Discipline用作名詞解紀律、風紀或教養，例如︰The students of this school have good discipline.(這學校的學生很有紀律。)            Discipline也解懲罰，例如︰A little discipline would do this naughty boy a lot of good.(略加懲戒對這個頑皮的男孩有很大好處。)
      Discipline也用作動詞，解懲罰，例如︰The teacher disciplined the students for violating school rules.(老師懲戒犯了校規的學生。)

      Start small
      Self-discipline是自律。缺乏自律很多事情也做不好。大部分成功的人都很自律。自覺自律不足，便須改善。自律並非天生，而是從訓練得來。想提高自律，可參考以下辦法。

      首先是start small(從小事開始)︰
      If you have a little trouble with self-discipline and want to work on it, the best thing you can do is to start small, which generally means picking something you think you can succeed at.
      (若想改善鬆散的自律率，最好逐小步開始，意思是訂定一些你有機會成功的目標。)
      新年大計通常都會定得高，否則都不會稱為“大”計。但這些大計通常都不了了之，原因正是太大。規定自己從一月一日起每天到健身室做一小時運動，不到一星期相信便已失敗。
      根據start small的策略，可先把目標訂為上班或上學時早一個站下車，然後步行到上班的地點或學校，目標不高，較容易實行，持之以恆的機會就大得多。
      Start small也有另一個意思，就是one thing at a time(同一時間只定一個目標)。
      Another thing you can do is to try picking just one thing. Quite often we find ourselves overwhelmed with life and all the things we think we are supposed to be doing, and in response promise ourselves that we'll straighten everything out right away and then find ourselves failing again at all of them.
      Overwhelm解使受不了、使不知所措，overwhelmed with life就是給生活的煩擾事壓得透不過氣。Straighten out是解決，straighten everything out right away是立即解決所有問題。這又或會令我們掉進目標定得太高的陷阱。
      One way out of this is to pick just one thing to work on. Say it's paying bills on time. Forget killing yourself(給自己太大壓力) trying to get to places on time or whatever else it is that you worry about.
      Set up a date and time to pay those bills and don't let any of the other stuff(事情、事務) get in the way. Getting those bills paid on time a few months in a row(連續的) can make you feel more sure of yourself and able to tackle(應付) other things.

      告訴親友反效果
      另外，定下目標後，很多人都會告訴朋友或家人，以為這樣可令自己更堅決實行計劃，但這可能帶來相反結果：
      Don't talk about it. Quite often when we make up our minds to do something, one of the first things we do is to go around telling everyone we know what we are going to do. Or not do, if that's the case. Try not to do this. It serves no useful purpose(沒有好處) and in fact can undermine(暗中破壞) your resolve(決心).
Brian Tracy的No Excuses!: The Power of Self-discipline，可助你增強自律。

      文︰子慧