Self-disciplined people view motivation as extra credit — nice to have when it shows up, but never to be expected or counted on. Feeling a surge of motivation is not required to do hard things. Self-disciplined people don’t fall into this trap because they understand the true nature of the relationship between feeling and action:

Waiting for Motivation

Self-disciplined people have a knack for staying focused on effort and ignoring outcomes. Self-disciplined people are able to make consistent progress toward their goals precisely because they don’t spend much time thinking about them. Spending too much time thinking about your goals is a distraction from the things you actually have control over — your actions. The best attitude toward outcomes and goals is to “set it and forget it.”

Worrying about Outcomes

People with a lot of self-discipline understand that willpower is a last resort. Willpower should never be a primary strategy for accomplishing difficult things. Better to avoid temptations in the first place than trying to resist them. How would I achieve my goals if I had zero willpower?

Relying on Willpower

Self-disciplined people know that feelings are not to be trusted. Self-discipline requires a healthy skepticism of your own emotions. Emotions are behavioral heuristics — your mind’s guesses about how you should act. Worth paying attention to, but not to be followed blindly.

Trusting your feelings

We rightly admire self-disciplined people. Because whatever your goals are — from making the Olympics or starting a business to writing a novel or sticking to a new diet — self-discipline is often a…

Relying on Willpower

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