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Self-discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t feel like it

• Self-discipline: The ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses. Oxford Dictionary
• Self-discipline: The ability to make yourself do things you know you should do even when you do not want to. Cambridge Dictionary
• Self-discipline: Training and control of oneself and one’s conduct, usually for personal improvement. American Heritage Dictionary
• Will power,  Self-control,  Mastery,  Freedom

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Self-discipline is to operate by principle rather than desire

• Why is discipline important? Discipline teaches us to operate by principle rather than desire. Saying no to our impulses (even the ones that are not inherently sinful) puts us in control of our appetites rather than vice versa. It deposes our lust and permits truth, virtue, and integrity to rule our minds instead. John MacArthur
• Principles,  Desire

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Self-discipline is the queen of all virtues that enables all others

• We need to promote self-discipline. My favorite social psychologist, Roy Baumeister, believes it is the queen of all the virtues, the strength that enables the rest of the strengths. Martin Selegman
• Self-command is not only itself a great virtue, but from it all the other virtues seem to derive their principle luster. Adam Smith
• Let’s ask God to help us to self-control for one who lacks it, lacks his grace. Rumi
• Wherever you are, whatever you do, have discipline in your life. Sri Swami Satchidananda
• Without discipline, there’s no life at all. Katherine Hepburn
• Discipline provides a constancy which is independent of what kind of day you had yesterday and what kind of day you anticipate today. Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Virtue

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Self-discipline is a keystone habit for success

• Dozens of studies show that willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success. Charles Duhigg
• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Jim Rohn
• Self-control is a vital strength and key to success in life. Roy Baumeister
• Self-control is a better predictor of academic success than intelligence, a stronger determinant of effective leadership than charisma, and more important for marital bliss than empathy. If we want to improve our lives, willpower is not a bad place to start. Kelly McGonigal
• It turns out that self-discipline was twice as accurate as IQ in predicting the students’ grade-point average. Daniel Coyle
• Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear. Dan Millman
• In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves…self- discipline with all of them came first. Harry S Truman
• There is no finer sensations in life that which comes with victory over one’s self… Go forward to a goal of inward achievement, brushing aside all your old internal enemies as you advance. Vash Young
• Success

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Self-discipline helps you control what you think and do…

• Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self- discipline enables you to think first and act afterward. Napolean Hill
• The wise are disciplined in body, speech, and mind. They are well controlled indeed. Buddha
• Discipline is choosing to do what you know must be done, as often and as long as required. It’s doing the thing you have to do whether you like it or not.  Marc and Angel Chernoff
• Self-control

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… and helps you to follow through on what you commit to…

• In addition to self-awareness, imagination and conscience, it is the fourth human endowment – independent will –   that really makes effective self- management possible. It is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them. It is the ability to act rather than to be acted upon, to proactively carry out the program we have developed through the other three endowments. Empowerment comes from learning how to use this great endowment in the decisions we make every day.  Stephen Covey
• Emotional talent is the capacity to stimulate and draw upon our natural fountain of energy—to learn to blow into our own sails. We develop emotional talent not by relying on motivation all the time but by applying our will no matter how we feel. Dan Millman
• Discipline really means our ability to get ourselves to do things when we don’t want. Arden Mahlberg
• Commitment

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…which is essential in establishing new habits and life changes

• To change, you must face the dragon of your appetites with another dragon: the life-energy of the soul. Rumi
• People with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work. Roy Baumeister
• The power of will is the supreme court over all other departments of my mind. I will exercise it daily when I need the urge to action for any purpose, and I will form habits designed to bring the power of my will into action at least once daily. Bruce Lee
• You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good. Seneca
• Habit,  Change

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Self-discipline lets you move forwards and be productive, no matter how you are feeling

