4 Traits You Need to Become More Disciplined

May 21, 2023

Anybody can become more self-disciplined but there are a few traits that all disciplined individuals have in common.

All 4 of these traits can be learned and are the bedrock to disciplined transformation, let’s break them down.

Trait #1: They wake up early and never hit snooze

The alarm clock is the first challenge of the day. The bed is warm, the pillow is soft and those extra 10 minutes after hitting snooze feel better than the previous 7 hours combined.

And that’s exactly the reason why disciplined individuals get up early and never hit snooze.

I must admit this is a truth that I never wanted to admit. For years, I’ve been a snooze button junkie that rolls out of bed 45 minutes after my first alarm.

But over the past 5 months, I can attribute almost all of my progress in developing more self-discipline to this one act.

When you get up as soon as the alarm goes off, you win. You beat the alarm clock - a feared opponent to the undisciplined individual.

What is early?

Right now I’m waking up at 6.59am. Now that isn’t particularly early and many of you reading this will already be waking up earlier than this. But that’s irrelevant - it’s early for me!

For the past 3 years, I’ve been rising from my slumber at 9am and I now wake up a full 2 hours earlier than I’m used to. And as it becomes easier to wake up earlier I wind the clock back another 5-10 minutes.

You might also be thinking why 6.59am and not 7am. Psychological. It just feels earlier.

For you, 6.59am might be considered a lie in. So tailor your wake up time to your lifestyle. If you have a job that requires you to get up at 5am already, congratulations. You’re already disciplined enough to get up at 5am and head off to work, that’s no easy feat.

My top tip for never hitting snooze again: Use the Alarmy app, select the Photo function and choose your bathroom sink. Game-changer.

And if you’re not convinced that waking up early is a necessary requirement to becoming more disciplined ask yourself, does the military ever lie in?

Trait #2: They have LOW expectations

The fastest way to fail at picking up new habits is to have high expectations.

We are a strange species. We expect to be able to play piano like Chopin after 3 self-taught lessons. We expect to see a 6-pack after 2 weeks of ab workouts. We expect to be able to wake up at 4am after years of hitting snooze and getting up at 9am (my bad).

High expectations of outcomes lead to failure. We expect too much too soon and when our expectations are not met and the initial wave of motivation and willpower fades away, we give up. I’ve been there so many times.

Lower your expectations. In fact, expect no outcome at all. Your job is to just show up every day. Discipline is a muscle that needs to be trained.

Trait #3: They have a growth mindset

You must believe you can change in order to change in reality.

Individuals with a fixed mindset run away from challenges, give up easily in the pursuit of higher goals, believe the world is against them, that they are the way they are, that some people are born lucky and they despise the success of others. These limiting beliefs are a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The individuals with a growth mindset embrace life’s challenges, see opportunity in hardship, recognise failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, celebrate others but most importantly they believe that they are in total control of their own destiny.

To train the discipline muscle is to first believe that you can become more disciplined to begin with. And then to repeatedly show up even when it gets tough because you take accountability for your personal growth.

A growth mindset paired with low expectations of the outcome is how you train your discipline muscle.

Top tip: Read The Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck. It’s £5.99 on Kindle, free on audible if you prefer audiobooks, or there are plenty of in-depth review articles and videos on the topic.

Trait #4: They think and play long-term games

You don’t become disciplined overnight. It takes time to unlearn past behaviours and instil new habits. Eventually, our body and mind adapt and what was once difficult becomes simple.

In the beginning, it doesn’t feel this way and that is why so many give up. They think in days and not in years. Human beings value speed. We want things now and when the outcome doesn’t arrive immediately we forgo any initial progress we made.

The flywheel of personal growth

When stationary the flywheel requires energy, effort, fortitude, persistence and consistency to turn the wheel. But as the wheel starts turning it requires less effort to keep it spinning and the force of momentum makes the wheel almost impossible to stop.

Habits in the beginning are hard. But with time, what was once difficult become easier.

In military basic training, there's no such thing as sleeping in. You'll get up at 5 a.m. every single day. When you first arrive, the drill instructors require a lot of noise, yelling and jostling to get everyone out of the rack. Then, sometime around week 4, all it takes is for the drill instructor to enter the room in the early morning and quietly say, "Get up," and everyone pops out of their bunks immediately and begins their morning routine. It's an amazing adjustment. [1]

How do you start thinking and playing long-term?

By having low expectations paired with a growth mindset. This is unstoppable force.

Habits takes time. Character change takes time. Transformation takes time. You should barely recognise the person you were 5 years ago. In 5 years time, you will not recognise the person you are today.

Change is possible when you wake up early, lower your expectations, believe you can change and think in years not days.

It’s not meant to be easy. If it was, it wouldn’t be valuable.

Thanks for reading.

📚 Further reading and sources:

[1] Military.com: Waking up and going to sleep

How to get out of bed when you don’t feel like it by an Ex-Navy Seal

Mindset by Carol Dweck

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