There are people who fully understand how important it is to develop their skill and know their strengths and weaknesses to be able to deal with their growth and development.  Those who have known and developed self discipline would be able to listen to themselves and maintain balance in their life.

Self discipline would also enable people to manage their energy levels and minimize dependence with stimulants to increase their energy levels.  To attain self discipline, there are principles that would be the guide of a person in a quest for growth and maturity. 

In Meditations 11.37 Marcus Aurelius cites Epictetus  A man must discover an art (or rules) with respect to giving his assent; and in respect to his movements he must be careful that they be made with regard to circumstances, that they be consistent with social interests, that they have regard to the value of the object; and as to sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from it; and as to avoidance (aversion) he should not show it with respect to any of the things which are not in our power 

There’s no getting around temptations. Whichever way you look, you’ll see temptations all around you. And they become even more noticeable when you’ve set out to accomplish something, such as a long-term goal. 

When you initially start working towards your new goals, you’ll be so motivated and you’ll have so much adrenaline pumping through your veins that you seem immune to temptations. Nothing can take your attention away from what you’re trying to build. 

Moral Letters 51.10. states Therefore, a man occupied with such reflections should choose an austere and pure dwelling-place. The spirit is weakened by surroundings that are too pleasant, and without a doubt one's place of residence can contribute towards impairing its vigour. Animals whose hoofs are hardened on rough ground can travel any road; but when they are fattened on soft marshy meadows their hoofs are soon worn out. The bravest soldier comes from rock-ribbed regions; but the town-bred and the home-bred are sluggish in action. The hand which turns from the plough to the sword never objects to toil; but your sleek and well-dressed dandy quails at the first cloud of dust.

Developed self-discipline takes time and commitment to create. It doesn’t just happen overnight; you can’t create it in the void of lacking self-discipline either. To develop self-discipline, like anything, you have to start with good habits. A lack of self-discipline to develop is often marked by:

· Repeated and Engrained Procrastination

· Poor or undeveloped Time Management

· Undeveloped ability to conversate for the purpose of listening

· Expressing Jealousy or Resentment

· A finely developed ability and skill at creating excuses for personal failures

Discourses 3.5.4 states But if you are conscious to yourself that you are casting off some of your wrong principles, and taking up different ones in their room, and that you have transferred your scheme of life from things not controllable by will to those controllable; and that if you do sometimes cry alas, it is not for what concerns your father, or your brother, but yourself;

At some point in many societies it became viewed as inappropriate to express, claim, or "own" certain emotions. These days, feelings have become things washed over with some form of instant gratification. Many of us lack emotional control, emotional intelligence and we suffer professionally and personally.

Emotions are an important indicator as to the extent to which we are fulfilling our needs and wants. When other people share their feelings, we understand that they are telling us how they are doing, but when we interact with our own emotions, we often try to ignore them or convince ourselves that they are invalid.

Meditations 8.48 Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible, when self-collected it is satisfied with itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose to do, even if it resist from mere obstinacy. What then will it be when it forms a judgement about anything aided by reason and deliberately? Therefore the mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for, refuge and for the future be inexpugnable. He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man; but he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.

When many of us were children we were taught about the importance of sharing. Many of us attended or still attend services at religious institutions that regularly teach us to put the needs of others before our own.

We grew up into a world that seems increasingly devoted to inclusion and comfort, sometimes seemingly at the cost of our own self-expression. It all kind of begs the question, are others' feelings more important than yours? There's no one answer, and all of the answers are more complicated than one might at first think.

Discourses 4.2.1-2 To this point you must attend before all others; not to be so attached to any one of your former acquaintances or friends as to condescend to behavior like his; otherwise you will undo yourself. But if it comes into your head, “I shall appear odd to him, and he will not treat me as before,” remember, that there is nothing to be had for nothing; nor is it possible that he who acts in the same manner as before, should not be the same person.

