365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

Day 41: On Arroganc e

Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it

go.

—Marcus Aurelius

 

39

Never take self-discipline for granted or assume that if you can control

your urges, you’re now invincible.

Humility plays an important role in helping you maintain self-control.

An arrogant person will be more likely to unnecessarily test their willpower,

which  will  eventually  lead  to  their  downfall.  This  happens  because  of  the

restraint bias — the tendency for people to overestimate how capable they

are of controlling impulsive behaviors.

Research  shows  that  people  who  had  an  inflated  belief  in  their  self-

control overexposed themselves to temptations, such as recovering smokers

putting themselves in situations tempting them to smoke, which increased

the risk of a relapse. 

40

Assume that your self-discipline is like prosperity. It’s possible that it

will  stay  with  you  for  a  long  time,  but  it’s  also  possible  that  it  will

disappear. Consequently, you’ll work harder to keep it in your life. If it does

go  away  when  you  make  some  mistakes,  you’ll  accept  it  with  more

tranquility and be more likely to regain it quickly.

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