10 Rules of Self Discipline: Napoleon Hill

Introduction

Discipline is often misunderstood as a restriction but in reality, it’s freedom. It’s freedom from bad habits. Our everyday routine decides our productivity. When we are disciplined, we tend to focus more on tasks that help us reach our goals. On thinking clearly about our life goals, we get a clear idea of what we want in life and how to create it. But once you find the right way, what matters is how much work you put into it and that, you can ensure if you are disciplined. Napoleon Hill has given 10 Rules of Self-Discipline in his book ‘Law of Success’. These rules are very helpful for everyone including students, entrepreneurs, etc.

10 Rules of Self-Discipline by Napoleon Hill:

1. Keep a cool head around hot heads:
According to Napoleon Hill, the first rule of the 10 rules of self-discipline given by Napoleon Hill is to keep your mind cool even when others don’t. You must learn to control your emotions, use your words wisely, and act wisely in such circumstances if you want to be successful in life.
2. There are 3 sides to every argument: your side, the other person’s side, and the right side:
Whenever an argument arises, you must understand that you and the person standing opposite to you, both have their own side of the story. But when you look at the argument from a distance without being biased, you’ll find that there is always a right side in the centre of this argument, which is neither of the two of you.
3. Never give directives to a subordinate when you are angry:
Anything you do in the heat of the moment when you are angry leads to disastrous results. So, whenever you are angry, you must abstain from giving any instruction to your subordinate and if it’s necessary, then first, cool down. You should not pass your anger on to other people. 

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4. Treat everyone as if they were a rich relative who might leave you a sizable inheritance:
According to the fourth rule of the 10 rules of Self Discipline given by Napoleon Hill, you should treat everyone nicely even though sometimes, they may use foul words against you. But you should treat them the same way you’ll treat a relative who will leave you a sizable inheritance despite such words.
5. When you find yourself in an unpleasant circumstance, immediately start searching for the seed of an equivalent benefit within the experience:
Life is full of ups and downs. We all go through good and bad phases in life but we need to find good in everything that we go through. Napoleon Hill suggested looking for the benefit that even a negative situation can bring. Keep yourself motivated and your spirit high.
6. Ask questions and listen to the answers:
Whenever we discuss something with people, it generally takes the form of an argument. But instead of arguing, even if we disagree with any statement made by someone, we should ask questions about it and listen to their answers carefully. Most of the time, there cannot back it up with any proof or sensible reason but many times they have a point.
7. Never say or do anything without first asking yourself whether it will benefit them or hurt them?
The seventh rule of the 10 rules of self-discipline given by Napoleon Hill suggests that you should always analyze your words before saying and your actions before doing them. Just ask yourself that they’ll benefit the other person or hurt them. Under any circumstances, you should never do anything or say anything that will hurt any person.

8. Learn the difference between friendly analysis and unfriendly criticism:
The eighth rule of the 10 rules of self-discipline says that you should learn the difference between a friendly analysis and an unfriendly criticism. Only after doing that, you should decide which one out of them you want to live by in your relations with others. Most of the people who are sensitive welcome friendly analysis
9. A good leader can take orders cheerfully:
In the opinion of Napoleon Hill, the ninth rule of the 10 rules of self-discipline says that a good leader is not the one who only gives orders but the one who can take them as well. We as leaders expect our subordinates to take orders cheerful. But we are good leaders in a true sense if we know how to take such orders cheerfully.
10. Tolerance in human relations is of vital importance:
The last rule of the 10 rules of self-discipline talks about the importance of tolerance in human relations. You need a very high amount of tolerance when it comes to managing human relations as all of us interact with different personalities each day. We might feel frustrated or angry but by practicing maximum tolerance we can build better relationships with others.

Summary

The 10 rules of self-discipline given by Napoleon Hill help you create a better life and a clear path to your success. You might find it hard to practice all of them in one go initially. But try to make them a part of your life because these rules build unshakable self-discipline in a human being. Thus, to master self-discipline, we need to focus more, control our emotions and follow these rules religiously.