2I

TO A MORE

by Crystal Paine

All contents copyright 2012 by Money Saving Mom, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or redistributed in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Table of Contents
Introduction
Day 1

Discipline is a Choice
Day 2 Day 3

Day 13

Read Motivating Books

Day 14 Day 15

Discipline is a Process Start With Small Things

Day 4 Day 5

Set Yourself Up for Success Say Yes to the Best

Day 16 Day 17

Focus on One Habit at a Time Anticipate Obstacles

Day 6 Day 7

Do the Hardest Things First Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Day 18 Day 19

Be Realistic Resist Negative Thought Patterns

Day 8 Day 9

Embrace Your Own Uniqueness Get It Done Early

Day 20 Day 21

Put Your Goals On Paper Break Your Goals Into Bite-Sized Pieces
Day 10 Day 11

Do It Now Discipline Begets Discipline Conclusion Progress Record About the Author

You Need Cheerleaders How to Find An Accountability Partner

Day 12

Discipline Demands Focus

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Introduction
Recently, Id fallen off the bandwagon and I was struggling to get back up on it again. Id been mulling over how to break the bad habits Id been developing and stop this downward spiral. The idea came to me to spend 21 days focusing on intentionally developing more discipline in my life. After thinking about it for a few weeks, I finally pitched it to my husband. His response? I think its a great idea. Can I join you? We sat down the following weekend and discussed what areas he and I are particularly struggling in and what specific changes would result in the most immediate and effective changes. We then came up with a game plan for the next 21 days for each of us. Since public accountability works wonders for me, I blogged daily about discipline for a three-week period. These posts were written primarily for me, but the response from my readers was phenomenal. Of all the thousands of posts Ive written during my years of blogging, the series on discipline seemed to garner the most response, excitement, and emails. Apparently I wasnt alone in my discipline struggles! Many readers requested I put all of the posts into an ebook format. So with the beginning of 2012 upon us, Ive edited and rewritten the series as an ebook in the hopes it might be a blessing, inspiration, and challenge to many of you. Heres to more discipline in all of our lives!

C rystal Paine

Day 1: Discipline is a Choice

Many of us are longing for more discipline in our lives. We crave order and peace. We want to be better managers of our time and life. We want to follow through with our good intentions. But so many times I have found that I try to go about developing a more disciplined life in all the wrong ways. I check out a book on living an organized life from the library and think it will make all the difference. I download a printable household organization planner and think it will magically whip my house into shape. Or I think that if my house or life or responsibilities were different, then I could achieve a disciplined life. Instead of addressing the root issue my lack of self-discipline I think that a fancy new system is going to fix the problem. But a bad system is not the problem. I am the problem. Oh, sure. Life throws curve balls. There are job losses, babies born, illnesses, moves, and projects that can get one off course. But ultimately, whether or not I live a disciplined life is dependent solely upon me and the choices I make on a daily basis. Those are tough words to swallow. And I could wallow in frustration over my short-comings and failures. However, I want to let it motivate me instead. I am the problem, but I am also the solution. I dont need to spend hundreds of dollars on organizational products. I dont need to buy 20 books on living a disciplined life. Instead, I need to resolve to change from the inside out.

D I S C I P L I N E I S D O I N G W H AT Y O U KNOW NEEDS TO BE DONE, EVEN T H O U G H Y O U D O N T WA N T T O .

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Day 1 Practical Application

To jumpstart the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge, choose one small project that has been nagging at you for the last few weeks or months and go start and complete it in the next 24 hours. You may find that it didnt end up taking you nearly as long as you thought it would, and youll feel so good to have it done.

My Thoughts
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Day 2: Discipline is a Process

Yesterday we discussed how living a disciplined life is dependent solely upon me and the choices I make on a daily basis. You are not only the problem; you are also the solution. So how do we change from the inside out? Well, first, we have to realize that it will be a process. You cant just decide to go from zero discipline to 100% discipline overnight. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill you can take that will suddenly make you a disciplined person. Instead, you just need to resolve to change something and then follow through with it even if its as simple as resolving to put your purse away in a designated spot when you come home instead of dropping it wherever you feel like as you stumble through your front door. Its easy to want to overhaul our whole lives in a matter of hours or days. But I promise that if you set small, simple, and achievable goals to begin with, and stick with these over the long haul, it will be much more beneficial and effective than trying to radically change within 24 hours and ending up exhausted and burnt out after three days.