• The heart of accepting your emotions and reclaiming your will is to do what you need to do despite what you are feeling. Accept and learn from your feelings, but don’t let them run your life. By remaining productive during difficult emotional episodes, you are more likely to improve your emotional state than if you do nothing but ruminate and wait for sunny skies. Daniel Goleman
• The mature human being goes about doing what needs to be done regardless of whether that person feels great or terrible. Knowing that you are the kind of person with that kind of self- control brings all the satisfaction and confidence you will ever need. Even on days when the satisfaction and confidence just aren’t there, you can get the job done anyway. David Reynolds
• You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it. Doing what needs to be done even when it’s the last thing you want to do, is the critical factor in achieving success. Mike Mahler
• Discipline provides a constancy which is independent of what kind of day you had yesterday and what kind of day you anticipate today. Jon Kabat-Zinn
• You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good. Jerry West
• Momentum,  Productivity

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Self-discipline gives you great strength and power over your life …

• The greatest strength and wealth is self-control. Pythagoras
• The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself. Rumi
• One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield. Buddha
• There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. Daniel Goleman
• He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city. Jesus
• Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. Michel de Montaigne
• It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. Buddha
• Discipline is remembering what you want. David Campbell
• Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. Elie Wiesel
• He who reins within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. John Milton
• How shall I be able to rule over others, that have not full power and command of myself? Rabelais
• There is only one way by which you can achieve prosperity. It is to take charge of your mind. Eric Butterworth
• We gain the strength of the temptation we resist. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.
• Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.
• He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city. Proverbs 16:32
• Such power there is in clear-eyed self-restraint. James Russell Lowell
• Strength,  Power

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…for there is no greater power than mastery over oneself

• One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. Leonardo da Vinci
• He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. Tao te Ching
• If you can win complete mastery over self, you will easily master all else. To triumph over self is the perfect victory. Thomas Kempis
• Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Lao Tzu
• Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively. Peter Senge
• Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Lao Tzu
• To be free is to be the master of ourselves. Matthieu Ricard
• He who controls others may be powerful but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. Lao Tzu
• The conquering of self is truly greater than were one to conquer many worlds. Edgar Cayce
• Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind. Zen saying
• When you rule your mind, you rule your world. Bill Provost
• He that would govern others, first should be The Master of himself. Philip Massinger
• Self-mastery comes through denial of the little things.
• I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself. Pietro Aretino
• Who is fit to govern others? He who governs himself. You might as well have said: nobody. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare
• Mastery

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Self-discipline gives you greater control over yourself and your life

• Let’s ask God to help us to self-control for one who lacks it, lacks his grace. Rumi
• Self-control is a vital strength and key to success in life. Roy Baumeister
• Self-control is a better predictor of academic success than intelligence, a stronger determinant of effective leadership than charisma, and more important for marital bliss than empathy. If we want to improve our lives, willpower is not a bad place to start. Kelly McGonigal
• The wise are disciplined in body, speech, and mind. They are well controlled indeed. Buddha
• People with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work. Roy Baumeister
• The greatest strength and wealth is self-control. Pythagoras
• People with high self-control consistently report less stress in their lives. They use their self-control not to get through crises but to avoid them. They give themselves enough time to finish a project; they take the car to the shop before it breaks down; they stay away from all- you-can- eat buffets. They play offense instead of defense. Roy Baumeister
• When you do the wrong thing, knowing it is wrong, you do so because you haven’t developed the habit of effectively controlling or neutralizing strong inner urges that tempt you. William Clement Stone
• Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom’s root. Robert Burns
• To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves. Virginia Woolf
• Self-control

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Self-discipline helps you regulate your impulses in pursuit of a longer term goal…

• No one can feel competent to cope with the challenges of life who is without the capacity for self- discipline. Self- discipline requires the ability to defer immediate gratification in the service of a remote goal. This is the ability to project consequences into the future—to think, plan, and live long- range. Nathaniel Branden
• Successful people make sure that everything they do in the short term is consistent with where they want to end up in the long term. They practice self- discipline at all times. Brian Tracy
• We need to be able to regulate our impulses if we’re going to perform well at anything that requires sustained attention—whether it’s studying for a test, building a business, or cultivating our relationships. Brian Johnson
• Goal setting

