Mindful Self-Discipline: Living with Purpose and Achieving Your Goals in a World of Distractions

Mindful Self Discipline has given me so much insight and practical ideas for accomplishing my life goals. The book is well organized and easy to read. It starts with methods to discover, define or refine your values and purpose referred to as your life aspirations. Then he shows how to move closer to your aspirations with planning and self-discipline. Then it covers awareness with the three practices of meditation, reflection and integration. Willpower is also discussed in length, and how it is different from motivation as that is fleeting. The techniques for improving willpower with awareness are very effective. Finally comes ACTION! Developing habits and getting more structure helps free your mind from countless minor decisions, like “should I exercise today because I don’t feel like it and it won’t hurt to skip it?” Instead, we re-connect with our aspiration and move forward, no matter what. Having more willpower gives your brain freedom to think about more useful things versus time spent ruminating and being indecisive. Through the book there is emphasis on morning meditation to calm the mind to prepare for a purposeful day, then the need to pause several times during the day for staying grounded and evening reflection for noting “Have I made a step towards my aspiration or have I taken a step away from my aspiration?”. If we feel we have stepped away from our aspiration, we are encouraged not to shame ourselves but to see what can be learned and what are some of the “baby steps” we need to take next. Much of the book is about self-control, time management, and controlling distractions in your life. One of my aspirations is to exercise daily. This commitment to myself is important for being healthy, attractive, and continuing quality of life as I get older. I am so pleased to say that I am now exercising daily!!! And it was actually easy to get into my routine using Giovanni’s techniques. I really enjoy exercising now, and the benefits that come from it. I encourage everyone to get this book and begin exploring it as a way to clarify what is most important in one’s life and then organizing your life around that.

Surprisingly, reading this beautifully-written book is a meditative experience in itself. With Giovanni Dientsmann's approach to developing the essential skill of self-discipline, it becomes a study in values and mindfulness with an emphasis on the spiritual side of life, not just the practicality of goals to be accomplished. However, as Giovanni conveys, those two things go hand in hand. This is a hefty book of 400 pages, requiring quite a bit of self-discipline to read. But reading it is also a pleasure, encouraging us to look at ourselves without judgment as we practice mindful awareness and self-reflection that can spur us to strengthen our willpower and take action. Giovanni writes with the sensibility of a monk and a yogi, all the while inspiring us to find our own inner monk. Yet in doing so, we do not retreat from the world but learn to engage with it mindfully, with increasing self-mastery. The book is full of useful exercises which are thoughtfully indexed at the end of the book. This way you can go right to the exercises you might need, whenever you need to find them. There are helpful summaries at the end of every chapter. Giovanni also provides a helpful map in the introduction, highlighting the most important chapters for the impatient reader who wants to get to the heart of things immediately. I particularly appreciate the way Giovanni deftly summarizes a great deal of fascinating research on the brain and behavior so that we get the benefit of this knowledge without having to do the work of finding, reading, and assessing it ourselves. I like the way Giovanni wants Mindful Self Discipline to become a movement. It's a quality that is sorely lacking today, in this world full of sound bytes, self-indulgence, superficiality, and distraction. As a highly accomplished friend of mine says, nothing gets accomplished without self-discipline. And as Giovanni says, if we all had more self-discipline, the world would be a better place, and our individual lives would be more fulfilling. A successful personal coach who helps clients develop self-discipline, Giovanni aptly says coaching is not for everyone—but this book is. Read it, study it, use it to become your own coach—and reap the rich rewards.

Over the years I have purchased MANY self-help books. After having purchased and read Mindful Self-Discipline by Giovanni Dienstmann I have come to realize that it is the only self-help book I ever really needed. As Mr. Dienstmann asserts……..it’s all about self-discipline. Without self-discipline, what good is the multitude of other self-help books (many unread) I have on my bookshelf? The 1st step in any process is actually getting started. You have to DO something. And that requires self-discipline. I have followed Giovanni Dienstmann for several years now. I purchased his Practical Meditation Book several years ago, but not surprisingly it has remained un-read. I never had the self-discipline to read it, much less establish a routine for Meditation. I am a recently retired school teacher and the sudden lack of daily routine in my life has not been beneficial to my overall well-being. Lots of time ? YES!!! Any plan on how to use it? Not Really! Why? I lack self-discipline. The removal of so much structured time in my life left a void. This book has really changed my outlook for the future. Mr. Dienstmann has written a very readable, insightful book on developing self-discipline in one’s life. The book is well structured with concepts that are explained in great detail. It is a step-by-step approach. As you read, it is plain to see the years of dedication the author has spent developing this practice in his own life and now he shares it with the reader. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. So well written. So insightful. So sincere.

I have not as of yet finished reading the book but am finding it interesting so far

I feel so grated to find Giovanni's book this year

I thought this was an extensive coverage of the topic with a good bibiliography and internet links at the back. If you have read other books on this topic then many of the topics won't be new but this is the most comprehensive book ive seen. In a day when you feel that self help authors seem to bang out a quick book using the title as a hook, this is one where the author has put in the work and this delivers. This book will take time to see the full results but he gives you a programme for change. Ths is one book to keep by you as a handbook. The one thing i would have liked to see more of was suggestions of where to look for more options for meditation. I get that this book didn't have space for an extensive study of the subject. I guess his book practical meditatuon might have that. I would certainly trust him to deliver solid content after reading this book.

I have been interested in self development, (cognitive behaviour therapy) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) over some years, mainly to understand and resolve my anxiety disorder which I have had since my childhood. I was studying and applying ACT and improved a lot in terms of being more relaxed, composed in daily life anxieties. But, I struggled to understand values. I see that the author has discovered himself the concepts and methods of ACT independently, But, this book is more valuable than many other books on ACT, It really explains how to live with your values with a lot of practical methods. One of the methods is the PAW (Pause-Aware-Willpower) method which actually I "discovered" how to do it during daily life. He explains very well and clearly to find your values, define goals and build habits so that you live a life which you have aspired to have. He explains very clearly that we need to act in harmony with our values every day and every moment and this is only possible with being mindful, For instance, as an anxiety sufferer, my aspiration is to be calm and composed. I defined habits like meditation in the morning, at work, while waiting trains, while traveling in train. I follow them with the PAW method. I also use dynamic meditation and breath work. I do breath work at lunch time or before meetings, So these actions which make me closer to be calm in all situations hence moving me to my value of being calm and composed. This book is a great achievement of the author and it is very generous of him that he shares with everybody,

I find it difficult to express the depth of my admiration for this book and the profound impact it has had on my life. It has empowered me to break free from old patterns, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. Even though I still have a long way to go, I stand as a transformed individual since immersing myself in the wisdom of this book and applying its techniques. This remarkable work has imparted in me the virtues of self-patience, self-belief, and even an appreciation for the inherent challenges and pains that accompany the pursuit of worthy endeavours and the acquisition of valuable skills. I'll definitely read it again and again to soak up its teachings even more.

I really liked it. I create a summary with exercices and interesting thoughts and quotes that helping me to strengthen my willpower. And it's working.