No one is born with ingrained self-discipline, but it’s easy to learn and can really boost your career, home life, and self-confidence. To help you develop this skill, here are 18 bad habits that disciplined people avoid at all costs!
Skipping Exercise
Getting regular daily exercise is a great way to focus your mind and keep your body healthy. According to the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, regular exercise promotes mental health across all demographic groups. Disciplined people make sure they get enough exercise every day by incorporating it into a daily routine.
Putting Off Tasks
Disciplined people don’t put off tasks; instead, they tackle them head-on. One of the most effective ways to approach tasks is prioritizing the most important ones and then breaking them down into manageable chunks. Setting aside time for each prioritized task ensures that you hit your deadlines without stress.
Winging It Without a Plan
Life is stressful without a plan, so when they want to achieve a goal, disciplined people don’t wing it–they create a plan and regularly review it so they stay on track! It doesn’t matter whether this is for work, a hobby, or for health; they’ll always approach it with a strategy!
Eating Junk Food
Junk food lacks enough nutrients to keep you healthy, so New Scientist reminds everyone that they should eat at least seven pieces of fruit and veg every day for optimal health. This can be hard, but disciplined people will always tackle it by meal prepping instead of reaching for takeout.
Poor Time Keeping
Turning up late and not respecting other people’s time is a bad habit that won’t make you any friends in the office. Disciplined people respect others by planning ahead, leaving plenty of traveling time to avoid hitting traffic, and testing out software so they aren’t delayed in online meetings.
Over Committing Themselves
It’s very easy to overcommit, especially when people ask for help, or you want to impress the boss. However, this can lead to overcommitting and prevent you from hitting your deadlines. Disciplined people carefully consider whether they have the capacity before committing, helping them maintain reliability while avoiding burnout.
Ignoring Hobbies and Self-Care
Self-care isn’t just a buzzword; everyone needs time to relax and unwind. Disciplined people make time for their hobbies by prioritizing self-care with efficient scheduling. This ensures they always have a great attitude and maintain enthusiasm to do their jobs effectively.
Skimping On Sleep
Sleep is essential to our health, so disciplined people never miss out on sleep. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends adults get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night for good cognitive and physical health, which is exactly why disciplined people keep their sleep schedules consistent. Otherwise, they’d underperform!
Impulse Spending
Impulse spending is a terrible habit that can sink your bank balance into the red each month, but disciplined folks don’t struggle with this. They stick to their budget, prioritizing needs such as rent, bills, and savings, avoiding the short-term dopamine hits from spending on unnecessary items.
They Don’t Worry About Failure
Viewing failure as an opportunity to grow is a great way to ensure you aren’t afraid to try new things. This is why someone with discipline avoids feeling bad about failure; instead, they see it as a temporary setback and focus on the next challenge.
Making Excuses or Blaming Others
Making excuses is a bad habit that annoys other people, so disciplined people take responsibility for their actions. In the face of criticism, they’ll improve their behavior in the future by focusing on solutions rather than obstacles and reasons why they can’t be done.
Excessive Scrolling
Everyone can agree that endlessly scrolling through social media sucks up time, yet many continue to do it! Meanwhile, accomplished people always apply their discipline in this scenario; they set their phones down after a set period, making sure they prioritize work or enjoy their hobbies instead.
Neglecting Their Personal Growth
Disciplined people will never neglect their personal growth–in fact, they’ll actively seek it out whenever possible. Activities like reading, college courses, or hobbies such as cooking classes or languages are all self-improvement activities that can boost your career, self-worth, and social life.
Holding Onto a Grudge
Grudges and bad feelings are exhausting emotions that drain energy, peace of mind, and time. By letting go of resentment, you can move on and improve your stress levels. Disciplined people focus on ways to fix or forget grievances because otherwise, grudges will only steal their time and energy.
Ignoring Feedback
Avoiding feedback is a bad habit that means you’ll struggle to improve yourself. Disciplined people will actually ask for feedback, acting on constructive suggestions so they can improve and grow. However, they will also be aware of when it’s important to ignore nit-picking criticism that crushes confidence.
A Messy Cluttered Home
Living in clutter and mess is distracting, so it’s a habit that anyone seeking discipline should avoid. A study from the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that cluttered homes lead to underproductivity and poor mental health, so keep your home tidy by clearing away and cleaning a little each day!
Trying To Multitask
Multi-tasking impacts efficiency and leads to poor-quality work; by concentrating on one task at a time, you’ll produce your best work. Disciplined people give their full attention to one task before moving on to another because this way, they’re not distracted and can hit their targets.
They Don’t Compare Themselves to Others
Last but not least, comparing yourself to others leads to insecurity, jealousy, and a lack of self-confidence, so disciplined people only compare themselves to their past selves. This way, they focus on personal growth year after year rather than developing a complex over what others have achieved.