SUFFER THE PAIN OF DISCIPLINE OR SUFFER THE PAIN OF REGRET.

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Day 2 Practical Application

Choose one simple thing you can resolve to change today and then follow through with that for the next 24 hours. Remember to keep it simple and just stick with one thing for now even if you have one hundred things you want to change today.

My Thoughts
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Day 3: Start With Small Things

I love how FlyLady encourages her readers to start changing their lives by shining their kitchen sink. This task might seem so small that its hardly worth the effort. But it really can make a big difference, and I know this firsthand. You see, not too long ago we started making a big effort to go to bed every night with a spotless kitchen. Its a small thing, but Ive been amazed at how much more peaceful my mornings are when I dont wake up to a sink overflowing with dirty dishes. It makes my whole day seem bright to walk out of my bedroom and into a sparkling kitchen in the early morning! But the opposite effect is true if I wake up to a messy kitchen; I feel overwhelmed, defeated, and behind before my day has even begun. Its a simple thing to whip the kitchen into shape at night. In fact, if my husband and I work together, we can get it completely clean in ten minutes. But developing the habit of not going to bed unless the kitchen is clean can change my whole outlook on the following day. Remember: Moving in the right direction even at a microscopic rate is still moving forward. Slowly making seemingly tiny changes can add up to major differences over a period of time.

SMALL THINGS, DONE CONSISTENTLY, CREATE MAJOR IMPACT.

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Day 3 Practical Application

Choose one small bad habit you will commit to reverse, or one good habit you will aim to implement in your life for the next 20 days. Use the Habit-Forming Chart or Habit Tracker (if youre ambitious, theres a 3-habit 100 days chart here ) if that helps. Or you can track your progress online through DailyFeats and earn free gift cards!

My Thoughts
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Day 4: Focus on One Habit at a Time

You may have found yesterday that it was hard to choose just one habit to focus on. I know the feeling! At any given time, it can seem like there are a hundred and one areas that I need to improve in. In fact, when I start dwelling on all the bad habits I want to reverse, or the good habits I want to implement, I can become overwhelmed! Over the summer, I attended a workshop at our local homeschool conference by Susan Christman. She was encouraging moms to making habit-training a priority in their childrens lives. (You can see her hand-out here. If youre unfamiliar with the term habittraining, be sure to check out this free ebook for more helpful information.) The one thing that she emphasized was not only how important habits are to develop in our own lives and the lives of our children, but how important it is to focus on one new habit at a time. I left the conference with this nugget of wisdom forever lodged in my brain. In fact, it was the answer to my lifelong quest for more discipline. For as long as I can remember, every few months, Id realize that my life was in serious need of more order and discipline. In a flurry of resolve, Id make this huge list of new habits I was going to begin implementing immediately. Id do really well at my new resolutions for about two days. And then Id crash and burn from exhaustion, or something unexpected would come up and catapult me off course. When this happened, Id throw up my hands in despair and defeat, feeling like a failure. Instead of trying to implement two dozen habits at once, pace yourself and just focus on one habit at a time. Yes, it will take longer to actually see big changes, but those changes will be much more long-lasting. In the long run, its better to only focus on and master three habits each year that actually stick, than to repeatedly try to develop 30 different habits at a time and end up overwhelmed, frustrated, and back to where you started from.

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Day 4 Practical Application

Sometime in the next 24 hours, find 15 minutes to sit down and make a list of all
the good habits you want to develop in your own life and the bad habits you want to reverse. This is not an exercise to overwhelm you; its an exercise just to get it all written down on paper so its not sitting in your brain nagging at you.

Once youve made an exhaustive list, prioritize the top three habits that will make
the most difference were you to implement them tomorrow. Then take a deep breath, set your paper aside in a safe place, and keep working on the habit youve already committed to focus on for the next 19 days. When you feel like the current habit youre working on has truly become a habit, you can then pull out your exhaustive list and start making the next thing a priority. Remember to take it slowly even if youre tempted to accelerate onto the next habit.

