Read below to see why self-discipline in business is so important for success.

By, Esther Spina

Business Mindset & Leadership Coach

for Ambitious Businesswomen & Female Entrepreneurs

Inspired by Chapter 9 of my Amazon Best-Selling Book, 

The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,

LIVE A SELF-DISCIPLINED LIFE!

Through coaching and mentoring women in business, I’ve learned that even the most seasoned businesswoman goes through periods when they feel unmotivated, doubtful, or afraid to take the next steps in their career.

Mindset blocks, including the fear of failure and wavering self-confidence cause you to procrastinate and lose the focus you need to achieve your dreams.

The key is not to get stuck in the negative spiral of self-doubt that keeps you from moving forward towards your highest potential. 

It’s all about committing to small daily habits that keep you on track for success. But, how do you overcome the resistance to self-discipline when it arises?

In this blog, I share advice for all businesswomen and female entrepreneurs who struggle with procrastination and daily distractions that keep you from hitting your goals. 

We all do it, but it’s time we face these bad habits head-on. The first step is to gain awareness of what’s holding us back.

All it takes is small tweaks to your daily habits to see positive change and lasting rewards.

Read below for 3 daily strategies that help you overcome your biggest mindset blocks to business success and start seeing improvements in your life right away . . .

1. Identify Time-Wasting Habits and Replace Them with Positive Focus & Discipline

Do you spend hours of your day on social media, watching guilty pleasure TV shows, or avoiding tasks you know you need to do to take your business to the next level?

As a women’s business coach, I know how tempting it can be to turn on the tube or scroll through Facebook, but did you know that people spend an average of 145 minutes on social media a day?!?!?

That’s an average of over two hours a day wasted on aimless scrolling that could have been put to better use reaching your business goals. 

And when one of our biggest excuses as women in business is not having enough time to complete all the tasks on our to-do lists, it’s hard to justify wasting that much of it in a day.

Try putting your phone on airplane mode and restricting your TV time to 1-2 shows a night as a reward for all the hard work you have put in during the day. Set aside specific times to answer all your emails instead of all throughout the day. Or set aside a 30 min block of time to view your facebook, instead of constantly scrolling throughout the day or evening

I bet you’ll start seeing massive improvements in your productivity in a week.

One real-time killer is being “organized to a fault.” Cleaning your office, filing papers, and obsessively reviewing to-do lists instead of working is not productive, nor does it make money. This is often a sign of procrastination and an excuse for not getting things done. Try doing these things after hours and NOT during set working hours to increase productivity.

One last tip — Take one day and write out what you are doing every minute of that day and suddenly it will become very clear to you where the gaps in your time are going.

Each day you have a choice as to how you will spend the precious hours you are given. The question is will you use that time in service to your goals, or in avoiding the things you know you need to do to be successful?

Discipline = Desire + Effort

2. Go From Big to Small — Start With Your End Goal In Mind, Then Commit to Small Daily Actions for Business Success

It’s important to know what’s driving you and the reason behind why you do what you do. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to journal about where your business goals came from so you can keep the bird’s eye view as inspiration when you’re getting bogged down in daily tasks.

How often do you ask yourself why you want to achieve what you want to achieve?

It may be to provide financial security for your family or to have more personal freedom and a flexible schedule. To have more control over your daily life or the lifestyle you crave.

When you keep the end goal in mind it keeps you focused, however, every big dream has to be broken down into smaller weekly, monthly, and daily goals to make it achievable.

Start by setting aside a few minutes a day to self-reflect — make a list of bad habits that you’d like to replace with small positive actions, and do one thing today that shifts that pattern.

It should also be mentioned that self-discipline is not natural to everyone, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a choice.

We can CHOOSE to be more disciplined by keeping our bigger goals in mind. 

But even when you have a plan, know that every woman in business experiences unexpected setbacks that cause detours from time to time. That’s just part of being adaptable and flexible, which is a hallmark of success for all businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

3. Surround Yourself with Inspiration, Support, and Accountability from Other Successful Businesswomen

Any woman in business or female entrepreneur hits a rough patch eventually, but it’s not a road we have to walk alone.

You can save so much time by learning from other pioneering women in business who have already been where you are now. Even better, you can build lasting connections and friendships that make your journey so much easier and more fun too.

Sometimes what we need is an accountability partner to help us get over the hump that is holding us back.

This could be as simple as finding someone you can check in with weekly that understands your goals and applauds your progress while giving you constructive feedback. It could also be joining a group of like-minded entrepreneurs to brainstorm new ideas and challenges with.

This is one of the main reasons why I started the Ambitious Women Conference, to get valuable insight, understanding, and encouragement from other female entrepreneurs and businesswomen. (Stay tuned for upcoming events next year when we can hopefully get together again!)

It’s important to keep learning, stay inspired, and be open to new ways of thinking. I am always reading new books on how to keep a positive business mindset and to learn new self-discipline techniques.

One of my favorite business books every woman should read is “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, by Stephen R. Covey. I highly recommend it for advice on how to be a successful businesswoman.

My book, The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One, contains stories of many of the female founders and CEOs I admire, plus the secrets of success I have learned personally as an owner of many business ventures and as a top seller in my direct sales marketing firm.

And now, for a limited time, when you purchase my book below,

you get the audiobook CD for FREE!

Hard-Copy Book

Audiobook CD

Each short chapter has its own theme and is a quick read with your morning coffee or an easy listen on your daily commute to help you focus on the day ahead.

Get yours while you can – 

this discounted price only lasts until the first edition is out of print and they’re going fast!