The Psychological Reason You Lack Self-Discipline
Some of us run on discipline, other of us run on obsession
I like to believe that I can be disciplined. I draw up sophisticated to-do lists, habit charts and resolutions boards. I try to make new habits, and for a few days, it works. I do my daily work out, I write my thousand words and read up on current affairs, I brush my hair with 100 strokes and apply night cream and day cream and mid-afternoon to early dusk cream. For a few days, I really think that I have managed to turn things around, that I have become a self-disciplined person. And then it all falls apart — something comes up, I’ll miss a day, and then another, and then I’ll just let the habits slide.
I’m terrible at self-discipline. It’s not because I’m lazy or not motivated enough to do things, it just appears that my brain is better at working by obsession than by routine. I can do things intensely, but I can’t seem to set up healthy habits to keep the ball rolling. It’s annoying, because, although I get stuff done through my obsessions, it makes long term projects harder, and makes me yo-yo on things like healthy eating, exercise and sleep.
A lot of people feel they lack discipline. In the 2011 Stress in America Survey, 27 per cent of people said that lack of willpower was the biggest barrier to making…
