7 simple exercises to build self-control

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Self-control, like all other skills, can be developed through constant practice. Here are seven simple yet effective exercises to help you better manage yourself and achieve your goals.

When it comes to developing self-control, don't expect immediate results. Regular practice and gradual progress are what will help you maintain your results for a long time.

Day after day, your habits lead you on the right path or the wrong path. There are no neutral habits. You can move forward developing self-discipline, or slowly destroy your ability to control yourself.

Here are a few habits that may seem minor but can provide tremendous benefits over long periods of practice.

1. Take Action Despite Discomfort

What you will benefit from in the long term is difficult to accomplish at first. For example, when you just switch to a healthy diet, you do not feel in the best possible way, but in the long term, giving up junk food is very important for your body.

Remember: it is difficult only at the beginning of the path. Your mind wants to stay in the comfort zone, but getting out of that zone is what helps to change your life for the better.

So with any process that brings positive results. For example, to write an article and receive a stream of gratitude from readers, you have to torment over the title, erase and re-write the beginning five times, and walk a couple of kilometers around the room before inspiration descends on you.

2. Set high goals

It's so easy to sit on YouTube and watch funny videos … You find time for this! In any case, you must prioritize and identify the most important activities for yourself.

When you are full of doubts and your self-control goes to zero, understanding what really matters to you can save the day. Of course, even knowing about an important project, you can start to procrastinate, but deep inside yourself you understand that your business is much more important than the moment of comfort that procrastination will provide you.

Define your most important goals in different areas of life: health, well-being, relationships.

If you love chocolate and set yourself a goal to lose 5 kilograms of excess weight, then you understand that a short rush of dopamine from eating your favorite sweet is not more important than your goal.

Of course, this does not mean that you will protect yourself from all your bad habits by just setting goals for yourself. Remember: there will be no quick changes, you will have a long process of working on yourself. But every time you remind yourself of your ultimate goal, it becomes a little easier for you to pursue it.

Since we're on the topic of food, here's a simple rule that is very easy to follow. It's just as easy to ignore, though.

3. Wait 5 minutes before eating anything

Or 10 minutes if you're really hungry. Nowadays, we are accustomed to the instant gratification of our needs and desires. Remember how annoyed you are when you have to wait just 10 seconds before loading a slow website.

When it comes to food, we are often not really hungry, but emotionally addicted to snacks or addicted to sweets. So when you feel like you're hungry, it might actually be a mental trick to get some of the psychological satisfaction that comes with eating.

Controlling the amount of food you eat is a huge problem that becomes apparent when you are on the scale. But when you feel like eating something, it's not so obvious anymore.

Waiting for 5-10 minutes will give you time to pull yourself together and either skip snacking entirely, or eat much less and healthier foods as a result. Plus, you realize that a little discomfort is sometimes helpful. And the food will taste even better when you expect and want it.

4. Set a sleep schedule

Falling asleep at the same time regularly and getting up when you need to get up is a big problem for many people. Here you need to understand that losing control is contagious.

If you lose control of one area of your life, it extends to other areas as well.

That is, if you fell asleep late and slept, the next day you are more likely to be unable to refrain from junk food, skip a workout in the gym and put off an important project until later.

At night, you are likely to navigate the pages on the Internet for no particular purpose. And it doesn't end when you go to bed. The next day, you keep doing a lot of useless things.

On the other hand, when you set yourself a sleep schedule and stick to it strictly, your morning starts with good things - what you have planned and what is really important.

The ability to take control of your desires when it's time for sleep influences your reactions and actions in the morning. If you made the right choice, the right actions await you the next day.

5. Make the bed right after getting up

This is one of the most important things to be productive during the day. Seriously. This simple act of tidying up your bed has a huge impact on productivity and self-control throughout the day.

Making your bed right after getting up will set your mind to work. Your brain receives a signal that sleep time is over and a new work day has begun.

If you head straight out of bed to your computer to check your email, or to the kitchen to grab a bite or two, this sets the tone for your day. If you procrastinate on a task as simple as cleaning the bed, which only takes a minute to complete, the rest of the tasks on your list will likewise be pushed aside for entertainment and minor activities.

6. Set up a workout for 7 minutes

Most people set themselves the goal of starting to play sports or fitness from the new year, from the first of any month, or at least Monday. Do not repeat other people's mistakes and start practicing a little today.

A 7-minute workout requires no sportswear, no gear, no going to the gym or stadium. You will not be able to find an excuse for yourself other than “I don’t want to,” and it will not help calm your conscience.

Here you can read the rules for this simple yet intense workout. You will surely have doubts whether it is worth doing this, whether it will make sense from 7 minutes? Maybe then not to study at all? It's your mind trying to stay in your comfort zone, ignore that voice and start exercising.

7. Meditate for 5 minutes

Meditation for the mind is like exercise for the muscles. It strengthens it and improves cognitive ability. And the more you meditate, the more self-control you gain. And the ability to control your mind makes you simply invincible.

But how do you start if you've never meditated before? Try different apps like Headspace or Stop, Breathe & Think.

If you don't have enough motivation to get started, read Mingyur Rinpoche's The Buddha, the Brain, and the Neurophysiology of Happiness. It discusses in detail the different types of meditation and the benefits of this activity.

Start with 5 minutes a day - there is so much time in any, even the most hectic schedule. It is advisable to meditate at the same time, for example at seven in the morning, right after waking up, or right before going to bed.

Meditation will teach you to control your mind, which in turn will give you the strength to control yourself. Plus, daily practice will help you build discipline.