10 Reasons People Struggle with Self-Discipline, According to Psychologist

The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Everything is hard before it is easy.” So, even after knowing the importance of self-discipline, we struggle to adopt this valuable trait.

According to Clinical Psychologist Deeksha Athwani, Discipline is a crucial factor in achieving success and personal fulfilment, yet many people struggle with maintaining it. One of the primary reasons behind this struggle is procrastination. Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks, often leading to stress, missed opportunities, and reduced productivity. Understanding why people procrastinate is the first step towards overcoming it and improving self-discipline. By understanding the reasons behind procrastination and implementing strategies to address them, individuals can improve their discipline and productivity. Procrastination is a common challenge, but with the right approach, it can be overcome, leading to greater success and personal fulfilment.”

Top 10 Reasons People Struggle with Self-Discipline

Procrastination:

Procrastination involves delaying a task or goal beyond its time limit or deadline and doing something less important than that task. It is one of the causes of lack of self-discipline. It has become a part of our everyday life where we need to complete a task but somehow we perform other less important tasks instead. E.g. instead of completing your college assignment, you are scrolling through social media platforms.

Procrastinating doesn’t imply that a person is necessarily lazy but, it involves postponing the inevitable. It makes you believe that you have time left to complete the task. But, in reality, the decreasing time compromises the quality of your performance in the task and increases the stress about the outcome. So, instead of saying “I’ll do it later”, you should try to find out ways to make the task interesting and avoid distracting yourself in other less important activities.

“Many people procrastinate because they fear not being able to complete a task successfully. The fear of failure can be paralyzing, leading individuals to avoid starting a task altogether. This avoidance behaviour creates a vicious cycle where the more they procrastinate, the more daunting the task becomes. Perfectionists often delay tasks because they set unrealistically high standards for themselves. They fear that their work will not meet these standards, so they put off starting or completing tasks. The pressure to produce perfect results can be overwhelming and counterproductive.” Says Deeksha.

Inability to say ‘no’:

We may feel that what’s a big deal in saying a ‘no’ but, people lacking self-discipline struggle with it and vice-versa. You must have seen people having an ‘extra slice of cake’, ‘another glass of wine’, ‘an unnecessary purchase’, and ‘social interaction while they’re exhausted’. It’s all because they find it hard to say ‘no’. They justify their actions by saying that they don’t want to disappoint others, miss out or feel excluded. But, going beyond our capacities and needs is not at all healthy. We must have the courage and self-discipline to take a stand and prioritize ourselves. It’ll save our time, energy and sanity.

Lack of morning routine:

Many people call themselves ‘night owls’ and their routine is quite the opposite of others. They sleep in the daytime and work at night which disturbs their biological clock. Our body is accustomed to resting at night and carrying out errands in the daytime. The morning routine is not only part of a healthy lifestyle but, it reflects the self-discipline in a person. So, if you’re finding it hard to manage your activities, it means you need to follow a routine. It’ll help you manage your activities with increased efficiency and effectiveness.

Poor health habits:

Having a healthy lifestyle also contributes to building self-discipline in an individual. Individuals exhibiting poor health habits like eating junk food, neglecting exercise, or not getting enough sleep often struggle with self-discipline. An individual who opts burger instead of salad, alcohol instead of water and binge-watching their favourite show instead of sleeping at the time can’t exhibit self-discipline. So, you need to make healthy choices to maintain good health and self-discipline. Another behaviour often exhibited by individuals who struggle with self-discipline is poor health habits.

Neglecting Personal Growth:

Taking care of yourself includes investing time and effort into improving yourself. Personal growth is about learning new skills, expanding your knowledge, and stepping out of your comfort zone. It also involves introspecting yourself, reflecting on your decisions, and facing your shortcomings with courage. So, if an individual is neglecting their personal growth then, they can’t be self-disciplined. Therefore, one should consistently work on them; it’ll inculcate self-discipline in them.

Frequent mood swings:

The way you regulate and control your emotions affects your self-discipline. People with frequent mood swings can struggle with self-discipline. E.g. females struggle with self-discipline during menstruation because of varying moods, their mood affects their determination to complete their tasks. So, managing your emotional reaction according to the different situations is necessary to have control over your self-discipline.

Avoidance of difficult tasks:

Performing difficult tasks requires self-discipline. But, as a human, we often avoid the path of difficulty and choose easy instead. A difficult task challenges you to step out of your comfort zone and make steady progress. So, try not to avoid difficult tasks, face them and put in as much effort as you can. This will evolve the self-discipline inside you as it’s going to help push you out of the ‘I can’t do this’ zone.

As per Deeksha, Feeling overwhelmed by the size or complexity of a task can lead to procrastination. When a task feels too big to handle, anxiety sets in, causing people to avoid it. Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps can help reduce this overwhelming feeling.

Struggling with consistency:

Consistency is an integral part of making any commitment and maintaining it. It helps motivate you and provides the enthusiasm to struggle with the obstacles in the way of your journey. So, any individual struggling with being consistent can’t possess it. E.g. you have started doing exercises in the morning but, you skip it some days, so being inconsistent can’t bring self-discipline in you.

A lack of long-term goals:

Individuals can achieve their long-term goals through their self-discipline as it helps them keep going. But, some individuals don’t set long-term goals as their vision is near-sighted. They can’t find time to sit down and give some serious thought to their future. So, you should try planning long-term goals, cultivate them with self-discipline and make consistent progress towards your goals.

On this, Deeksha commented In a world filled with distractions and instant gratification, it’s easy to choose short-term pleasures over long-term goals. Activities like browsing social media, watching TV, or playing video games provide immediate rewards, making it tempting to delay more demanding tasks.

Lack of Motivation:

Motivation is the key to driving the energy to complete your tasks with it. If you’re motivated enough to do something then, it’ll automatically generate the self-discipline required to complete that task. E.g. you are motivated to pursue your degree in a subject so, you’ll eventually have the self-discipline required to study for it.

As per Deeksha, A lack of intrinsic motivation is a significant factor in procrastination. When people don’t find a task interesting or meaningful, they are less likely to start it. Without a clear sense of purpose or personal investment in the task, procrastination becomes more likely.

Self-discipline is the ability to control or train one’s desires, actions, and habits to make oneself work harder to achieve something. It is a vital trait that one should exhibit to accomplish their goals. And it’s merely not about resisting the temptation to eat junk food, binge-watch your favourite show or stick to your study timetable. It’s about being able to set long-term goals and work towards them, even when it’s hard or inconvenient.

But, there are many psychological reasons as mentioned above due to which we lack of it as lack of motivation, lack of consistency, avoiding difficult tasks, lack of long-term goals, neglecting personal growth, frequent mood swings, poor health habits, inability to say ‘no’, lack of morning routine and procrastination.

Improving self-decision is not about punishing or detaching ourselves from pleasure. It’s about making thoughtful decisions and accomplishing them with the help of the direction and alignment that self-decision provides in our lives. Beginning your journey towards it is not a straight line but, it also involves twists and turns. But, remember it’s a journey of self-improvement and it’s okay to begin with a single step. Eventually, when you’ll understand the significance of it and the beauty it adds to your life.  It won’t seem difficult then and it’ll be worth it.