My Thoughts
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Day 5: Anticipate Obstacles

As we talked about on Day 1, discipline is a choice. But you cant just say Im going to be more disciplined and then sit back and see your life change. No, it will take work, effort, and much perseverance. There will be days when you do not want to follow through with your commitment. Many times you will be tempted to veer off course or throw your hands up in defeat. I love how Michael Hyatt talks about the importance of preparing for obstacles before you encounter them in his recent post on discipline. He says: As soon as you start swimming against the current, you will start feeling resistance. Its as if the universe conspires to keep you from succeeding. Thats why you have to anticipate these obstacles and build strategies to overcome them. Instead of being caught off guard, prepare for obstacles and hurdles ahead of time. For instance:

If youre trying to lose five pounds this month, plan what youre going to eat ahead of
time before you go to the holiday party so that your hard work doesnt go out the window.

If youre trying to go to bed earlier every night, set your alarm on your watch or
phone to remind you to leave the evening gathering early in order to get home and go to bed.

If youre making an effort to get places on time, plan to leave 30 minutes earlier than
you need to so that an unexpected phone call or diaper blowout doesnt derail you from being on time.

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Day 5 Practical Application

Read Michael Hyatts article on 5 Steps to Developing Discipline. Consider what obstacles lie in your path as you seek to implement your chosen
habit over the next 18 days. Create strategies to help you be prepared for them.

My Thoughts
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Day 6: Be Realistic
Im constantly tempted to set goals that are unrealistic. For instance, Ive been working on getting up earlier recently. If I wanted to pretend I was Superwoman, Id set a goal to get up by 4:30 a.m. every single day. But since I know that on the weekends its impossible for me to go to bed before 9:30 p.m. with the usual activities we have going on, I intentionally decided that I wouldnt be unrealistic in my getting-up-early goals. Instead, Id set a goal to get up by 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday only. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I would aim to be up by 7 a.m. Sure, Id like to get up by 4:30 a.m. every single morning. But, I just cant realistically commit to that and follow-through with it. Otherwise Id be getting less than six hours of sleep some nights. I can function on less than six hours of sleep once every few weeks, but realistically I need to get seven to eight hours of sleep on a regular basis to feel energetic and to function effectively. So, do yourself a favor when setting goals: be realistic and thoughtful about them. Even if they dont quite sound as amazing on paper, its better to set the bar lower and actually follow through with your goals than to set the bar too high and end up defeated and discouraged.

DO NOT GIVE UP. THE BEGINNING IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST.

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Day 6 Practical Application

Step back and consider whether youre being realistic about your discipline goals. Do you need to tweak anything to help set you up for better success? If so, tweak it now. You can thank me later. :)

My Thoughts
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Day 7: Resist Negative Thought Patterns

Weve all heard the phrase, Cant never did anything. But sometimes, even though we know this, we still allow negative thought patterns to creep in: I shouldnt even bother to try because Im sure Ill just fail like I always do. Or, Im no good at this discipline. Or even, I cant be disciplined. Its just not who I am. Remove the words I cant from your vocabulary. Stop dwelling on the fact that youll probably fail at this challenge since you never seem to follow through with anything. Instead, keep a positive attitude and continuously motivate yourself to keep moving forward. Keep trying, and keep at it. In addition, make sure to surround yourself with people who inspire and motivate you rather than people who will discourage you in your endeavors. Its amazing what a difference having positive influences around you can make. There is no doubt you will hit some bumps in the road. And you may stumble and struggle along. However, remind yourself that falling down is not failing unless you dont get back up again. Keep going, even when it feels like its an uphill battle thats going nowhere. Your persistence will eventually pay off.

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Day 7 Practical Application

What negative thought patterns do you need to squelch? When they arise, how will you replace them with positive, inspirational thoughts?

My Thoughts
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Day 8: Put Your Goals On Paper

To intentionally cultivate discipline in your life, you must have goals. Not just dreams, not just lofty ambitions, but specific, realistic, achievable goals. If you dont know where youre aiming, youll lack direction and purpose. I love how Dave Ramsey encourages people to put their financial goals on paper, on purpose. When you write down your goals, instead of just keeping them floating around in your brain, it puts more weight to them. Plus, if you write your goals down, youre able to track your progress and be encouraged at the momentum youre gaining in the right direction. There are some very helpful goal-setting worksheets available from Project Management Skills and Cigna Behavioral Health. However, please dont be overwhelmed by these more in-depth worksheets. A simple sticky-note taped to your mirror or refrigerator will work just as well. The objective is not to have a fancy paper filled out, but to actually follow through with your goals. And dont just write your goals down. Post your goals in a conspicuous location and review them often. Youll likely be amazed how much of a difference this small step will make in propelling you toward success in achieving your goals!

