[atomicnature]

Seek out a position of responsibility. Be accountable to other people. Be in a situation if you mess up, you'll get severe negative reactions from others. Nothing like an important job to straighten out our psychology and inner efficiency.

"If you can afford to mess up, you probably will" :)

[L0in]

> Be in a situation if you mess up, you'll get severe negative reactions from others.

I agree with seeking a position of responsibility, and be accountable, but i disagree with the above point. Specifically with the severe part. I think two of the most important lessons are to learn from your mistakes (accepting that you will fail sometimes), and when you fail/make a mistake take the responsibility.

Having severe reactions from others for when you make a mistake (I.e a beat down and not constructive critism) is a recipe for disaster.

[atomicnature]

Conditional agree. I'd say as a beginner, the "rigour" of particular situations can be too harsh. So when you're starting out, it is better to have lower penalties for mistakes. However, as one advances in career, then it sort of becomes necessary to reduce disasters emerging from one's actions. This doesn't mean mistakes should be avoided, but one has to control the effects of one's mistakes through proper sandboxing/experimentation setup.

[165iq]

I actually don't have the problem of lack of accountability or responsibility.

I also don't see how it relates to long term learning and efforts that make achievements such as acing college possible. The kinds of achievements that require long term discipline and work ethics.

[atomicnature]

First of all: your question says you have to fix the discipline problem as an adult. As an adult, I am assuming you're in the context of workplace, and not college.

Second - you claim to have no problem with responsibility. Maybe you have to dig into your own psychology a bit deeper (self-awareness, work against opaqueness of various parts of the mind).

The effort you put in will usually be in proportion to the seriousness and magnitude of your responsibilities. The amount of learning required to handle complex jobs is more compared to simpler jobs. Note that the concept of "learning" goes beyond mere degrees and credentials. In the real world, the best indicator for learning and competence is the power to get complex jobs done.

Say, you're managing a nuclear plant, then you need a totally different level of discipline, compared to a job where you're supposed to keep an office clean. You can mess up a cleaning job, and get away with it nobody noticing. But if your nuclear reactor goes off, then everyone knows it, and you'll not be forgiven. The demands of rigour increases with bigger responsibilities.

Aim for identifying and getting complex and difficult jobs first. If you take these jobs seriously, you'll have to transform yourself.

PS: Recommended reading: https://govleaders.org/rickover.htm

[165iq]

I see your point.

I will keep it in my mind.