“Self-Discipline Begins With the Mastery of Thought” — Napoleon Hill
When we talk about self-discipline, it’s often in the context of something we are or aren’t, or something we have (or wish we had) but don’t:
“I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to working out.”
“I want to be more disciplined about saving for retirement.”
“I set a goal to eat less take-out but I just don’t have the discipline to cook.”
“I wish I had the discipline to stick to my calendar each day.”
Notice that in each of these examples, discipline is tied to the act, the thing we want to do or stop doing.
Recently, however, I stumbled across this quote by Napoleon Hill, author of the ground-breaking self-help book, Think and Grow Rich:
“Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought.” — Napoleon Hill
In this case, Napoleon Hill ties self-discipline to our ability to manage and direct our thinking, rather than letting our thinking direct us (i.e., thinking on purpose in a way that drives the behavior we want).
Why is this emphasis on our thinking vital to self-discipline?
Amy Morin, author of the best-selling book, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, explains it like this:
“What you think directly influences how you feel and how you behave.”
It’s a domino effect.
Imagine our thoughts as being the first in a line of dominoes. If we want our dominoes to fall a certain way, we have to be intentional about which domino we choose to start the process.
If we want to be more self-disciplined, we must practice choosing thoughts that generate emotions that compel us to take the actions we want.
Procrastination is an action, admittedly an action we want to avoid. It makes sense, then, that procrastination is not so much a time management issue as it is an emotional regulation issue.
Why? Because our emotions influence our behavior. If we’re overwhelmed, tired, bored, scared, apathetic, worried, etc., it takes willpower to override our emotions and still take the action we want.
If you’re like me, I can’t always rely on willpower to be there when I need it.
But also, if you’re like me, you don’t want to feel like you have to rely on willpower to get yourself to do what you want and need to do, when you want and need to do it.
This is why cultivating self-mastery is a game-changer. It’s self-empowering. Instead of hoping you feel motivated or inspired or energized to take the action you want, you know you create the emotional energy you need by pruning and choosing your thoughts.
As Napoleon Hill would say, self-mastery begins with learning to be the master of your thoughts, rather than a slave to them.
If our thoughts determine the trajectory of our lives, we can use this knowledge to course correct. We can learn how to reverse engineer the process so we create more of what we want, and less of what we don’t.
In order to do this, though, we have to commit to being disciplined about mastering our thoughts.
What if learning to think on purpose with the end in mind was the one thing you focused on this year?
How could starting to cultivate this skill help you in your life?
Have a great day.
Kari
— —
Ever wonder if you might benefit from life coaching? Try a free 90-minute coaching call. Experience what it would be like to have weekly 1:1 coaching support for 6 months to a year while you actively do the mindset work to get unstuck and move forward in your life. Life-Mindset-Habits.
To book a free call, visit https://kariwatterson.com
Originally published at https://kariwatterson.com on January 15, 2023.
