Parents talk a lot about discipline – but very few know how to actually build it in their children.
In this article we’ll answer what is discipline and how can you build it in your children.
Simply put, discipline is doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like it.
Form an academic perspective – this includes things like studying when you may not like it, writing that essay you’ve been putting off, doing your homework daily, etc.
The reason it’s hard is generally as humans we are wired to pursue the path of least resistance. Doing things we don’t feel like often feels like a drag, especially when there are so many other ‘easier’ and more enjoyable things you could be doing.
To understand how students can be more disciplined, we spoke to our most disciplined students across years to figure out what they do differently.
The key finding: The top students don’t rely on willpower or motivation. Instead, they build their environment to make being ‘disciplined’ easier.
In practice, what that looks like is to:
- Schedule a consistent study routine at fixed times
- Remove distractions during work time (phone off, no friends, no group learning that turns social)
- Hold themselves accountable to a 3rd party (e.g. a tutor, a coach, a friend)
In short, discipline is much more about engineering the right environemnt, rather than motivation.
These are all things we help build in our students in multiple ways – e.g., consistent lessons, progress trackers, etc.
If you’re interested how we can support your child, get in touch with our team.