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Self-discipline gives you the ability to master new skills and refine your talents

• First of all, the practice of an art requires discipline. I shall never be good at anything if I do not do it in a disciplined way; anything I do only if “I am in the mood” may be a nice or amusing hobby, but I shall never become a master in that art. Erich Fromm
• Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability. Roy L. Smith
• Skill,  Talent

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Self-discipline reduces stress and increases inner peace

• People with high self-control consistently report less stress in their lives. They use their self- control not to get through crises but to avoid them. They give themselves enough time to finish a project; they take the car to the shop before it breaks down; they stay away from all- you- can-eat buffets. They play offense instead of defense. Roy Baumeister
• Reshape yourself through the power of your will. Those who have conquered themselves live in peace, alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, praise and blame. Krishna from The Bhagavad Gita
• To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. Buddha
• Stress,  Inner peace

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Paradoxically, self-discipline is a ladder to personal freedom

• Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. Frank Herbert
• All true discipline is self-discipline. And self-discipline is never against freedom—in fact, it is the ladder to freedom. Only disciplined people become free, but their discipline is not obedience to others: their discipline is obedience to their own voice. And they are ready to risk anything for it. Osho
• The gift of self-discipline is that it has the power to take you beyond the reasoning of temporary emotion to freedom. Think of how empowered you’ve felt on occasions when you haven’t given in to the ‘I don’t feel like it’ syndrome and honored your commitment to yourself. What does not feeling like it have to do with it? The combination of love for something with the willingness to do what it takes to practice it—discipline—results in freedom. Michael Beckwith
• The freedom of discipline means that you agree to free yourself from the limitation of play acting the roles assigned to you by society, family, religion, and education and accept the part that has been written for you since the beginning of time: being your Self. Michael Bernard Beckwith
• A healthy view of discipline keeps us on track in areas of our life where we’ve determined to make a change. Discipline is a practice of self-love, self- respect, and surrender that results in freedom. Michael Bernard Beckwith
• Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from the expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear-and doubt. Self- discipline allows a pitcher to feel his individuality, his inner strength, his talent. He is master of, rather than a slave to, his thoughts and emotions. A. Dorfman
• Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly. Julie Andrews
• Discipline can feel wildly liberating. Danielle LaPorte
• True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline. Mortimer J. Adler
• We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. Jim Rohn
• To enjoy freedom, we have to control ourselves. Virginia Woolf
• It takes discipline to be a free spirit. Gabrielle Roth
• Freedom

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Self-discipline awakens self-respect

• Self-respect is the fruit of discipline. Abraham J. Heschel
• Forget about self-esteem. Work on self-control. Roy Baumeister & John Tierney
• It is relatively easy to succeed in life with low self-esteem, but very difficult to succeed without self- control, self-  discipline, or emotional resilience in the face of setbacks. Jean Twenge & Keith Campbell
• By constant self-discipline and self-control, you can develop greatness of character. Grenville Kleiser
• Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. Abraham Joshua
• Self-respect

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All in all, self-discipline gives you the power to create greater happiness for yourself…

• To find the happiness we all desire we have to figure out: (1) what to do, (2) how to do it, (3) where to get the strength to get it done. … Even when we seem to be hung up on what to do or how to do it this hang- up is rarely the real problem. The problem is we don’t have the strength to do what will make us happy. It is hard for us to admit to ourselves that we don’t have what it takes so we tend to rationalize, to weep and wail about not knowing what to do or how to do it. As much as we may complain, we usually know that what we lack is not the know- how, but the strength. William Glasser
• To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. Buddha
• The development and use of willpower is the most direct access to happiness and motivation that I’ll ever have. Steve Chandler
• First you must learn to control yourself. The rest follows. Blessed is he who knows himself and commands himself, for the world is his and love and happiness and peace walk with him wherever he goes. Robert Heinlein
• Happiness

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…and a better, more constant life

