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Best Books About Discipline: Power of Habit
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Have you ever wondered how it would be possible to have more discipline? If so, keep reading this article. In it, we’ll show you the best books about discipline. In this sense, discipline helps us stay more focused, deal with distractions, and do the necessary things.
If you want to learn more about automation and improve it, this article will help you get into the habit.
1 - Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Carol S. Dweck
Let’s get started.
This book is a seminal work on mindset for beginners. So if you are trying to find a good book on discipline and self-control, the book offers you precisely those things. The author, who is well respected in positive psychology, contributes much with her scientific readings on mindset, intelligence, and motivation.
This is a direct and insightful work. It is excellent for introducing those who want to learn more about growth and fixed mindsets.
The author’s work is very relevant for anyone interested in personal growth work. Therefore, it is focused on self-control and covers essential insights into achieving what you need and want. The book is grounded in solid psychological science, yet it is easy to read and interpret. It contains in-depth explanations and narratives to explain the key ideas.
2 - No Excuses - The Power of Self-Discipline - Brian Tracy
The author has several well-known books on goal setting. As such, he has extensive work on discipline and self-regulation. The book has approximately 300 pages and 21 chapters, each with tactical exercises that help you apply the concepts discussed.
In the book, Tracy encourages you to start acting in the now to conquer your own happiness. In this sense, he applies the techniques the author has perfected over the years. We will describe three lessons that the author cites in his book so that you can take control of your life:
- For you to become a great entrepreneur, plan your tasks with the Seven Step Method, and thus keep learning every day
- Happiness is a consequence of self-discipline, and it has five ingredients
- It will be possible to practice action even though fear exists by employing the Disaster Report
So, if you are ready to change and get the desired results, enjoy the reading that made the author famous. No Excuse is a book that can help you in many aspects of your life, be it in your financial life, work, health, relationships, or inner peace. It will offer several step-by-step techniques to help you develop self-discipline and then find happiness.
The book was published in 2010 and provides tips on how to avoid procrastination. In this way, it helps program the brain for doing and for action and makes you want to accomplish what you have always wanted.
3 – The Now Habit – The Fiore Productivity Program For Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play – Neil Fiore
The book contains many techniques that will help you not to procrastinate, break the mental toughness. It will also help perfectionists to improve their productivity. The book is easy and clear to read and offers ways to help those who are procrastinating. By conducting a deep investigation, the author invites his readers to understand their emotional intelligence, difficulties, and the best way to deal with them.
Neil Fiore offers help to accomplish and do things in the “now” and make it a habit. It may not appeal to many people, but it is a highly recommended read for those who want and need to achieve their goals, have less anxiety, and move forward.
A lot of legal advice that many people accept does not work for those who procrastinate. It is a way of coping to deal with problems such as anxiety, mental toughness and stress. And the only way to eliminate this is to face implicit fears and self-condemnation.
The strategy in the book helps us eradicate these insecurities and fears to harness the impulses and emotional intelligence in all of us. It is based on a series of psychological principles that are laid out.
When you overcome procrastination, you will enjoy your productivity, eliminate shame and guilt, have more time for leisure, and improve your self-esteem, mental health.
4 – The Power of Habit – Why We do What We do And How to Change – Charles Duhigg
The author Charles is a reporter for the New York Times, and he wrote this book by observing habits around the world. He became pretty skeptical about human behaviors and began researching “loops,” where our brain enters and conserves effort.
Research about the habitual behaviors that can sabotage the best intentions and how they trace our behaviors in various ways that sometimes we don’t even identify. The author reports some of his findings on how habits work in the brain, rewards, and traditions that change our actions.
During the reading, more specifically towards the end, Charles presents some strategies to change practices and regain self-control.
An optimistic book because it makes you understand that habits can change you, and when you know this, you have more freedom and can remake them. It has exciting narrations and a scientific basis that keeps you fixed on reading. The book also describes how we transform things into habits that should be classified as something other than such.
5 – The Little Book of Big Change – Amy Jhonson Ph.D., Mark Howard PhD
In this fascinating book, Amy Jhonson talks about the neuroscience of habits and addictions and argues that changing them is possible. The book is well-known among therapists and counselors. It is geared towards recovery but also addresses how it can change the tendency to think in specific ways.
No matter how bad a habit you have, it is possible to change it. Based on a combination of spirituality and neuroscience, the book will show you that you are not your habits. Thus, addictions and habits are combinations of simple brain connections that are easy to reverse.
