Self-discipline is literally what it takes to achieve anything in life.  If you want to lose weight, you need self discipline to go to the gym and to not eat that five-dollar-piece of cheesecake that is begging you to come and try it. If you want to make all A’s, you need to have self discipline to study and do homework and stop going through Pinterest to see how to build a bird house that you will probably never build.

Fortunately, self-discipline is a skill and is not a trait. Self-discipline is not obtained overnight; you need to work on it every day. Just like a muscle, you have to train it every day to make it stronger.

All the sacrifices you make may not seem like a big deal now, but all the little details are what make a picture pretty. If you decide to study for that really big test that is coming soon instead of going through social media for two hours and looking at the same stuff, it might not seem a big deal, but trust me, it is. Since you studied for the test, you probably are going to make a good grade. Since you made a good grade on the test that will bring your grade in that class up, it brings you GPA up, and so on. It is like a domino effect, but it does not work if you do it one time, you have to do it every day. Just like you need oxygen and food to live, you need self-discipline to achieve your goals.

Excuses are a hurdle when it comes to achieving goals; they always look like the easiest thing to do, but in the long run they are going to hurt you.  It is not going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it.