We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment Jim Rohn

I've learned over the years that freedom is just the other side of discipline Jake Gyllenhaal

Intro: There's several science based approaches to becoming disciplined. Motivation is not the same however, short bursts of insight via motivation can provide new ideas, but if you don't have the tenacity to build a strong foundation your work will either be incomplete, mediocre, or worst you won't begin.

This short guide will explain the science behind discipline, and it offers practical steps you can incorporate.

The Science

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that incites motivation and is linked to the feeling of reward. It helps to balance mood and when too high or too low it can make focus difficult.

Clinically depressed people show lower activity levels of dopamine and this is why they're often lazy, uninspired, and look for easy escapes.

An issue with our current technology is that though it can widen your possibilities, it can also create short-term dopamine boosts via video games, pornography, social media, internet surfing, phone use, etc. This can detract from more important goals. Luckily there are approaches you can take to maximize your potential.

Steps to gain discipline (in no particular order)

1.Mindfulness: This essential life skill can help alleviate stress, help guide emotions, and make you less inclined to remain aimless. When dopamine is low the mind becomes forgetful and weary. You're more likely to forget things like where you placed your keys, or what you did in a day. It can also detract from giving full effort.

Mindfulness centers the mind so that you are fully embracing the moment, and have no outside distractions. The only moment that matters is the now, because the future is not guaranteed and the past cannot be changed.

2. Competence: Ask yourself are you able? Willing? If not yet, what can you do to make this process easier? Having an optimistic mind state helps, but more important is having facts to back up your beliefs.

Studies have shown that when people are told beforehand that a task they will attempt is difficult, they are more likely to struggle and they perform less effectively. This places added pressure that even if not real, makes it more difficult to accomplish.

Think of the number one fear which is public speaking. We can practice a speech all day but suddenly place us in a crowd and it becomes increasingly difficult. Nothing about the task itself changed, only the environment.

That's why affirming beforehand your true skill level without bias will ground you and make you less subject to whims, fleeting emotions, and unexpected challenges. Even if you don't have full competence yet, you can get there with proper effort. You won’t become a master right away, but chipping away at your goal will naturally give you more self-confidence.

One helpful tip is to set mini goals which are explained in the next step.

3. Hyperbolic Discounting: This refers to the tendency for people to discount long term rewards in favor for short term goals.

This is why one might get lost in a sea of indulgence and not want to accomplish a goal that seems distant. It's the reason one might think "Why find a mate when you can enjoy porn?" "Why cook your own healthy food when McDonald's is on every corner?"

To steer this to your favor, break up large scale goals into smaller chunks. For example, let's say the goal is to own your own company. Make individualized goals such as finding a proper team, researching what kind of business you'd like (LLC, corporation, etc.), researching marketing, writing out a business plan and so on. It can be extremely daunting to simply look at one major goal and see it as the only true accomplishment. Savor the fact that you took another step towards success, because you're inching yourself closer to your ambition.

4. Mental Contrasting: Imagining success without obstacles or picturing imminent failure are both ineffective strategies. The brain can trick itself into feeling a sense of reward when it imagines it has accomplished a goal without roadblocks, and this makes us unlikely to begin.

Of course, feeling like you won't accomplish your goal also neuters you.

Mental contrasting is a prevailing visualization technique formed by a motivational psychologist. The idea is to imagine what obstacles might result when you try to accomplish a goal, and picturing what you can do to work through these temporary challenges.

5. Shape your environment/ Sacred Space: Make your surroundings conducive to accomplishing goals. Remove obstacles and add opportunities.

Let's say you want to lose weight. You can meal prep, place nutritionally void foods (sweeteners, alcohol, flour, junk food) in hard to reach places, shop only when not hungry, have a food journal, avoid spending time in the weekends with friends who drink and get 2am munchies. Essentially add or subtract practical steps.

As a writer I make sure to have a notebook and writing tools on me at all times, a clean work space, and I only perform work in this area, there's no other things I do so I've conditioned my mind to relate my den into a place of business.

Also turn off all distractions. Remove your phone battery, delete bookmarks to time wasting sites, add blockers to sites you don't need to visit, spend less time with those who don't help you grow.

Sacred space is something that comes from Jungian psychology. It means you set aside a specific area for just one task. Churches, gyms, libraries, concerts all have a specific vibe where rules naturally apply. Form your own environment for creativity.

6. Begin: This leads to the Zeigarnik Effect. It's a cognitive dissonance you feel that makes you feel uncomfortable to have started a task you have not accomplished.

The brain has a desire to finish what you started, therefore it's important to dip your feet in the water instead of just talking about what you want to accomplish.