THE TRAGEDY OF LIFE DOESNT LIE IN NOT REACHING YOUR GOAL. THE TRAGEDY LIES IN HAVING NO GOAL TO REACH.
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Day 8 Practical Application

Write down your goals and tape your paper up in a conspicuous location that you will see often. Review it often and let it motivate you to keep on pressing forward in the right direction.

My Thoughts
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Day 9: Break Your Goals Into Bite-Sized Pieces

Once youve written down the goal or two you are focusing on implementing in your life, develop an incremental plan of action for accomplishing that goal. Some goals lend themselves more to baby steps than others. For instance, if you want to lose five pounds in six weeks, you can create a six-week plan to achieve this goal that could look something like this:

Week 1. Track your calorie intake through SparkPeople. Exercise for 2 hours total. Week 2. Find an accountability partner. Continue to track calorie intake and adjust if needed. Exercise for 2.5 hours total.

Week 3. Check in with accountability partner. Continue to track calorie intake

and adjust if needed. Exercise for 3 hours total. Drink more water.

Week 4. Check in with accountability partner. Continue to track calorie intake

and adjust if needed. Exercise for 3 hours total. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water daily. Cut out fast food, sugar, or soda pop.

Week 5. Maintain all habits from previous weeks and re-evaluate anything that
isnt working.

Week 6. Reward yourself for losing five pounds and developing some good habits
that will hopefully stick around for a long time. Now, Im not saying that the above plan is guaranteed to make you lose five pounds in six weeks, but it gives you an idea of how to take a bigger goal and break it down into smaller pieces. Instead of being overwhelmed by looking at the big picture, think what small steps you can slowly take to get where you want to go. Map them out and then follow them!

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Day 9 Practical Application

If youve chosen a larger goal, break it down into bite-sized pieces and create a plan of action for the next few weeks or months. Set up a weekly appointment with yourself to review and re-evaluate your goal(s) and how things are going. If you are struggling and feeling overwhelmed with the goal(s) you have set for yourself, step back and re-evaluate. Do you need to give yourself more time? Do you need tweak your goal(s) a little to be more realistic?

My Thoughts
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Day 10: You Need Cheerleaders

Early this morning, my friend Angie texted me with a question about freezer cooking. As we were texting back and forth she asked, Did you run this morning? You see, Angie and I have both been trying to get up early and run in the mornings. We both know we feel better and accomplish more when we do it, but its not always easy especially on cold mornings. This morning when she texted me, I hadnt run yet as I was hard at work on a business project. Her text was just the motivation I needed to pull myself up out of the comfortable chair I was seated in and go run a mile. Yes, it was just a mile, but it was something and it made me feel a lot more energetic the rest of the morning. You cant do this discipline thing alone. Well, you can, but I guarantee it will be a lot harder to keep at it if you dont have anyone encouraging you along the way. Whenever I run by myself, I find that I tend to go easier on myself and stop earlier than I planned. If my side starts hurting or I have a long to-do list, I use that as an excuse for a short run. However, when I run with someone else, Im always motivated to push a little harder, go a little faster, and not give up when I feel winded and tired. Its the same with life. When you feel like youre going it alone, its harder to keep on when the going gets rough. But when you have others around you who are encouraging you, checking up on you, or texting you to make sure youre following through with your morning run (thanks, Angie!), you are much more apt to actually stick with your goals.

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Day 10 Practical Application

Do you have cheerleaders in your life who are helping push you closer to your goals? If not, think about people you might ask about becoming your accountability partner. Well talk more about how to go about that in Day 11.

My Thoughts
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Day 11: How to Find An Accountability Partner

My husband is my early morning wake-up accountability partner. When I came to him not too long ago and presented the idea of possibly committing to get up before 5 a.m. every Monday through Thursday, he not only liked the idea, he also enthusiastically offered to jump in and join me in getting up early. While neither of us have been quite as enthusiastic in the early mornings when the alarm clock goes off, its been much easier to stick with our commitment when were both doing it. Its just not as easy to roll over and go back to sleep when you know youll have to explain your laziness to someone else in a few hours. As I talked about yesterday, accountability is crucial in helping to motivate you to stay on track and stay disciplined. However, you might be thinking, I wish I had an accountability partner, but I dont even know where to find one. Well, it might not be as hard as you think. Start with your local friends and family and see if anyone would like to join you in keeping each other accountable to one specific goal on a regular basis. If you cant find anyone locally, ask friends on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or other online groups youre a part of. Or search and see if theres already an online support group of some sort (such as the Good Morning Girls or Hello Mornings Challenge if youre working on getting up early). Start digging and asking around and youre almost certain to find somebody or a group of people! who are interested in developing some habits in their own life and who would welcome the accountability.