• Improving willpower is the surest way to a better life. Roy Baumeister
• Self-discipline is crucial to a simpler, more contented life. Tenzin Gyatso
• Discipline provides a constancy which is independent of what kind of day you had yesterday and what kind of day you anticipate today. Jon Kabat-Zinn

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We pay a high price for lacking self-discipline

• More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm. Buddha
• Don’t think you can attain total awareness and whole enlightenment without proper discipline and practice. This is egomania. Appropriate rituals channel your emotions and life energy toward the light. Without the discipline to practice them, you will tumble constantly backward into darkness. Lao Tzu
• The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret. Sarah Bombell
• But the worst enemy you can encounter will always be you, yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caves and woods. Friedrich Nietzsche
• If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. Napoleon Hill
• We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment. Jim Rohn
• If you’re not willing to accept your own discipline, you’re not going to accomplish two percent of what you could – and you’re going to miss out on 98% of the good things you could have. Tom Hopkins
• He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche

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The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret

• Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons.
• Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Jim Rohn
• How like herrings and onions our vices are in the morning after we have committed them. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Regret

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Build your will power like a muscle…

• If you want more self-control, you can get more. And you get more self-control the same way you get bigger muscles—you’ve got to give it regular workouts. Heidi Grant
• When you’re trying to make a big change or transform an old habit, look for a small way to practice self- control that strengthens your willpower, but doesn’t overwhelm it completely. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• If we try to save our energy by becoming willpower couch potatoes, we will lose the strength we have. But if we try to run a willpower marathon every day, we set ourselves up for total collapse. Our challenge is to train like an intelligent athlete, pushing our limits but also pacing ourselves. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D

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…by starting small…

• Start to cultivate self-discipline. Become a person who can make a decision and carry it out. Set yourself a task and follow through with it. It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular. I’ve advised people to just take a walk around the block every evening after dinner. Literally, just walk once around the block each night. Do that simple thing for one month and you’ll have power. Power you can use to take the next step. But no, most people think that’s too simple. That’s not worthy of their great spiritual potential. They want to get right into the heavy work and do something big. The result is that they end up doing nothing.  Richard Rose

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…for small acts of will power create a virtuous cycle

• Other studies have found that committing to any small, consistent act of self- control can increase overall willpower. And while these small self- control exercises may seem inconsequential, they appear to improve the willpower challenges we care about most, including focusing at work, taking good care of our health, resisting temptation, and feeling more in control of our emotions. Kelly McGonigal
• As people strengthened their willpower muscles in one part of their lives—in the gym, or a money management program—that strength spilled over into what they ate or how hard they worked. Once willpower became stronger, it touched everything. Charles Duhigg
• Exercising self-control in one area seemed to improve all areas of life. Roy Baumeister
• Will power

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Make strong commitments

• Commitments are things you keep no matter what happens to make them difficult to keep. Commitments are powerful. So be very selective when using them. Steve Chandler
• Of course, it’s even easier to avoid running up debt at a clothing store if you go there without a credit card. Precommitment is the ultimate offensive weapon. Buy junk food in small packages or keep them out of the kitchen altogether. If you have a gambling problem and are going someplace where there’s a casino, sign up ahead of time for the self- exclusion list (which will prevent you from collecting any winnings). Roy Baumeister & John Tierney
• Successful people adhere to the ‘no exceptions rule’ when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out. Jack Canfield
• Commitment

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Create strong motivations

• The secret of discipline is motivation. When a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself. Sir Alexander Paterson
• Motivation,  Intention

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Meditate and slow your breathing

• Meditation helps greatly. When neuroscientists observe people praying or meditating, they see strong activity in two parts of the brain that are also important for self-regulation and control of attention. Roy Baumeister
• There is one way to immediately boost willpower: Slow your breathing down to four to six breaths per minute. That’s ten to fifteen seconds per breath—slower than you normally breathe, but not difficult with a little bit of practice and patience. Slowing the breath down activates the prefrontal cortex and increases heart rate variability, which helps shift the brain and body from a state of stress to self- control mode. A few minutes of this technique will make you feel calm, in control, and capable of handling cravings or challenges. Kelly McGonigal
• The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center. So does a person.  Norman Vincent Peale
• Meditation,  Breathing

