Take 5 : 14th August 2017 by Mr Tan Yong Huat

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Chung, Mr Lee, teachers and fellow students.

For those Sec 4 normal students taking design and technology as their elective subject, yesterday the deadline for them to submit their DT coursework. The duration of this coursework is around seven months whereby the students are required to identify a problem situation and think of a solution or way to resolve the identified problem. Given seven months to complete their coursework seems very long but having gone through many batches of graduating cohort, most students still need to rush through their coursework till the very last minute before they are ready for submission. This year, Rou Bing of class 4B has managed to complete her coursework two weeks before the deadline. She is able to complete her coursework ahead of schedule because she has exercised self-discipline to monitor whether she is on task or behind schedule. If she is behind schedule, she will try to find time to catch up with her work. Early completion of her coursework has allowed her to have more time to revise other subjects.

Self-discipline describes the necessary mental strength that is required to control one’s behaviours, feelings and desires. If one is self-disciplined, it indicates that one’s feelings and desires are under control. It also shows that one can motivate oneself to tackle the tasks and problems that need to be addressed. If you have a high level of self-discipline, you will not shy away from difficulties and obstacles that stand in your way. Self-discipline describes not only the necessary willpower required to do what needs to be done. It also defines the ability to withstand temptations to accomplish long-term goals. Basically, it’s your ability to ignore everything that does not contribute to the accomplishment of your objectives.

Here’s what you can do if you’re struggling with self-discipline.

First, try to remove the expectation that one day you might actually like being disciplined. In most cases, you won’t. However, if you’re not expecting things to be easy, you’ll be more likely to continue the pursuit of being disciplined. In fact, when you expect things to be difficult, you’ll be able to better deal with the struggles you encounter.

Secondly, it is important that you continuously push yourself to maintain self-control. Doing so will help you to establish the habit of being disciplined. Not only will this habit impact major areas of your life, but it will also allow you to increase your chances to succeed.

Self-Discipline Is like a Muscle.
If it’s not used, it’ll deteriorate. However, when it’s used continuously, it’ll strengthen. In fact, the more you exercise this “mental muscle,” the stronger your habit of being disciplined becomes. You will not only get used to it, but after some time you will notice that you will continuously keep pushing yourself even further.

It is, however, important to start small when it comes to the development of self-control. It is recommendable not to overdo it in the beginning. Instead, try to start with something small, so as not to lose motivation. This will not only help you getting used to the new behaviour, but it will also enable you to quickly reap the first benefits. From this point, onwards, you can gradually increase the exertion of your “willpower muscle.”

Once you have mastered to be disciplined about one aspect in your life, you can add another thing you’d like to change. And as soon as you’ve mastered this challenge as well you can focus your attention on something else. As you can see, this approach will help you to transform your life one step at a time. The only important thing to consider is that you should pay close scrutiny to maintaining a given habit once it’s established.

To conclude, Self-control is the mental strength that allows you to do whatever necessary, even if you do not feel like it. It’s the ability to withstand different kinds of temptations. Individuals that are self-disciplined control their conduct and feelings to a high level. It might not always be joyful to be a disciplined person, but ultimately your determination to pursue your dreams will benefit greatly from it. In fact, self-discipline is like a muscle that can be strengthened. All it takes is the willpower to exert it.

Onwards. Gessians.