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Day 11 Practical Application

Find an accountability partner either locally or online and create a specific plan for how each of you will hold the other accountable for your goal(s). Will you email, call, text, talk in person? How often will you check up on each other?

My Thoughts
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Day 12: Discipline Demands Focus

If you want to succeed at discipline, you have got to be focused. Youll never hit the bulls-eye if youre aiming at multiple targets. Here are two keys for maintaining focus:

1. Remove Distractions
If you are struggling to follow through with your goal(s), step back and examine if there are things that are serving as major distractions:

Are you on Facebook or reading blogs instead of cleaning up your kitchen at night like youd committed to? Set up Leechblock on your computer for the hour after dinner so you cant get on the computer.

Are you giving in to the temptation to eat two brownies every night, even
though youre trying to lose five pounds? Get rid of the brownies and dont make any more! Seriously, its better to throw them in the trash if they are keeping you from sticking with your goals.

2. Focus on a Small Piece of Your Goal at a Time

If you look at your goal(s) as a whole, you can quickly get overwhelmed. But when you break it into small pieces (as we talked about on Day 9), it becomes much more manageable. In addition, its much easier to stay focused if you are only looking at the next few steps ahead of you than the huge mountain youre aiming to climb. Trying to lose 50 pounds can be daunting unless you break it down and focus on losing a half pound at a time. Successful marathoners cant get hung up worrying about how they are going to finish, they just have to pace themselves for this mile or half-mile that they are currently running. If you have a home piled with clutter, you wont be able to overhaul it in a day. If, however, you set the timer for 15 minutes every day and work faithfully on it for three months, youll see some real progress.

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Day 12 Practical Application

Consider what is distracting you from staying focused on your goal(s). How can
you remove these distractions?

If you didnt do so earlier in this series, take the time to break your goal(s) down
into small bite-sized pieces. If applicable, set a specific timeframe for accomplishing each of these small pieces.

My Thoughts
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Day 13: Read Motivating Books

Ive been profoundly impacted and inspired by books over the last 30 years of my life. While I know that many of us have very full schedules, I strongly encourage you to take time to read even if its just a few minutes every day. Youll be inspired, your mind will be stretched, and your thinking will be sharpened. Plus, good books will challenge you to improve as an individual. If you struggle to find time to read, audiobooks are a great option. You can listen to them while youre driving, while youre washing dishes, while youre cleaning the bathroom, or while youre running on the treadmill.

Here are three of my favorite books on the subject of discipline:

Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time This book is jam packed with practical ideas for prioritizing your time and life so that you make the most of your days. One of my biggest takeaways from the book was the challenge to start the day out by doing the things you like least first; youll get them out of the way so you can enjoy your day more and be more productive and fulfilled. 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think We all have exactly the same amount of time: 24 hours in each day, 168 hours in each week. We all get to choose how were going to use those hours whether wisely or frivolously. Laura Vanderkams book, 168 Hours, is based upon the premise that, if we were to step back and look at our week as a whole, we have more time than we realize. And we are probably squandering more time than we think. This book gives real-life, practical examples for becoming a better manager of your time. It profiles a number of different individuals in different situations and shows how they are using their time well or specific ways they could improve their time usage. This book is not about stuffing our lives more full with longer to-do lists and more responsibilities, but about focusing on a life well lived. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to better steward their time or find more fulfillment in how they spend their 168 hours.

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Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Achieve Tomorrows Success If you want to make the most of your days, Today Matters will give you practical, step-by-step help and inspiration. The author makes a case for why today is your key to success and outlines 12 decisions and disciplines you should implement into your life, and work toward mastering, in order to achieve greater fulfillment and success in life.

Day 13 Practical Application

Choose one book or audiobook related to self-discipline to read over the next month. Set page number goals per week to help you stay on track.

