justification. A British historian named Cyril Parkinson developed Parkinson’s Law, which argues that when we have a set amount of time available, we will fill that time with the work. Parkinson started paying attention to the trend while employed by the British Civil Service. He noticed that as their bureaucracies increased, efficiency decreased. As employees were given more space and time, they took up more space and time. Parkinson noticed that even the most basic tasks were subconsciously made more challenging to fill the allotted time. However, when there was a tight deadline, they simplified the task to complete it faster. If Parkinson’s Law is hindering your discipline, you can overcome it by setting yourself tight deadlines for your tasks. When you give a project a time limit, you will find a way to get it done in the shortest amount of time, and you won’t overcomplicate things to fill the additional time you have available. By setting yourself early deadlines, not only are you always challenging yourself, but you also put yourself under pressure to finish early, which frees you from the stress of rushing at last minute to meet deadlines. Discipline Versus Procrastination: Procrastination hinders self-discipline; we convince ourselves that we are not taking action because we are waiting for the right time or the right circumstances. For example, you might decide to take a break from the gym because your legs are sore. On the surface, it sounds fair, but it’s an excuse because you could still go to the gym and do cardio or work your arms instead. The core of self-discipline is doing what you need to do whether you feel like it or not. Inaction and making excuses are identical twins; there is no difference between them because they both lead to the same destination— failure. If you are going to wait until the conditions are just right, you’ve already lost the battle because when you want to do something, you are not stepping out of your comfort zone. If you are making excuses now, you will keep making them in the future. The perfect circumstances don’t exist—something is always going to be out of place. When procrastination seems logical, it’s dangerous because it can apply to any situation. For example, if you decide you are going to quit smoking once there is less pressure at work, you will never give up because there is always going to be some level of stress at work. When you make excuses, you are telling yourself that you are not capable of doing what needs to be done now, but if you are incapable now, you are probably going to be incapable in the future. You will always have doubts when you step out of your comfort zone. The