“Everyone we need to have enough self-discipline

“Everyone can be self-disciplined, it just depends to what extent they want to discipline themselves”. My mum told me this when I was in Primary 5. Since then, I have believed in this sentence and have taken it as my motto. However, my learning of self discipline did not only start when I was 11.I started Gymnastics when I was about 4 years old and I’m still doing it at the age of 15.

Self-discipline came to me as a second nature, as I usually come home late causing me to start on homework late as well. Sometimes when my homework is due the next day and I don’t want to do it as I am tired or I want to watch YouTube videos, I still do it.Gymnastics is a very time-consuming sport and I spend about 16 hours a week in the gym, not including my other dance classes and tuition classes.

Some would think such a time-consuming sport would give me less time for my schoolwork but that not only causes me to spend more time on homework, but also helps me with time management skills and aids me in the composition of quality work in a shorter span of time. Also, the hard work involved in Gymnastics translates into my schoolwork because it puts me in a mindset to work to the best of my ability. Self discipline to stay on task when our coach is working with another gymnast is paramount in this sport. Working hard, even when you think no one is watching, is a important asset to any individual’s character and cannot be overlooked. For example if my coach were to tell us to do 30 sit-ups, we need to have enough self-discipline to do 30. No more, no less.

 This event happened when I was 8. At that age, I was very playful and did not want to do the exercises given to me by my coach. She asked me to do 15 front somersaults, and went to help my other teammate, and being a 10 year old who wanted to slack off, I only did 8 front somersaults. As many clichéd stories go, that competition that year was one of my worst and I could blame no one but myself.The possession of this skill enables me to persevere with my decisions and plans until I accomplish them. It also helps me to overcome procrastination and laziness, and to follow through with whatever I do.