My Thoughts
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Day 14: Set Yourself Up for Success

Its easy to make excuses for a lack of discipline, but excuses dont get you anywhere. Instead, invest the time and effort youd usually take to make excuses to consider what you can do to set yourself up for success in achieving your goals. For instance, if youre trying to get up early but you find that you always fall back to sleep or hit the snooze button, dont just give up and make the excuse that Im not a morning person. Maybe youre not, but until youve put forth significant effort to try getting up early on a regular basis, you cant make that claim. Start winding down for bed at least an hour before you plan to go to bed. Make a point to go to bed an hour or two earlier than you usually do. Buy an alarm without a snooze, set multiple alarms, or have a friend call you at 6 a.m. every morning. Make yourself get right out of bed and jump in the shower to wake yourself up. Or, put your shoes on and go out for a morning run. Even if youre dog tired, youll probably feel wide awake by the time you get home!

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Day 14 Practical Application

What things are hindering your success in following through with your goal(s)? What steps can you take to set you up for better success?

My Thoughts
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Day 15: Say Yes to the Best

I dont like to let people down. I dont like to admit I cant add another thing to my plate. In short, I dont like saying no. But in the last few years, Ive finally come to realize an important truth: Superwoman is a myth. If I want to live a productive, efficient, happy, peaceful, and disciplined life, I must learn to say no. And I must say it often. If you want to stick with your goals, youre going to have to get good at saying no. Its hard to do, especially if youre an over-achiever like me. But youll only end up frustrated, exhausted, and depleted if you try to do it all. The reality is this: I cant do it all. When I say yes to one thing, I must say no to something else. When I choose to make getting up early a priority, I have to say no to habitually staying up late. I also have to say no to most activities and events that would keep me up late. Slowly but surely Im learning to think before committing to anything. What will be the consequences of saying yes? Will saying yes to this late-night thing throw me off-course and mean that I cant get up before 5 a.m.? Will saying yes to this big commitment mean that my home and family suffer? Count the cost of each commitment before you make the final decision. Dont just blindly say yes when someone tries to convince you that you must do X, Y, or Z. Dont give in to peer pressure or make decisions based upon what people might think of you if you say no. You cant say yes to everything. Its up to you to pick and choose wisely and say yes to only what is best. If you have leftover time and energy, you can always say yes to some good things, too. But start with the best stuff first.

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Day 15 Practical Application

Evaluate all the activities and commitments on your plate right now.
Choose one that really doesnt matter or isnt helping you move closer to your longterm goals, and get rid of it. If its something that involves other people, make sure you dont just walk out on them without tying up all the lose ends first.

Make a habit of saying no more often than you say yes. The peace and
order youll begin to experience in your life will be well worth the initial difficulty of actually saying no.

My Thoughts
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Day 16: Do the Hardest Things First

I tend to procrastinate on the things I least enjoy. For me thats usually laundry. Its silly, I know, but Ill put off folding the pile of clean laundry until I am down to my very last outfit (its probably a good thing I only have a few outfits, otherwise I cant imagine how behind Id get on laundry!). The laundry pile will hang over my head and burden me down, but I often dont do anything about it until it becomes a necessity.

1. Eat the Frog First

Mark Twain wisely said, If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day. Brian Tracy wrote an entire book based upon this quote called, Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. One of his main premises is that if you start the day out by doing the things you like least first, youll get them out of the way so you can enjoy your day more and be more productive and fulfilled. Plus, when you get the most dreaded things out of the way right off the bat, it gives you so much momentum for the rest of the day! Ive been trying to apply this idea to my laundry pile. Instead of letting it sit and grow to an overwhelming size, Im trying start a load of laundry first thing in the morning, switch it to the dryer before breakfast, and then fold and put it away mid-morning. So far, Ive not been successful at doing it this way every day, but on the days that I have done this, Ive been amazed at how well it works. And honestly, when I just do one load a day, Im able to stay on top of the laundry, it never gets out of hand, and it really takes no more than 15 minutes a day to keep up with. Why has it taken me almost nine years of running my own home to figure this simple principle out?

2. Save the Best for Last

Once youve accomplished your most dreaded tasks for the day, reward yourself with some of the tasks you enjoy doing. This will give you something to look forward to when youre in the midst of doing your hard tasks and will probably give you motivation to accomplish them more quickly.

