Discipline Is The Key :

Make a Commitment - A commitment is more than a wish. A commitment means that you will achieve a certain result. This is not the same thing as a wishing or hoping to achieve it. With a true commitment, there are no excuses. You must decide that nothing will prevent you from reaching your personal objective and then you must act accordingly.

Pay Yourself Often - Often times, we set goals and say to ourselves, "When I finally accomplish A, B, & C, I will get this great reward." The problem with this approach is that the reward is too far off in the future. It's very difficult to keep your end of the bargain if the pay off is remote. When you get the urge to back out on your commitment (and you will), you need a more immediate reward. Think about it. Would you work for our current employer if you only got paid once every five years? Sure, that would be one HUGE paycheck but could you keep your nose to the grindstone for five years waiting for it? So just as you get paid every week, two weeks or month by your employer, pay yourself a regular "salary" for keeping your commitment. Give yourself a gift of a shopping spree, a night out on the town, a weekend at a spa or just a long, hot bath for keeping your commitment.

Make It Hurt - One of the reasons we are so good in keeping commitments to others is because we know they won't let us off the hook. For instance, if you renege on your commitment to pay your mortgage, your lender won't call and say, "Oh, that's alright. I know there was a big sale at the mall last week. Just make it up when you can." However, that's exactly what you might say to yourself if you fail to meet a commitment to save money, clean out the garage or spend more time at church. To make sure you keep your commitments to yourself, you need to establish consequences. After all, if you don't make your car payment, you will have to take the bus so why not apply the same principle with your most important creditor - you? Establish negative consequences for failing to meet your commitments and then stick to them. Trust me, it won't take more than one or two Saturday nights of being "grounded" to make you take your commitments seriously.

Try Again - I don't care how disciplined you are, you will let yourself down from time to time. When this happens, take your punishment like a man (or a woman), re-commit and try again. Discipline is like any other skill; it takes practice. You didn't learn to walk on your first try or swim on your first day in the pool, so cut yourself some slack and realize that this is a process. Remember, you will never become completely disciplined. The goal is to become more disciplined, so keep at it.