As time goes on, I am starting to think more and more about what I’m going to do with my life and the things I want to accomplish, wondering if those goals will ever actually be fulfilled.
Ever since I was young, I’ve been making lists of things that I want to achieve, whether that’s for a short period of time or later in life. Towards the end of every school year, starting around sixth grade, I would write down what I was going to do over the next three months so that I could do a certain thing by the end of the summer. All of the goals were realistic and achievable, but only if I used those three months to my advantage. Unsurprisingly, every summer I would just end up relaxing and having fun rather than working towards the things that I had originally wanted to do. Nearly every day, I would tell myself that I would get those tasks done later. When the new school year would come around, my list would remain completely unchecked and I would end up disappointed in myself for being so unproductive. I lacked the self-discipline that I needed to follow through with my goals.
I know that I’m not the only one who struggles with this problem. It’s a part of human nature to have dreams and goals, and you are not in the minority if you fail to achieve them. In fact, less than 10% of the population sets goals that they actually end up accomplishing, and the secret to achieving these goals is to have strong self-discipline. You need to be able to rely on yourself that you’re going to get things done, even if it’s hard.
“[Self-discipline is] the control of one’s impulses and desires, forgoing immediate satisfaction in favor of long-term goals,” said the American Psychological Association.
Self-discipline is necessary for success. It is crucial if you want to be happy with yourself and feel good about your past when you look back on it. When you’re older, I doubt that you want to reflect on what you’ve done in your life and feel disappointed. For me, I know that I want to be able to look back and know that I was successful and accomplished. I want to feel satisfied, knowing that I did everything I could to make my life the best life it could be.
One of the best ways to stay self-disciplined in your goals is to make them specific. Although it’s okay to think about your final destination, you need to set smaller, achievable goals over shorter periods of time for them to be realistic. You can’t always reach them instantaneously. For example, if you want to run a marathon, you need to be able to easily run a mile before you can go out and run a whopping 26.2 miles.
Achieving a long-term goal is one of the most incredible things a person can do, as it requires lots of dedication and hard work. So, if you’re wanting to achieve a goal, start now and don’t wait. It might cause temporary pain, but it will lead to long-term satisfaction.