7. Deadlines/ Death Ground: Set a specific time frame for when you will finish your goal. Mark in your calendar when you should have finished your goal. To add more weight to this, add a reward and or punishment.

The Death Ground approach was talked about by the author Sun Tzu's who adopted an environment where success was the only option. You essentially force only two outcomes, death or continued existence. A less hardcore (pussy) approach is to act before you think you are ready, even adding an uncomfortable repercussion for you failing to act.

For example, I told myself I wouldn't go to the gym if I didn't finish this article. Best believe I’m sweating.

8. Ego Depletion: Willpower is a limited resource. In social psychology ego depletion is depreciation of willpower which especially becomes reduced when we are challenged. Studies have shown that people who have to resist temptation versus those who go cold into a tricky puzzle perform worse.

It has also been shown to reduce the amount of guilt and prosocial behavior. So you're less likely to reflect on your past mistakes and can instead continue failing to accomplish your goals.

Even thinking you're fatigued can make your efforts less potent in both mental and physical tasks.

Interestingly enough glucose can help improve willpower. Glucose is the primary fuel source of the brain, and when test subjects were told to just taste (not even swallow) a sweet treat their willpower was increased. This essentially means that the belief we will have a boost of energy increases our abilities.

This ties back into meditation and a positive mental framework. Happiness can prevent negative thought patters that cause paralyzation, and using mindfulness can help control your emotions to where you're not a slave to any fleeting moments of feeling uncomfortable.

9. Open Mind state: Goals are easier to achieve when you understand that they are accomplished not by just innate skill, but with hard work.

This is why child psychologists will deter parents from telling kids "You're so smart". Instead, it's better to tell them "You worked really hard". This tends to form adults which understand that effort beats natural talent.

Determine what it will take to reach your goal. If all it takes is time then you’ll be more willing to devote yourself to reach success.

10. Eat phenylalanine rich foods: These foods are precursors to dopamine: Eggs, cheese, milk, meat, nuts, seeds, soy, lentils, whole grains, beans, and others.

11. Schedule: The night before you should outline your goals. This makes it less likely that you’ll wander aimlessly. First thing in the morning you’ll know exactly what tasks await.

You should also outline where you spend your time. Don’t assume that the time you spent surfing the web wasn’t much. Physically write down exactly where your time is going. You can then decide on your own where you can subtract or add more focus into.

By outlining your full schedule in written detail you’ll keep yourself on a leash and more able to drown out the unnecessary aspects. You also place an importance on time. This prevents mindless activities and chasing temporary thrills.

You have a biological clock that is ticking and it can end at any moment. Your time is the most precious resource you can’t get back, treat it with respect.

12. Your importance: There are both intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Intrinsic comes from within, such as a hobby you do just for the love. Extrinsic might be a standard 9 to 5 job that you do to get paid.

The ultimate goal would be to get paid to do what you love. So whatever it is you want to accomplish gain a deep connection with this root by acting upon it. This should be your key motivating factor in life, that one thing that you love to do. One great thing about this connection is that it settles everything else. Suddenly an argument, stressor, or pettiness will become white noise. You don’t have the time for this because your motivating factor trumps it all. Your mission is clear and the rest is just temporary.

Understand why it's important, use it to help others grow. This altruistic mind state has been proven to be the highest form of happiness. If the work you do is something you already love and it happens to inspire others then this can lead to self-actualization. It can also keep you feeling a sense of reward as you gain positive feedback and see that your efforts are contributing to something greater than you.

Potential Pitfalls: Under all circumstances avoid multitasking, it makes it harder to focus and often results in shoddier work. It simply doesn’t help you accomplish more, you often have to autocorrect.

Don’t put it off, even if what you can contribute now is minuscule it’s important to add some effort.

Motivational videos, articles about success can be enjoyable, but they accomplish nothing. Don’t just dream about it actually do it. Start off by physically writing down what you need to do.
If you have low self-esteem and cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel know that this is self-imposed. Meditation is essential and it can help you understand that you can rewire and train yourself to accomplish goals.

Conclusion Discipline is different from motivation. In order to truly put effort into a task there are different approaches you can take. Visualize how you'll get there and what obstacles may arise, make your environment better suited to accomplish your goals, remove time wasting activities, detach yourself from distractions, reward yourself after accomplishing a task, break large goals into smaller chunks, use mindfulness to control your emotions, understand why your goal is important, and enjoy the fact you're working towards getting paid to do what you love.

** Additional resources** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion

http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Zeigarnik_Effect

http://behaviorlab.org/Papers/Hyperbolic.pdf

https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/present-bias/

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472681249&sr=1-1&keywords=drive