- When Akaash feels like reading a few more pages of the novel but then chooses to keep it aside and get going with his assignment,
- When Nalini wants to go for that another bar of her favorite chocolate, but she stops herself, reminding herself of her goal to manage her weight,
- When Om does not want to get up from his bed but decides to anyway get up and go for a walk,
- When Sarha is feeling tired and feels like shutting down her laptop, but she persists for another half an hour to finish her work,
- When Ram ‘s friends call him out for a movie which has his favorite character, but he politely declines because he wants to prepare for an interview,
- When Somu fails to win in a preparatory game and wants to give up but continues to go for practice,
- When Tanuj feels like shouting back at the colleague who spoke to him rudely but stops himself and explains his point calmly,
- When after going to gym everyday for one month, there is gap for a week due to unavoidable reasons and Reena feels that anyway she has broken her resolve and perhaps there is no point restarting- but she pushes herself to start again…
What is the skill these people are exercising?
It is called Self-regulation!
Not giving in to urges and temptations just because we feel like,
Persisting at our goals when the going gets tough
Handling external and internal distractions when we need to stay focused…
Basically it is about NOT going only by what we ‘feel like’ doing/not doing BUT- Instead choosing to do/not do something- based on what seems the wisest thing to do.
Remember: Low self regulation is one of the biggest factors that come in way of our achievements and results in unhealthy and unwise choices.
Self regulation – like a muscle -can be exercised!
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Try it out! Keep a daily score card and pat yourself for trying consistently!
Here is the score card for you to maintain:
Score Card for the month
Downloadable score card Link here