as well.

For example, I used to have zero self-discipline in all aspects of life. Work, school, exercise. You name it.

But I finally had a breakthrough when it came to working out.

Not only was that amazing in its own right, but once I found out how to be disciplined when it came to working out, it started becoming easier to get disciplined in OTHER areas of my life as well.

My discipline in exercise eventually led me to be more disciplined in a ton of other areas.

Including:

  • Diet
  • Work
  • And finances

Plus, it boosted my confidence which helped my self-esteem and social life.

Sometimes all it takes is becoming self-disciplined in ONE area of your life to spark a SERIES of positive life changes.

Side note – If you are interested in more on exercise, check out my article on how to stick to a workout schedule.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #7: Self-Discipline Gives You Confidence

As you start to build self-discipline, you will start to gain confidence in yourself.

There are two reasons for this.

First, as you get more self-disciplined, you will start making progress towards your goals, which will give you a sense of accomplishment.

Second, you will start to create a positive feedback loop, which looks like this:

  • Achieving more goals —> Increased confidence
  • Increased confidence —> Achieving more goals

That is:

  • The initial goals you accomplish increase your confidence and belief in yourself.
  • Which make it easier to accomplish even more goals.
  • Which then leads to even more confidence.
  • And so on.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #8: Self-Discipline Improves Your Time Management Skills

Time management is about regulating how much time you spend on specific goals or tasks, in order to accomplish your goals in the most efficient manner possible.

Learning self-discipline and time management go hand-in-hand, as a big part of self-discipline is figuring out how to manage your time effectively.

Self-discipline involves learning how to allocate your time to different goals, and how to execute them as efficiently and productively as you can.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #9: Self-Discipline Allows You to Follow Through with Your Great Ideas

Have you ever had a brilliant idea, but then never did anything with it?

We’ve all had those ideas we regret never following through on.

Self-discipline will help you make your ideas a reality.

I’m not saying they are going to all work out. But at the very least, with self-discipline, you will give them a shot.

For instance:

  • If you have a business idea, self-discipline will help you do what you need to do to start that business.
  • If you have an idea for a novel, self-discipline will help you write your story.

Whatever your great idea is, self-discipline will help you execute it – and not just keep telling yourself you are going to get to it “eventually.”

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #10: Self-Discipline is Important Because it is Within Your Sphere of Influence

There are so many things in life which are outside of our control:

  • Where you are born
  • Who your family is
  • How tall or short you are
  • Etc.

But self-discipline is one of the few things that is within your sphere of influence. And that makes it all the more important to develop.

Why Self-Discipline is Important – Reason #11: Self-Discipline Can Help You Find Your Sense of Purpose

As you build self-discipline, you will start making progress towards your goals.

And as you progress, some of those goals may send you in a direction you couldn’t have even imagined your life would go in.

You may discover a career you want to pursue. A hobby you are passionate about. Or even a person you fall in love with.

You don’t necessarily have to have one single sense of purpose.

But as self-discipline opens up new doors through a continued process of self-improvement and self-discovery, you may find layers of meaning somewhere along your journey.

Free “Why Self-Discipline is Important” Cheat Sheet

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The newsletter is all about how to build self-discipline. You will get also get access to other great newsletter-only resources as well.

How to Build Self-Discipline

So now that you’ve learned why self-discipline is important, the next step is to figure out how to build it!

Check here to learn how to build self-discipline

This article contains some of my best resources on how to build self-discipline.

PS: You may be interested in this article/video on why self-discipline is difficult and how to make it easier.