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Day 16 Practical Application

Read this great article: Start Your Day By Eating a Frog for some great step-bystep help in prioritizing your day.

Determine what you tend to procrastinate on and develop a plan of action for
making it a first priority.

My Thoughts
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Day 17: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Ive talked in this ebook about how Im working on getting up earlier. Some of you may have felt badly because you dont get up as early as me. Let me just set your mind at ease. Please do not feel guilty if you get up later than me. While I think getting up early can be a fantastic way to get your day off to a great start and I certainly dont want to encourage you to sleep in out of laziness I want you to remember that you need to do what is best for you in whatever life season youre in. I dont have a baby, Im not pregnant, and I only have three children who all sleep soundly through the night (most nights, at least!). I also can go to bed early and I have a husband who is supporting and joining me in my early-to-bed, early-to-rise challenge. There have been many seasons in my life when getting up early was not wise or healthy. Maybe youre in one of those seasons. Or maybe you just werent created to rise early. What works for me wont necessarily work for you. Dont feel that you need to get up early just because I am or because its really making a difference in my life. Consider what your familys needs are. Consider your own strengths and weaknesses. And then choose goals that work for your family even if they are almost the exact opposite of what works well for someone else.

DONT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS. COMPARE YOURSELF TO THE PERSON FROM YESTERDAY.
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Day 17 Practical Application

Evaluate your goals and make sure they are based upon what is best for your family not something you feel you need to do because someone else is doing it or someone else told you you should do it. Do what works for you!

My Thoughts
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Day 18: Embrace Your Own Uniqueness

You can spend all of your life trying to measure up to someone else. You can fritter away hours of time wishing you had her hair or her figure or her energy or her gifts. But you are not her. You are you. You have unique gifts, talents, and abilities. You can improve upon what God has given you, you can wisely steward what He has given you, but you cannot change who He has created you to be. So instead of living life wishing you were someone else, embrace your own uniqueness. Dont feel guilty if you cant get up when she gets up, or decorate your home like she decorates hers, or fit into the size of jeans she does, or juggle all the activities and responsibilities she does. Your life and goals are going to look different from others and that is completely okay. In fact, if everyone was a carbon copy of each other, wouldnt life be dull and colorless?

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Day 18 Practical Application

Ask yourself this: Am I doing the best I can with the energy, gifts, talents, and resources I have in the season of life I am in? If so, then press on without guilt even if your life and goals look completely different than someone elses you know!

My Thoughts
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Day 19: Get It Done Early

I read a post on Simple Mom back in July that rocked my world. It was by one of my favorite people Mandi Ehman and it was on The Secret of Success for a Work-At-Home Mom. Heres a snippet. So whats the key to success? Simply put: Get it done early. This principle applies to your home and family life as well as your business. Whenever possible, get it whatever it may be done early and eliminate the stress and frustration of being pulled in a million directions. Avoid the guilt of shushing your teething baby because of looming deadlines or groaning in frustration when the school nurse calls, or saying no yet again to a fun activity with your kids. Ever since reading this post, Ive been consciously thinking about how implementing this principle would revolutionize my life and cut down on a lot of stress! You see, Ive always been a late person. I was born 17 days late and it seems Ive been late ever since. Whether its getting to an appointment or getting an article done, Im almost always running behind either just under the wire or late. Sometimes, really, really late. In my lifetime, Ive made a lot of excuses for my tardiness, but most all of them boil down to procrastination, improper prioritization, and a lack of planning ahead:

Instead of planning to leave 30 minutes before I need to be out the door, I wait until 30
minutes before I need to leave to take my shower, get everyone dressed, gather up all the things we need for the outing, and get everyone out the door.

Instead of looking at my calendar two or three weeks in advance, planning out articles I
need to write, and writing them a week or two in advance, I often wait until the day they are due to even begin outlining them. Knowing the problem is good, but it doesnt fix anything. I actually have to make changes if I want to experience any benefits. So Im resolving not to just recognize the problem, but actually come up with a solution. Or at least begin working diligently in that direction! 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life | 40

Day 19 Practical Application

Read Mandis fantastic article, The Secret of Success for a Work-At-Home Mom.
Even if youre not a work-at-home mom, or not even a mom, youll find some great encouragement in it.

Choose one area in which you especially struggle with being behind or running
late. Write down a simple plan for how you are going to stop procrastinating, start planning ahead, and begin getting things done early.