Suppose you know how to eliminate these habits in the beginning. In that case, you will always be able to take control of your addictions and habits.
There is much information for those fighting against anxiety and related disorders. It may not be a simple read, but it is a great book. This book provides a sequence of small changes you can make in your daily life, which will significantly help in addition to ending bad habits.
6 – No Drama Discipline – Daniel J. Siegel, M.D, Tina Payne Bryson, PH. D.
The book has many insights, offers more straightforward language, and makes you feel good. It can be considered one of the best books on disciplining children. The author teaches the readers how it is possible to help children to have discipline with the help of neurobiology in child development.
Although it is grounded in science, it brings practical advice on how to help your child and you when you have breakdowns and unpleasant behavior and discard harsh punishments to educate the little ones.
After reading it, knowing how to discipline your children correctly and effectively will be easier. Going against traditional discipline because the goal is to create a strong connection with the child. It also makes a suggestion to stop harsh punishments and makes you focus on building strong bonds and having lasting, positive changes.
7 – Atomic Habits – James Clear
The book is based on how people can make small life changes. In that sense, transforming the good habits and deleting the bad ones, because when they are built and repeated, they have a combined effect, so that a better version of ourselves results.
The philosophy in this book is that for significant changes to happen, we need to make minor additions and then work on these atomic habits that accumulate over time. So that they then give us the results that we expect. So the key to success is not insignificant steps but the small actions we practice throughout our lives. So this book will help you to understand these actions consciously.
The book has several case studies and relates real-life experiences to explain the whole context. The visual aids that the book contains help and facilitate its reading. The author divides the structures better so that the readers understand better.
Almost everything said in the book is of great importance, facts proven by all the quotes highlighted in the text. So if you want to read a good book, this book would be great for building good habits and discipline.
8 – Make Your Bed – Little things that can change your life, and maybe the word – William H. McRaven
The author emphasizes in his book that life is often unfair, as many people know. In this sense, what can define great women and men is how they deal with life’s injustices. People like Stephen Hawking and Nelson Mandela are some examples the author refers to.
Let’s list three lessons on how to improve self-discipline and have a meaningful life:
- Making your bed in the morning can lead you to accomplish several tasks by the end of your day
- If you want to change the world, don’t ring the bell
- Find someone to help you row if you want to make a difference in the world
This book is inspiring because it gets you thinking big while accomplishing small tasks. You may know 10,000 people, but if you reach out to 10 people, and those 10 people reach out to more people, the world can be a better place for generations. Each person can make a difference. All it takes is will and discipline.
9 – The 5 Second Rules – Mel Robbins
Maybe you have used some counting as a psychological trick to accomplish some task. You may have counted to three to cross the street, or you have counted to ten to start a workout. The main reason why many people do this is that it is a way to focus on what needs to be done and ignore the other consequences that are not necessary.
Let’s look at reasons why this simple 5-second idea can be helpful:
- Through small actions of courage, the 5-Second Rule makes you less afraid of time
- It will help you overcome your feelings; it is a model of psychological intervention
Using this Rule is simple. When you feel the instinct to act on a commitment or goal, or when you feel hesitant about something, use the Rule. Start counting backward (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). This count will help you focus on what is necessary and distract you from other worries, fears, and unwanted thoughts. Then when you get to “1”, make it happen.
The Rule will work every time you use it. So use it. It’s a tool. And if you stop using it, uncertainty and fear can come back and take control of your choices. If this happens, use the five seconds again. Performing physical movement is a significant thing because when you move, your physiology will change as well, as your mind tends to follow.
The Rule is a metacognition tool based on studies and research on creating lasting and rapid behavioral changes.
By using the Rule over time, you can experience significant changes in yourself. In that sense, a transformation will improve your inner strength and confidence.
10 – The One Thing – The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results – Gery Kelle
If you feel overwhelmed with too many things to do and the challenges seem too great, or if it’s hard to keep up with the constant changes in your life, this is the book for you. The author explains that there is ONE thing, something, behind every individual.
Therefore, by understanding and applying what the author describes, it will be possible to do less and have more, achieve extraordinary goals, and have a great life. So the fundamental idea of the book is: what will be the only thing you need to do. When you do it, everything else will become superficial or unnecessary.
11 – The Willpower Instinct – How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It – Kelly McGonigal, Ph.
Have you ever lost a goal, had moments of distraction or temptation, and stopped doing what you should? Losing willpower is not a sign of weakness but various mental, physical, social, and emotional outcomes and factors.
