Having desires— and cravings— are normal, but the question is do those desires control you? If they do, it’s a sure sign that you are lacking self-control.
I shared a story on my LinkedIn page recently, and I’d share it here as well;
On that particular day, I was feeling totally unmotivated and I had a blog post pending but I didn’t feel up to it. I then decided to take a little walk from the office in order to get myself something. You know, it’s always a good source of motivation when you’re munching on something sweet, lol.
I walked into a bakery and got myself a tub of ice cream. I felt so pleased with myself. On my way back to the office, I kept smiling while rehearsing a lil motivational peptalk to myself. “Yeah, baby! You deserve every scoop of this.”
When I had gone halfway into the 900ml tub ice cream, I had had enough and was ready to stop, yet I didn’t. My excuse? I deserved the giant tub before me. I had been working and saving all month so I needed to do something nice for myself, and that included completely devouring the ice cream before me. To some, 900ml of ice cream is not a big deal; but to me, it was as I had already reached my limits. I kept going though I could no longer feel the taste of the ice cream on my tongue.
About an hour later, I was done. Finally! However, I got so lazy and sleepy that the initial goal was defeated. I had taken the ice cream to get myself motivated to write, yet there I was unable to lift a finger. You know that feeling yeah? When it feels like the central power cable within you has been disconnected.
I sat at my desk, half laying my head on it waiting for the feeling to pass so I could at least get something going. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes transformed into 2 hours. Soon, the sun became too hot (which is almost impossible for me to write or be fully productive) and I had errands to run. I didn’t feel the creative adrenaline rush, but I had to force myself to work. After all, I had brought that upon myself.
In fewer words, what had happened was I let lack of self-control— disguised in self-love— have the better of me.
I also lacked discipline and self-control to stop myself. I knew when I should have stopped, yet I kept stuffing myself with more. And at the end it ruined me (that’s just my dramatic way of saying I couldn’t be as productive as I was supposed to be).
Sometimes, when such cravings come your way with a mirage that you need it in order to stay productive, all you may actually need is a little self-discipline.
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not.
Romans 7:18 AMP
The ability to do good— or resist temptations and urges— lies in you. However, you need a lot of self-control to not do the things you know you’re not supposed to. You also need a lot of self-discipline to enable you do the things you know you’re supposed to.
Perhaps, if I had disciplined myself a little more to work without needing external adrenaline; perhaps if I had stopped when I knew I should; perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
If you are like me still struggling with self-control and self-discipline, then perhaps what we need to do is develop ourselves (in that area). If you still need some external motivation to enable you give yourself to self development, then you can check here for that.
PS: know that self-control/discipline is not a one-time thing; it’s a continuous process. If you excelled in self-control today, still strive for it tomorrow.
Within the next coming weeks, we’d be exploring the ins and outs of self-control.
Do you have a question as regards self-control; do you have contributions or particular topics you’d want me to address regarding self-control? Then drop a comment below or reach out to me privately. I’d love to hear from you.
Do share this with family and friends.
Have a productive week ahead.
Cheers to steady growth.
Sending love and light your way,
Zoey.
Zoey 
Great post, self control is indeed important not only in big situations but also in the small everyday matters like you and the tub of icecream. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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So true. The little things count a lot, but are often left ignored. Thanks for reading.
Love ñ Light ♥️
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