People with low emotional discipline suffer in different aspects of their life, especially relationships. They have low self-esteem, lack of inner peace, anger issues, poor social support, and weak physical and mental health. Gladly, emotional discipline can be learned and it is not something people are born with.
According to Charles C. Manz, emotional discipline is about having the ability to choose how one feels. So, the good news is that one is not under the heel of their emotions and they can be managed, changed, and channelized through healthy strategies. Within the context of relationships, emotional discipline results in stronger bonding, connection, inner peace, and intimacy.
The Secret Ways to Boost Emotional Discipline
To improve emotional discipline in one’s relationship, it is important to identify the cause of the emotion. The cause can be internal or external. Internal causes can be thoughts whereas external causes can be an event or a person. In the context of a relationship, an individual can ask the following question:
“What is the trigger of my feelings?”
For example, the feelings of anger are rising. Through self-monitoring, one identifies their thoughts to be the cause. In this case, the individual can opt for different options for self-improvement. They can either reframe their thoughts and perception or improve skills online through different courses like self-development course or anger management classes.
Meditation Strategies Can Enhance Emotional Discipline
Meditation practices have become popular worldwide recently. They have different origins depending upon the practice e.g. the origin of yoga is in India whereas the origin of Qigong meditation is in China. Generally, meditation practices aim to enhance awareness in the user through several activities that have different purposes. Some meditation exercises increase physical stamina and strength whereas others improve mental focus, inner peace, and emotional health. Different meditation strategies include Meditation Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Focused Attention Meditation (FAM), open monitoring, yoga meditation classes, Mantra meditation, Transcendental meditation, and many more.
For example, during a Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) session where the user is asked to focus their attention on an object, the individual can experience different emotions flowing through them. If the experience is overwhelming or confusing, the person can take professional help. Through professional help, their emotional intelligence will increase significantly.
Nowadays, due to advancements in technology, there are online meditation options available that have the same benefits as a regular class. Moreover, an online meditation class cuts the time of commute and also maintains the social connection between the participants.
Looking at it through the context of relationships, when a partner or a friend exercises emotional discipline, they can better handle conflicts and disagreements. Through their exemplary behavior, the other friend or partner can also start improving themselves through different platforms e.g. an online meditation course. Hence, their relationship strengthens.
How does a learning attitude help with emotional discipline?
Learning attitude in other words is known as a growth mindset. If an individual wants to work on their emotional discipline, they should have a learning attitude, or else they won’t be able to get out of their comfort zone. Working on emotional discipline requires being face to face with one’s fears, anxieties, and discomforts. It can only happen successfully if the individual wants to learn new strategies and ways to promote emotional discipline.
The opposite of a learning attitude or growth mindset is a fixed mindset. If an individual approaches emotional discipline with a fixed mindset, they cannot grow exponentially both personally and in relationships. It means that they won’t experience the inner peace from their relationships.
Having Self-Confidence Significantly Improves Emotional Discipline
An individual with low self-confidence will not make effort to improve their emotional discipline whereas individuals with high self-confidence try to find ways to improve their skills. People with low self-confidence cannot muster up the courage to get out of their comfort zones whereas people with high self-confidence have the necessary drive and courage to break the boundaries of their comfort zone. Hence, people with low confidence should develop the curiosity to learn new things so that they can learn from others. In this way, they will be able to improve their emotional discipline in relationships.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, there are several solutions to enhance emotional discipline in relationships. It has many benefits such as inner peace in relationships, strong bonding, and improved health. Several strategies discussed above are meditation, learning attitude, and self-confidence. For improving oneself, an individual can also
enroll in a self-development course, for instance, an anger management course or an online meditation course.
