No.1 Define Your Purpose

Self-discipline starts first thing in the morning. Now, I’m not talking about waking up earlier getting a good night’s rest. I’m talking about your morning mindsets. All the thoughts that occupy your brain right when you wake up. Many of us spend the first few minutes of the day worry. Yeah, you’re anxious about the chores you need to do, anxious about responsibilities and expectations. The first thing in the morning, your thoughts are self-defeating and discouraging. Your day begins with worry and self-doubt. Because the first thing on your mind isn’t happiness, it’s pressure, it’s fear, it’s all the things you feel forced to do each day: you have to drive to work, you have to impress your boss, you have to climb the corporate ladder. When harsh expectations flood your brain in the morning, what happens to your motivation? It plummets, and so does yourself control. You may even feel a sense of resentment toward your job, your schedule, or your lifestyle. But unless you make a change, you’ll never build the self-discipline that you’re looking for. If you want to develop discipline, this one secret can transform the way you look at your life. It only takes a few seconds of your time each morning. You don’t need to practice in elaborate routine, you don’t have to spend weeks struggling to get it right. All you have to do is think differently. When you wake up tomorrow morning, just try this: when your brain starts to worry about your crowded schedule, ask yourself one question: what makes today valuable to me? That don’t think about all the responsibilities on your plate, don’t worry about the pressure other people put onto you, don’t give into those toxic fears of failure and inadequacy. Instead, you find the reason why you get out of bed in the morning. It could be a burning passion, creative interest, a silent determination to make a difference. You may get out of bed to help a loved one or just to enjoy your favorite pastime. Everyone conceptualizes purpose differently. To some, it’s a lifelong journey toward one lofty goal, to others it’s a sense of satisfaction or happiness. You may answer this same question differently every single day. On Monday, you’re passionate about your work. On Tuesday, you’re looking forward to a new opportunity. And on Wednesday, you may get out of bed just to enjoy your favorite breakfast. Hey, no matter what purpose value or emotion your chasing, remind yourself why you do it. As you develop self-discipline, your reason why will become a powerful source of motivation and inspiration. It only takes a few seconds every morning. So, don’t let another day go by without defining your purpose.

chore n.杂务；零工；困难的工作
self-defeating adj.自我挫败的
discouraging v.沮丧（discourage 的 ing 形式）；失去勇气
harsh adj.（环境）恶劣的，艰苦的；严厉的，残酷的
flood 充斥
plummet v.大幅下跌；垂直落下
resentment n.愤恨，怨恨
elaborate routine 繁复的套路
give into 屈服于
toxic adj.有毒的
inadequacy n.不充分，不足；不胜任，缺乏信心
pastime n.娱乐，消遣
conceptualizes vt.使概念化
lofty adj.巍峨的，高耸的；崇高的，高尚的；傲慢的，高傲的

No.2 Tolerate Discomfort

Discomfort is another important part of self-discipline. But what does it mean to tolerate discomfort? To accomplish a greater goal, you have to step outside your comfort zone. Alright, let’s say for example, you want to improve your work ethic. Well, that’s a large long-term goal. So, you have to start small. Maybe you start by changing your schedule. You decide to wake up earlier, or you spend more time at the office. In the moment, those changes feel uncomfortable. But each small sacrifice snowballs into a long-term reward. If you want to build self-discipline, you need to become a master of long-term gratification. But you don’t have to master this difficult habit overnight. Instead, practice tolerating small amounts of discomfort. Each time, you wake up early, you’re improving yourself control. Each time, you work for an extra hour, you’re strengthening your resolve. These small sacrifices add up creating a greater strength in the face of temptation. Your self-discipline will grow. Your tolerance for discomfort will improve and you’ll take steps toward your ultimate goal.

tolerate v.容许，允许（不同意或不喜欢的事物）；忍受，包容
step outside 走出去
sacrifice n.牺牲，献出；献祭，供奉；祭牲，供品
snowballs into 逐渐扩大成为更大的问题或情况
gratification n.满足，令人喜悦的事物
temptation n.引诱，诱惑；诱惑人的东西

No.3 Deconstruct Catastrophes

What happens when you push yourself into an uncomfortable position? You may realize it’s not nearly as bad as you imagine. On the outside, looking In every moment of discomfort seems like a catastrophe. You imagine all the ways of risk could blow up in your face. You envision yourself becoming a spectacular failure. You worry the world will crumble at your feet and that imaginary disaster drives you further down the easy road. But as you build self-discipline, you may discover these disasters or all in your head. The truth is, you have more control than you think. And that control will give you a surge of personal power. It awards you the confidence to believe in yourself. No matter what goal your chasing, you need to believe in yourself. You need to have faith in your ability to survive and persevere. Otherwise, you stand no chance of finding success. So, what’s the third secret to building self-discipline? You can handle much more than you think. No matter how terrified you feel, no matter how impossible an obstacle seems, give yourself credit, because you’re far more capable than you realize.

blow up 爆炸，爆发
crumble v.崩裂，坍塌
a surge of 一股激增/涌动
persevere v.锲而不舍，坚持不懈；固执己见
terrified v.使害怕，使恐惧（terrify 的过去式和过去分词）

