Self-discipline

I've had a really tough few weeks with the workload for my PhD. I had a list of things which needed completing before a supervision session the day after tomorrow. At times I thought I might not get everything done, but I also knew that I had to; I had to find the time from somewhere. So....I had to decide to be firm with myself & set time aside to do everything. And yes, it's involved sacrifices; I've had to work when I'd have rather been outdoors walking in the sunshine, reading novels, even doing housework, etc., etc. But, I've achieved everything I needed to; and to see all of my documents printed out feels good.

And isn't that true about a lot of things in life. The things that are really worthwhile do tend to involve time, effort and sacrifice. Self-discipline doesn't always come easy to us. But I believe, you get out of life what you put in. If you put effort in, you get the sense of achievement and self satisfaction afterwards. And especially those things which are a challenge to us; they're the things you have to put most effort into, the things that are probably easiest to put off, but they're also the things that you get most satisfaction from when they're completed.

It can be hard at times, when people are inviting you out, asking you to do fun things & they're things you'd really like to do. But sometimes, you just have to say 'no'. You have to learn to prioritise. Life is sometimes about putting off pleasure in the short term to achieve a greater satisfaction in the future. And I think this is something a lot of people struggle with. It's easy to go for the short term fun option; what isn't always as easy is turning down something fun & easy in the present and instead, having to confront a challenge, work hard and push yourself that little bit harder.

And it's not just about self-discipline; it's also about self-responsibility. It's about taking responsibility for the commitments you make; making that promise to yourself to achieve something and taking responsibility for your actions in achieving it. Which consequently has to mean taking responsibility if you fail to achieve what you set out to do or fail to reach the goals you set. No one else can be blamed for one's own shortcomings....& that's quite a big responsibility to accept. We try to blame others for distracting us, for putting things in our way, but ultimately, it's up to us to choose what we want to do; to say 'yes' or 'no'.

And for me, if I commit myself to something (as I have to the 5 years plus, this PhD will take), it's important to me that I do my utmost to achieve my personal best. I want to get to the end of the research project and know that I've put my all into it and done it to the very best of my ability, with no regrets.