Similarly, the basic method to build
self-
discipline is to tackle challenges that you can successfully accomplish
but which are near your limit. This doesn’t mean trying something and failing
at it every day, nor does it mean staying within your comfort zone. You will
gain no strength trying to
lift a weight that you cannot budge, nor will you
gain strength lifting
weights that are too light for you. You must start with
weights/challenges that are within your current ability to lift but which are
near your limit.
Progressive training means that once you succeed,
you increase the challenge. If you keep working out with the same weights, you
won’t get any stronger. Similarly, if you fail to challenge yourself in life,
you won’t gain any more self-discipline.
Just as most people have very
weak muscles compared
to how strong they could become with training, most people are very weak in
their level of self-discipline.
It’s a mistake to try to push yourself too hard
when trying to build self-discipline. If you try to transform your entire life
overnight by setting dozens of new goals for yourself and expecting yourself to
follow through consistency starting the very next day, you’re almost certain to
fail. This is like a person going to the gym for the first time ever and
packing 300 pounds on the bench
press. You will only look silly.
If you can only lift 10
lbs, you can only lift 10
lbs. There’s no shame in starting where you are. I recall when I began working
with a personal trainer several years ago, on my first attempt at doing a
barbell shoulder press, I could only lift a 7-lb bar with no weight on it. My
shoulders were very weak because I’d never trained them. But within a few
months I was up to 60 lbs.
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