No.4 External Empowerment

Self-discipline isn’t something you develop on your own. You can and should rely on other people for support. In fact, many discipline people empower themselves by empowering others first. Self-discipline doesn’t always come from within. Some people discover a deeper intrinsic passion that fuels their lifelong calling. But not everyone has the same experience. You may find motivation by engaging with your community. By helping people achieve things they never could on their own. If you’re struggling to find value inside yourself, then look outward. Do something that makes a difference in someone else’s life. Often times, when we help another person, we go above and beyond. We surpass our mental limitations and discover how much we’re capable of. But how does helping others translate into discipline and self-control? Well, empowering your community could be the reason you get up in the morning. Making someone smile may motivate you to sacrifice your free time or work long hours. If you want to build self-discipline, you need a powerful reason why. Helping others may be the lifelong motivator that you’re looking for.

within adv.在里面，在内部；在内心深处
intrinsic adj.内在的，固有的
fuel v.（给……）提供燃料，加油；刺激，加剧
calling n.使命
engaging v.雇用，聘请；参加，从事
surpass v.超过，胜过，优于
sacrifice v.牺牲，献出
motivator n.动力；激励因素

No.5 Remember Your Dailies

Self-discipline will help you achieve lofty far away goals. But before you can achieve your long-term dreams, you have to start small. You have to build self-discipline slowly but surely. Because you can’t handle the full responsibility of your ultimate goals. At least not yet. Self-discipline grows by altering small daily habits: the way you eat, the time you sleep, the hours you work. These daily adjustments create a strong foundation on which you transform your mindset, construct your future and accomplish your goals. Over time, you’ll climb higher and achieve more. But never forget where you started. Self-discipline is like a ladder, throughout your life, you’ll steadily climb to higher runs. But the rungs below you never disappear. Instead, they act as a safety net, waiting to catch you when you fall. Oh, just think about it like this: you’re climbing up a ladder when suddenly you miss a step, your hand slips, and you slide down the ladder. But instead of falling all the way to the bottom, you catch yourself on a lower rung. Self-discipline works the same way. When you experience failure or run into an obstacle, your daily routine will be there to catch you. No matter what, you can always fall back on the habits that helped you find success in the first place. So, never forget the little things. Yeah, you will fall sometime in your life. It happens to everybody. But if you maintain your daily habits in routines, you’ll catch yourself quickly and climb back up to the top.

over time 久而久之
ladder n.梯子
rung n.[建]梯级
slips v.使滑动（slip 的第三人称单数）；溜走
No matter what 无论如何
fall v.降落，落下；跌倒，倒塌

No.6 Survive the Slumps

Slumps are inevitable. Even the most disciplined people in the world struggle every once in a while. Your motivation may falter. You may find it difficult to stay focused. You may wake up in the morning and forget what goals that you’re striving for. In those moments, bad habits become more alluring than ever. When you lack your usual passion or excitement, you feel the urge to just give in. You’re tempted to take the easy road, you start to lose control of yourself and slip further down the ladder. Sometimes, one slump can send you tumbling down to rock bottom. To help you survive your slumps, here’s another secret to building self-discipline. You don’t have to progress leaps and bounds every single day. Some days, you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world. And on those days, push yourself to improve. But other days, you’ll struggle just to maintain the status quo. On those days, normalcy is all you need. Hey, don’t worry about exceeding your expectations, don’t force yourself to face new challenges, simply preserve your daily habits. Eventually, your slump will end and that passion and enthusiasm will come surging back. And you’ll find yourself making more progress than ever.

survive v.（经历事故、战争或疾病后）活下来，幸存
slump n．经济衰退，萧条
every once in a while 有时但不经常，偶尔，不时地
falter v.衰弱，衰退
strive v.努力，奋斗；斗争，反抗
alluring adj.诱惑的，诱人的；迷人的，吸引人的
urge n.强烈的欲望，冲动；推动力
tumbling down to rock bottom 跌入谷底
progress leaps 进步飞跃
status quo 现状
normalcy n.常态
surging back 回来了

No.7 Self-Forgiveness

Last but not least, self-discipline relies heavily on forgiveness. After a slumper failure, do you beat yourself up? Do you get angry at yourself on accomplishing too little? Do you get frustrated that you’re not progressing fast enough? Many people do. They linger on their failures attacking and criticizing themselves over and over again. But look, you can’t change the past. You can’t undo the time you’ve wasted or the damage you’ve done. All you can do is learn and improve. So, just spend some time reflecting on why things went wrong, isolate the problems and brainstorm solutions. And then, just let yourself off the hook, stop beating yourself up, forgive yourself for making a mistake, and give yourself a second chance to succeed.

forgiveness n.宽恕；宽仁之心
slumper failure 惨败
beat yourself up 自责
accomplishing 完成
frustrated adj.懊恼的，沮丧的，失望的
linger on 苟延残喘；逗留，停留；踌躇
brainstorm 集思广益
off the hook 解脱