4 Steps to Transform Your Life

Are you happy with where you are? If not, follow these steps to transform your life!

Transform Your Life

By Sivarama Swami

We all know nothing comes easy in life. Warren Buffet said, “We don’t have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest.” And with so many distractions like the internet, social media, smartphones, fashion, and so on, discipline is usually the last thing on our minds. But self-discipline is the foundation upon which skills, professions, and life-choices are built. Think of where you would be now if you didn’t go through the discipline of driving lessons and learning the rules of the road. Probably six feet under.

Similarly, self-discipline is necessary for all other aspects of life, whether it’s education, health, marriage, business, or raising children. The result of all activities depends on how committed we are to be practicing the disciplines that come with that activity. In other words, in any endeavor, the rule of thumb is that as much as you put into it, that much you get out of it. You can’t withdraw money from a bank account you haven’t put money into. But we often face obstacles to discipline like a lack of motivation or just plain procrastination.

Here are 4 tips to help you on your path to transform your life – tips you can add to your life right now.

1. Wake up early! Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise!” As a practicing monk for 50 years, it is my habit to rise before 4 am. Rising early may require adjustments and rescheduling, but the benefits of being more focused and more “ready to go” are extraordinary.

2. Add a spiritual dimension to the day. This is a must to reinforce your foundation. Every day of those 50 years as a monk, I’ve been practicing mantra meditation. Chanting a sacred sound vibration for two hours every morning brings me to a space free of anxiety and stress and connects me with a deeper dimension — my innermost self. Start with just 10 minutes a day, but just start.

3. Stick to your path. A lack of discipline can be due to not knowing where you’re going, not knowing your nature, and not knowing your purpose. Don’t get swayed by details, distracted by fads, or derailed by peer pressure. Instead, do things that are in line with who you are. And keep life simple! Stick to what is fulfilling to you and use that as your anchor.

4. Self-Control. You need to remove the temptations in life. For example, if you’re trying to cut out alcohol, you stay away from bars, right? Similarly, if you want to be a better person, then priorities whatever it takes to get there. That means to detach from things that get in your way. Those things may be bad habits, or an unfavorable social circle, or a challenging environment. Identify those barriers and eliminate them. And that’s it. Or at least, it’s the beginning. Implement these 4 steps and see how regulation can transform your life. As you start to experience the results, then you can build on it further. And sure, it may be hard to change or establish new processes in life. But here’s the thing: avoiding pain or suffering is a myth, it’s pie in the sky.

So, we either suffer the pain of discipline, or we suffer the pain of regret. The choice is yours.

You will also enjoy 7 Tips on the Road to Higher Consciousness and 8 Happiness Tips from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius

About the Author

His Holiness Sivarama Swami is a senior monk and spiritual teacher of the devotional path (Bhaktiyoga), a 5000-year-old spiritual tradition emerging from ancient India. He is the author of over 15 books which elucidate the teachings of Bhakti further and is the inspirer behind the world-renowned Krishna Valley community in Hungary; a self-sustained eco-village founded on the principles of ‘simple living & high thinking’. https://sivaramaswami.com