Your alarm clock goes off, and you quickly hit the snooze button. You wanted to work out this morning, but your warm bed drew you back in. It’s a common problem – a lack of discipline. We’ve all had times when we don’t have the motivation to carry out our plans. Here are five ways to build discipline into your routines.
1. Create an optimal environment
Your environment shapes your behavior more than you realize. It’s important, especially when you need to focus, to create an environment conducive to productivity.
Remove distractions
One simple thing you can do is to separate yourself from anything that might distract you. The most common distraction is our phones, which are practically attached to our hips these days and bombard us with endless notifications.
Consider putting your phone in another room while you work, or downloading a productivity app. These apps can temporarily block access to other apps that might draw your attention away from the task at hand.
Avoid temptations
Another common issue is being tempted by food. If you find yourself constantly drawn to that bag of chips on your counter, you might place your snack foods behind a cabinet so they’re out of sight as you’re working.
2. Find an accountability partner
Having someone check in with you—whether it’s a friend, coach, or online community—is one of the most effective ways to build discipline. This works because:
- You’re less likely to break a promise to someone else.
- You gain encouragement and a sense of responsibility.
- It creates external pressure that supports your goals.
What you won’t do for yourself, you might do for someone else.
One thing I struggle with is being active on days when I’m tired or recovering from a workout the day before. I know I should incorporate movement into my day to help with recovery, but it’s easy to sit on the couch and watch Netflix. Something that helps me is scheduling a walk with my partner.
It sounds simple, but is surprisingly effective. After lunch or dinner, I’ll tell my partner that we should go for a walk. This makes it much more likely we’ll go on the walk now that I have someone to keep my accountable.
Ironically, there’ll be times I become lazy after eating and won’t want to walk anymore, even though I was the one that initially suggested it. That’s where my partner comes in and helps me stay accountable for my actions.
Next time you’re struggling with maintaining a gym routine, think about asking a friend to be your workout buddy. Better yet, schedule a workout with them! This leads us to our next way to build discipline: commitment devices.
3. Commitment devices
A commitment device is anything that helps lock you into a course of action. It makes it harder to back out of something you’ve committed to. Earlier, I talk about having an accountability partner, which is actually a commitment device!
Another example is paying for a fitness class. When you invest money in something, it makes it less likely for you to opt out at the last minute, especially if you won’t get a refund!
Personal example
Early in my climbing career, I suffered from shoulder injuries. These hindered my climbing progress and were painful to recover from. I wasn’t good at taking care of them myself though and knew I needed a commitment device to help me stay on track.
As a result, I invested in a physical therapist, who educated me about injury prevention and gave me a rehab plan. I found myself more motivated and empowered to address my shoulder injuries. It’s funny how the simple act of paying for something helps you follow through, but it works!
Here are other examples of commitment devices:
- Getting a gym membership to motivate yourself to exercise
- Packing a smaller meal for lunch to cut back on calories
- Committing to a focused work block by using the Pomodoro technique
There are many more commitment devices; experiment with different ones and find what works for you! I’ll talk about one of my favorite ones next.
4. Declaring your commitment
Declaring your commitment is one of my favorite ways to build discipline because it’s simple and easy to do. Research shows that writing down your goals makes you more likely to achieve them. The act of writing helps you remember your commitment and also creates a sense of personal obligation.
Let’s revisit the example of following a rehab plan. If you’ve ever been injured and have had to do rehab exercises, you know it’s not the most fun thing. When I was going through my shoulder injuries, I had a hard time staying motivated with my rehab plan even though I was initially motivated to address the injuries.
I would do my exercises sporadically, but couldn’t maintain a routine. Paying for the rehab plan was a good start, but I realized I needed more structure.
Write it down
Something that helped me was sitting down in the morning and journaling about when and where I would do my rehab. When journaling about what you want to do, be specific! It’s proven that the more detailed your plan is, the more likely you are to follow through with it.
Instead of jotting down, “I will do my exercises”, you might write, “After breakfast, I will spend twenty minutes in the living room doing my exercises.” Notice the specificity of the second statement. We mention a time and place.
These details help you visualize actually doing what you want to do. The detailed plan makes it easier to take action when the time comes.
And if journaling isn’t your thing, you can also declare your commitments out loud. Share your goals with a roommate or friend, or post your commitments on social media.
5. Reward yourself
I saved this for last because it’s the one people will enjoy the most, and that’s rewarding yourself. Let’s say you’re able to do it all: you found an accountability partner, declared your commitments, and followed through with your plan!
Now is the time to reward yourself. You worked hard and you deserve to fell good about it! Science shows that rewarding yourself boosts dopamine, which is a feel-good hormone. This can help reinforce a behavior, making it feel positive and worthwhile.
Rewards can also help us prevent feelings of burnout and exhaustion, and help sustain motivation to continue working towards our goal. Here are a few ways you can reward yourself:
- Engage in self-care: take a guilt-free nap, go to the spa, draw a bath
- Splurge on something: treat yourself to a nice meal
- Outsource a task: pay for a cleaning service
There’s an infinite number of ways to reward yourself, so find something that you’ll enjoy! Hopefully, this post gave you some insight into ways to build discipline.
If you found this post helpful, you might enjoy reading about how to enter the flow state on command.
Let me know in the comments if any of this helped you and feel free to contact me with any questions!
