Teaching your child discipline is essential. Life today has become very competitive and discipline is mandatory for success. It is often observed that successful people attribute their achievements to discipline and practice. Even practice requires discipline!

Teaching your child about the importance of discipline at a young age will help him a lot in the future.

The Importance of Discipline

"Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure." - Gary Ryan Blair

To be disciplined is to be systematic and do things on time. Being disciplined teaches your child to assign time periods for specific chores. More than anything else, discipline makes him realize the value of time. Teaching your child to be disciplined early is important because once they are in their teenage years, it can be difficult for them to suddenly adapt to a time-table, face deadlines or be punctual. You can see a lot of teenagers who struggle because they cannot manage their time well. This is due to the lack of discipline in their early years.

Lacking discipline is often a cause for disappointment. For example, if your child does not follow a time table and study when he should, he will score poorly in his exams. Discipline will teach him to finish his projects on time so that he has time for revision. Even in sports, regular practice can make all the difference as he will be more successful this way.

How Can I Discipline My Child?

"Discipline doesn't break a child's spirit half as often as the lack of it breaks a parent's heart." -Anonymous

You can teach your child discipline by showing him the advantages of being disciplined. Explain to him in different ways how discipline actually makes his life simpler. For example, if he keeps his toys in one place after play, it will make it easier for him to locate it the next time he wants to play. Similarly, studying in advance will make it less stressful when the exams come around.

You should always explain each task you ask your child to do. Saying things like "Because I said so!" will only make him dislike the task more. Explaining how it will benefit him, will make him disciplined in other areas of his life as well. As time passes, he will realize by himself how important discipline is and how many positive qualities it brings to his life.

But you should also not be overzealous about disciplining your child. A child learns slowly and you should not get impatient with him. You must keep trying to ingrain discipline in him but slowly and steadily. It may be a few years before he starts practicing discipline of his own accord.

Tips to Discipline Your Child

We look at a few tips that could help you teach your child how to be disciplined:

• Insist that he put his things in place, especially his toys. Being assertive with your instructions will convey the importance of such tasks to him.
  
• If he does a task by himself, reward him for it
  
• Do not nag your child. This will only make him resent disciplinary tasks.
  
• Set deadlines for your child. Learning about deadlines at an early age will make him punctual with deadlines in the future.
  
• Give your child examples of people who have succeeded due to discipline. Such examples will inspire him to make a bigger effort.
  
• Discourage your child when he tries to take shortcuts. Opting for the easy method at an early age will make him undisciplined.
  
• Your child will attempt to resist tasks or challenge your instructions. If he does this, be patient, assertive and inform him that he will have to face the consequences if he does not obey you. Do not threaten or punish him, but make him do a bigger task if he does not do the first task.
  
• Teach your child discipline at the right age. Do not start too early or too late. The ideal age to start teaching a child discipline is between 4 and 6 years of age.