Hey guys! It’s been a minute since I’ve sat down to write up one of these cos life has been hectic! In a good way though, and I have been learning a lot as always! Today, I am talking about one of the big areas that I have had to grow in due to this busyness and that is self-discipline.
This year is the second year of my Masters but the first year that I have had to actually juggle the enormous workload on top of life being back to normal, and it has been way more overwhelming than I thought it would be. When I found out a week before I started that I had 46 assessments to complete this semester alone, I knew that I needed to do better at managing my life or I was just going to crash! So I did 2 main things -
Firstly, and most importantly, I figured out how I could implement and sustain a good God time routine to keep me centered and keep God first and foremost in my life. I am far from perfect at doing this, but I go for a worship music/prayer walk first thing most mornings, and then come back to read my Bible and start the day in the right headspace. This has helped me enormously to focus during the rest of my day. After doing it every week of semester, I am so much less stressed than I otherwise would have been because when Jesus is at the top of the priority list, everything else flows much more smoothly. As the mornings keep getting colder, I’m not going to lie, I don’t spring out of bed as much as I did a couple of months ago haha but that’s where the discipline has to come in and once I do make that choice to go out and spend that time with Jesus, I am so grateful and feel filled and refreshed and ready to tackle all that's on my plate for the day.
The other thing that has required a fair amount of self-discipline, is balancing the rest of my life - ensuring I am getting into bed early at night, eating well, exercising etc, as well as time management and working on my yes/no choices to things so that I can do all the things that God has on my plate in this season well. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to say yes when I get asked to do something but doing things well is more important than doing a lot of things. Colossians 3:23 says “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” so instead of running around like crazy trying to do everything that I want to do, focusing on doing everything that I do for God and His glory, is helping me keep my load under control and be self-disciplined to say no when I need to. Doing this has helped keep me sane, but as an added bonus of working hard during the week and trying my best, it is allowing me the freedom to rest and have fun on the weekends, which is so important to fit in that balance too. Scheduling has been another really important part of my time management and in becoming more disciplined, so I am trying to stick to it as best I can. I can’t recommend having a diary/schedule enough (colour coded is even better ;) ) to keep you accountable and on top of everything that you want to achieve each week.
Self-discipline is really hard and there have been many times that I make choices that perhaps aren’t the smartest but God is full of grace and He helps me make a better one the next day! We can’t do this without Him! He is so good and is always with us and He WANTS to help us make the best choices we can make, and give us His strength to carry out all that He has planned for us to do. And when we have the habit and structure of good self-discipline, life is way less stressful, more joyful, more peaceful and more fulfilling. So that’s a little sneak peak into my very crazy (but trying my best to stay under control) life and what I’m learning a lot about at the moment! Lots of love to you all! xx