The book’s author explains your resolve using insight from psychology, economics, medicine, and neuroscience. With the book, you will learn all about willpower, as the book has strategies to help you improve your self-control and procrastination and eliminate distractions.
Willpower is directly linked to the ability to gain self-control when needed. Therefore, to improve your self-control, you must understand why there is loss and what to do when it happens. Having willpower is more than having the ability to say no to temptation. In this sense, it is composed of three powers that help make you better:
- Power of I Will: Seek to do things that can improve your quality of life
- Power of I won’t: Stop doing things that might harm your happiness, success, or well-being
- Power of I Will: Focusing on your most important long-term goals
Self-control is essential to finding the motivation you need at the right time. So it is about realizing what you really need to do what you should and resisting what you shouldn’t. We all have self-control. And the extent to which you use it is a factor that will determine your physical health, academic success, financial stability, quality of relationships, and levels of happiness and stress.
12 – The Marshmallow Test – Walter Mischel
The author did an analysis that showed the complexity of instant and delayed gratification in children. During the author’s 60th birthday goals, he did his first studies in preschool.
The research was based on telling a child that he could have a marshmallow when he asked or two fifteen minutes later. He followed the development of these children later on to observe their performance at school, obesity data, and other factors.
This book is much more than a general overview of improving self-control. It gives the reader a comprehensive overview of a revealing experiment in current psychology.
To conduct this research, children were secretly observed to see how they would handle the situation. Many children ate the treat they had chosen on the spot, and others waited a while but then ate it too. However, some children did not eat the treat and resisted and used the same strategy. In this sense, those children who fought and did not eat the treat were able to distract themselves.
Some children leaned over and played, and others sang some music. They used different distraction strategies.
The children created their own strategies, and then the researchers tried to teach those techniques to other children. And that helped a lot. These researchers shared their plans before conducting more tests with different children. For example, if the hand started to move to pick up the treat, they were to start singing a song.
That way, waiting until they remembered what it was doing every time they went to get the joy would be easier. The Marshmallow test may seem simple, but it has profound answers.
13 – Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance – Angela Duckworth
The book is a combination of perseverance and passion. After years of research, the author discovered that grit is a more important quality of a high performer than intelligence, talent, and other personality traits. The work combines passion and perseverance. It means following such a direction with endurance and consistency. It is as if you have a compass inside you that guides you in all your actions and decisions.
Many studies show that more than intelligence and talent is needed to anticipate success. Often, talent can be a factor that can get in the way of performance, and performance tests tend not to be suitable measures of real potential.
From another perspective, effort (underpinned by drive) is significant. It is necessary to strive to enhance natural talents and tangible skills through improvement and practice. In this way, it is essential to seek to apply many of these skills when solving many real-world problems and thus achieve accomplishments.
Thoroughly, with the book, you will be able to get examples in research that are associated with explaining these concepts and also why there is a tendency towards natural talents, despite knowing the value of hard work.
14 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
This work is about self-improvement because we see the world based on our perceptions. Therefore, to change in a specific situation, we must understand that we need to change ourselves and to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions.
This book sold around 25 million copies. The book was released in 1990, and the author still needed to learn how successful his work would become. Even after the author’s death, the book is considered a bible of leadership and modernity.
The seven habits are as follows:
- Be proactive
- Start with the end in mind
- Put first things first
- Think win-win
- Seek to understand first, then be understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the saw
The first three habits concern your own independence, as the author says, so that you can “win in private.” The following three habits are about shifting the focus to interdependence. That is when there is an effort to cooperate instead of competing. And the last habit is for your own renewal so that you stay calm and energized.
The book is a super-classic. However, it is not a guide or a step-by-step book. Many lessons may take a while to implement because they are general principles. However, this means they are also timeless and will have a powerful impact when put into practice.
The work provides an inside-out approach to improving your life and yourself. The method involves examining and adjusting your character, seeing the world, and interacting with others.
Final Thoughts
Therefore, magnificent results take time to happen. They are built continuously, one step at a time. But with discipline and dedication, it is possible to achieve extraordinary results. We hope that this article has helped you find what you were looking for and that you have found these science-based readings as enjoyable as we have.
To improve and enhance your skills in various tasks, including discipline and self-control, help from good experts is always welcome.
Paul Martinez is the founder of EcomSidekick.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, eCommerce, traffic and conversion.
Join him on EcomSidekick.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this media site, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.