Self-control - The Enchiridion to personal development !

Self-control  - The Enchiridion to personal development !

Self-control is the power to control one's emotions and desires whenever and wherever required. In other words, it is the potential to train the mind and channelize the energy according to one's will. It is of prime importance because it helps in controlling our mind and inner-selves, the most powerful tools.

Desire gives rise to more desires. Gratification will never come if you go on increasing your wants exponentially. When you are in the grip of a whim to buy something new, you feel you must have it otherwise you won't be happy. Once you get it, you think of buying something better. If you cannot distinguish between your needs and wants, you cannot be internally contended. So, it's important that you acquire what you need and then be satisfied with what you already have.

Energy, like money, should be well managed, saved and invested wisely. We should have a clear understanding of when to get close to something and when to stay away from it. This self-awareness when accompanied with self-esteem helps to switch off the button of mind in valueless cases similar to switching off the light when not needed.

Very often there is a "tug of war" between our baseless wishes and right thoughts inside our brain. At such times, if our wishes appear more significant, we should reprogram our brain deliberately to act according to the right thoughts. We should never forget that we become good at whatever we practice irrespective of whether it is positive or negative. If we let ourselves to be distracted, we will eventually get habituated to it. Hence, we should try to learn the art of self-control and practice over and over again to get a knack of it. Self-control like a muscle can be strengthened. Ceaseless efforts can help us become completely disengaged from external ups and downs. We can then remain the same in all situations, neither too excited in pleasure nor too depressed in pain.

There are so many imperfections within us to be vanquished. So, do not squander your time in worthless desires. Utilize your leisure time in introspection for self-development. Make a habit of helping yourself by constructive self-analysis.

Self-control is a concept which most of us are familiar with but very few of us actually practice it in the right manner. Check out these five strategies which can easily help in self-control :

1.  Identify and accept your weaknesses.
2. Create new habits and work slowly which will lead you towards your goal. Also, find a crystal clear way to avoid falling back to old habits. 
3. Reward yourself for positive supplementation and live in the present moment.
4. Set mental alarms to prevent "a few minutes" from turning into "a few hours". Of course, you can do things for relaxation that you love as long as it is within the allocated time-frame.
5. Don't simply copy others, not even the celebrities because everyone has different goals, strengths and weaknesses. So, make a timetable delineated according to you as an individual.

Doing something in moderation is good but excess of anything is always bad. Self-discipline helps you to remain within the boundary of time limit set for a particular task. It stops you from doing things which have been done enough. Self-control helps you to stay motivated and focused towards your objective.

As your mind's self-control power develops, so does your magnetism, the attractive force generated within to pull you towards success. Complete concentration in your work can only be achieved, provided you are self-disciplined.