There are many ways to find your strengths. One of the keys is to focus on where you have natural self-discipline. Let’s explore how you can build-on where this happens for you.

1) You can clarify where you have self-discipline.

“People say I have a strong work ethic, but I am simply doing what I enjoy,” said one of my mentors, who ran therapeutic communities for young people. It was quite natural for him to get up early in the morning, make breakfast for twenty people, teach lessons during the day, run group meetings during the evenings and deal with crises late into the night. Why? He was doing what he loved, but this went further. He had a ‘natural feeling’ for the activity and was also a good finisher. Looking ahead to the day, he set crystal-clear goals and then broke these down into manageable tasks. He didn’t mind the grunt work, because it contributed to achieving the great work. Looking from the outside, however, it appeared as if he had great discipline.

Where does this happen for you? What are the specific activities which, it seems, you ‘cannot help but do’? You may throw yourself into gardening, writing, fixing problems, helping people, renovating houses or whatever. You seem to have at least 80% natural self-discipline in these activities and only occasionally have to give yourself a kick. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific activities in which I
have natural self-discipline are:

*

*

*

2) You can capitalise on your self-discipline.

How can you harness this ability? Sometimes it is easier to see how this can be done with others rather than with oneself. When working as a football manager, for example, it was relatively easy to move players around until you saw the position in which ‘things came naturally’. They had the skill, strategic eye and self-discipline to thrive in a particular role. This came down to simple things such as knowing ‘where to stand’ so that the ball came to them. The same rule applies in any team. You put people in the places where they see patterns, perform consistently and great work. So how can you make the best use of your self-discipline? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to capitalise
on my natural self-discipline are:

*

*

*

3) You can get concrete results by following your self-discipline.

Great performers use their self-discipline as the springboard for developing a daily working rhythm. Passion provides the starting point, but persistence is required to reach their goals. This calls for developing good habits. The writer, athlete and entrepreneur protect their ‘prime times’, for example, the times of the day when they have most energy. Many habits stem from their self-discipline – but some can be developed. They may need to learn to say “Yes,” to pursuing their compelling goal, for example, and “No,” to distractions that vie for their attention. Planning their days properly provides the opportunity to follow their self-disciplines and produce concrete results.

How can you pursue this path in your own way? Try completing the following exercise which invites you to do two things. First, describe a specific project you would like to complete. Second, describe how you can follow your natural self-disciplines – and perhaps add other disciplines – to produce concrete results.

The specific project I would like to complete is:

*

The specific things I can do to follow my self-disciplines – and
perhaps add other disciplines – to produce concrete results are:

*

*

*

The mentor I mentioned at the beginning was George Lyward. He ran Finchden Manor, a pioneering therapeutic community for boys. The staff members watched for ‘when a boy comes alive’. The young person may be drawing, playing music, fixing a problem or whatever. The boy was encouraged to focus on what they were doing right then – the disciplines they were following – and pursue these patterns in the future. The Finchden alumni included individuals such as the rock musician Tom Robinson. Not everybody was a ‘success story’, but George Lyward enabled many of the boys to shape their future lives.