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Keep your living environment tidy

• Another simple old-fashioned way to boost your willpower is to expend a little of it on neatness. People exert less self-control after seeing a messy desk than after seeing a clean desk. You may not care about whether your bed is made and your desk is clean, but these environmental cues subtly influence your brain and your behavior, making it ultimately less of a strain to maintain self- discipline. Order seems to be contagious. Roy Baumeister & John Tierney

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Do physical exercise

• Exercise turns out to be the closest thing to a wonder drug that self-control scientists have discovered. For starters, the willpower benefits of exercise are immediate. Fifteen minutes on a treadmill reduces cravings, as seen when researchers try to tempt dieters with chocolate and smokers with cigarettes. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Exercise

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Partake in stress relieving activities

• The next time you’re feeling stressed and about to reach for the promise of relief, consider trying a more effective stress reliever instead. The most effective stress-relief strategies are exercising or playing sports, praying or attending a religious service, reading, listening to music, spending time with friends or family, getting a massage, going outside for a walk, meditating or doing yoga, and spending time with a creative hobby. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Stress encourages you to focus on immediate, short term goals and outcomes, but self- control requires keeping the big picture in mind. Learning how to better manage your stress is one of the most important things you can do to improve your willpower. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D
• Stress

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Be supportive of yourself.  Guilt and self-criticism won’t help.

• In the quest for self-control, the usual weapons we wield against ourselves—guilt, stress, and shame—don’t work. People who have the greatest self-control aren’t waging self-war. They have learned to accept and integrate these competing selves. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Study after study shows that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self- control. In contrast, self- compassion—being supportive and kind to yourself, especially in the face of stress and failure—is associated with more motivation and better self-control. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• We all have the tendency to believe self-doubt and self-criticism but listening to this voice never gets us closer to our goals. Instead, try on the point of view of a mentor or good friend who believes in you, wants the best for you, and will encourage you when you feel discouraged. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Guilt,  Criticism

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Take a longer term perspective on what you do now

• Aim to reduce the variability of your behavior day to day. View every choice you make as a commitment to all future choices. So instead of asking, “Do I want to eat this candy bar now?” ask yourself, “Do I want the consequences of eating a candy bar every afternoon for the next year?” Or if you’ve been putting something off that you know you should do, instead of asking “Would I rather do this today or tomorrow?” ask yourself, “Do I really want the consequences of always putting this off?””  Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• Perspective

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Don’t overdo it

• Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.

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Being clear about what matters

• Willpower is not about being the “right” kind of person and forcing yourself to do what you don’t really want to do. Willpower is about finding the energy and courage to do what really matters to you, even when it’s difficult, and even when a part of you is afraid or unwilling.   Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.
• You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.  The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good.’  Stephen Covey
• Meaning,  Purpose

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• The biggest enemies of willpower are temptation, self-criticism, and stress. These three skills —self- awareness, self-care, and remembering what matter most— are the foundation for self-control.  Kelly McGonigal
• It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. Leonardo da Vinci
• Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage. Robin Sharma
• The more you nurture the embryo of self-discipline, the more it will mature. Robin Sharma
• There is no allurement or enticement, actual or imaginary, which a well-disciplined mind may not surmount. The wish to resist more than half accomplishes the object.  Charlotte Dacre
• I have been my own disciple and my own master. And I have been a good disciple but a bad master.  Antonio Porchia

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• Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands-and then just eat one of the pieces. Judith Viorst
• The intelligent want self-control; children want candy. Rumi
• I can resist everything but temptation. Oscar Wilde
• Willpower is being able to stop after only one peanut.   Channing Pollock
• I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it. Mae West
• The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Oscar Wilde
• It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways. Buddha
• It’s all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back. Mick Jagger

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