My Thoughts
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Day 20: Do It Now

I recently read David Allens book, Getting Things Done. In this book, he strongly encourages you to immediately do any project that can be done in less than two minutes. Instead of thinking repeatedly about how you need to make that appointment, just pick up the phone and make the appointment. Rather than leaving an email in your inbox and looking at it multiple times, just answer it as soon as it comes in. Instead of continuously putting off little jobs or writing them down onto your to-do list, just do the job and get it done. As Ive tried out this principle, Ive been amazed! So much of the time, the little projects that Ive put off for five days took me less than a minute to complete. And it felt so good to get it crossed off my list finally! As I mentioned earlier, laundry is an area Ive long struggled with. Instead of spending all day feeling discouraged that Ive not gotten to the laundry yet, Ive been trying just to set the timer and get it done now. The same goes for so many other things. Rather than thinking: I should call so-and-so or I need to order such-and-such, just do it right then. Most of the time, it only takes a few minutes (or less!), and then the task is no longer nagging you, taking brain space and energy. Best of all, its done!

LACK OF PLANNING ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AND EMERGENCY ON MY PART.
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Day 20 Practical Application

Pick at least two or three tasks on your list that can be done in less than two minutes, and do them right now. Ready, set, go!

My Thoughts
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Day 21: Discipline Begets Discipline

Some of you may be feeling overwhelmed as were nearing the end of this 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge. It might seem disheartening that weve spent three weeks on one habit and you still have a mile long list of dozens upon dozens of other habits you want to incorporate. Dont lose heart! Just because you feel so far behind or so far from where you want to be, look at how far youve come. Recently, I set a goal to wake up early every day for 21 days. At the end of three weeks, I didnt have a perfect track record and there were one or two days I did sleep in a little past my goal time for waking up. But at the end of the 21 days, I was happy to realize that getting up early was becoming a true habit, not just a good idea or something I did for a few days in a row and then fell off the bandwagon again. It wasnt easy. There were days when I really, really, really wanted to go back to sleep. But I made myself get up. There were many times when I came up with a long list of excuses why it was okay for me to sleep in. But I made myself get up. And you know what was a bonus? Committing to get up early every morning has set so many other good habits in motion.

Because Im getting up earlier, Im having more lengthy and meaningful time reading
Gods Word every morning.

Because Im getting up earlier, Im finding time to exercise almost every single day. Because Im getting up earlier, Im getting a jumpstart on my day, and this has enabled me to get a lot more done and be more efficient.

Because Im getting up earlier, Im getting a lot of stuff done before the children wake
up. So by the time they wake up, I can give them my undivided attention and focused.

Because Im getting up earlier, Im going to bed earlier and this has allowed me to get
more consistent and restful sleep at night.

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Thats the beauty of intentionally working on developing discipline: Discipline begets discipline. When I am disciplined in one area, that resolve spills over into other areas. As Ive experienced in getting up earlier, intentionally making one consistent habit change can slowly lead to amazing transformation in many areas of my life. So stick with developing your one habit, dont give up, and keep with it even when you dont feel like it. One day soon you may wake up and realize youve changed your whole life just by beginning with one simple habit!

Day 21 Practical Application

Make a list of all the improvements and progress youve seen over the last 20 days. Dont dwell on the areas that still need some major work. Instead, be encouraged by the progress youve made.

My Thoughts
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Congratulations!
You made it to the end of the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life! Our 21-Day series is over, but hopefully your journey towards more self-discipline is just beginning. I encourage you to go back and re-read this ebook, tackle any of the projects you didnt get to, and keep challenging yourself to slowly develop habits. And dont forget to celebrate your success over the last three weeks. Youve worked hard and I hope your effort continues to pay off for months and years to come. Press onward and upward!

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My 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Progress Record

DIRECTIONS: Check off, or write a short note about your progress each day.

My Habit Im Working On :

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6 DAY 7

DAY 8 DAY 9 DAY 10 DAY 11 DAY 12 DAY 13 DAY 14

DAY 15 DAY 16 DAY 17 DAY 18 DAY 19 DAY 20 DAY 21

About the Author

Crystal Paine is a child of God, wife, homeschooling mom of three, bargain shopper and owner of MoneySavingMom.com. She is also author of The Money Saving Moms Budget.

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