Developing self discipline is a crucial aspect of mastering frugality. Without it, it will be virtually impossible for you to build long term wealth. Despite what you’ve been led to believe by the mass media, building great wealth, particularly when you come from a poor background, is difficult to do if you don’t have extreme self discipline. All the money making skills in the world will do you little good if you don’t master this skill. I’m assuming you’re reading this article because you do intend on becoming wealthy, correct?
This was my reasoning for embracing frugality as a philosophy. But in order to utilize this philosophy, I also needed a healthy dose of self discipline to go along with it. However, what is dicipline? How do we define it in a context which is understood wihin the realm of the frugal mind?
Understanding Self Discipline
Financially speaking, I define self discipline as the ability to resist the urge for instant gratification. A man with self discipline is a man, who when walking into a store, and seeing something he wants, chooses not to buy it, even though he has the money, because he knows there are more important things he should spend his money on. A man with self discipline knows when and when not to buy things. In contrast, many people operate with the naive mentality that just because they have the money to buy something, and they want it, they should always buy it.
The problem with this mentality is that it causes an addiction within the mind. Every time an undisciplined person confronts a situation where they have the opportunity for instant gratification, they give in, because they have the money. It is kind of like a man who can’t resist beer whenever it is available, or a sugar addict who can’t resist any sweets put before them. If either continues to indulge without exercising self control, they may develop serious problems later on. Financially speaking, a person who constantly gives in to instant gratification because they have the money will eventually, ironically enough, end up not having enough money to buy anything.
A man with self discipline knows when he has drunk enough in a bar, and once he has, he stops. Likewise, a frugal man knows when he has purchased enough items, and once he has, he stops buying. People have often asked me how I managed to save so much money over the years. The answer I usually give them is that I have extreme self discipline. When I give people this answer, it often doesn’t satisfy them, and the reason I think it doesn’t is because people are looking for a “magic formula” for success. Well, I’m here to tell you that there is no magic formula for mastering frugality. There are no pills that you can take for it.
I saved a bunch of money, and became financially independent, because I wanted that more than anything in the world. And that desire pushed me to exercise the self discipline that was necessary to achieve my goals. My self discipline isn’t just limited to my finances either. No one has to tell me to exercise three times a week. i just do it. This is self discipline. Those who exercise self discipline, rather than giving in to every impulse of instant gratification, will ultimately gain more gratification than those who choose to give into it at every turn.