As humans, we all have a wide range of emotions, both positive and negative, helpful and destructive. In order to have control of our emotions, we have to take control of the destructive emotions. 

By that, we don’t mean suppressing them or ignoring them, but rather understanding them and how to handle them. We all have negative emotions, but we all also have the power to keep them from becoming destructive. In this article, we’ll explore how to keep your negative emotions under a healthy control, keeping them from becoming destructive.

Moral Letters 24.2 states Why, indeed, is it necessary to summon trouble, – which must be endured soon enough when it has once arrived, – or to anticipate trouble and ruin the present through fear of the future? It is indeed foolish to be unhappy now because you may be unhappy at some future time. But I shall conduct you to peace of mind by another route: if you would put off all worry, assume that what you fear may happen will certainly happen in any event; whatever the trouble may be, measure it in your own mind, and estimate the amount of your fear. You will thus understand that what you fear is either insignificant or short-lived.

People tend to talk about egos like they're a bad thing, which is unfortunate. Ego -- your sense of self-worth – can help you to challenge yourself and achieve your full potential. It can help you to take care of yourself and to seek out opportunities and relationships that work for you rather than settling for what life throws at you.

Unfortunately, out egos can also get a little... inflamed. When our egos get too big for our own good – and it happens to everyone from time to time – they can actually work against us. An ego that is too big can lead you to take on tasks that are too big for you, and to probably blame someone or something else when it doesn't work. 

Meditations 6.13 states Thus we should employ the mind, in all parts of life: when things occur, which, at first, seem worthy of high estimation: we should strip them naked, and view their meanness; and cast aside these pompous descriptions of them, by which they seem so glorious. External pomp and high language, are great sophisters; and most impose upon us, when we are employed in matters commonly reputed of great dignity.

We all have them. It has many faces. We carry them around us, We store them in the remotest part of our brain, in the deepest chambers of our hearts. We have them in our extensive database of memories. Some are so close to the heart, it brings out tears at the slightest provocation. Others may feel anger, very deep resentments and may exhibit anti-social or antagonistic behaviors.

Meditations 9.4 states He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.

We all have emotions - both the good and the bad. They control us physically and psychologically. Emotions can control how we behave, act and think. For some the mere act of feeling can be scary and downright devastating, so we start to think it’s easier to suppress how we feel, instead of learning to express our emotions in healthy and sensible ways. 

The truth is that stuffing feelings is not helpful and can be extremely harmful. The goal is not to wipe out your emotions, or to suppress them. The goal should be learning how to manage, process and convey them in healthy ways. 

Moral Letters 124.3-4 states  Besides, those who are too fond of pleasure and those who fear pain to the greatest degree would in that case not deserve reproof. But we condemn men who are slaves to their appetites and their lusts, and we scorn men who, through fear of pain, will dare no manly deed. But what wrong could such men be committing if they looked merely to the senses as arbiters of good and evil? For it is to the senses that you and yours have entrusted the test of things to be sought and things to be avoided!Reason, however, is surely the governing element in such a matter as this; as reason has made the decision concerning the happy life, and concerning virtue and honour also, so she has made the decision with regard to good and evil. For with them] the vilest part is allowed to give sentence about the better, so that the senses – dense as they are, and dull, and even more sluggish in man than in the other animals, – pass judgment on the Good.

Developing a mindset where you are strong, positive, and enlightened will require you to get out of your own head. If you are someone who tends to focus heavily on your thoughts and feelings, over-analyzes everything, and basically lives out detailed scenarios all in your imagination with a lot of assumptions, you are probably doing some big self-sabotaging.

When you live in your head like this, you make a lot of unfair assumptions, you turn small things into catastrophic things, and you probably deal with a lot of stress and anxiety as well. 

Discourses 2.5.25 states We should reason in some such manner concerning ourselves. Who are you? A man. If then, indeed, you consider yourself isolatedly, it is natural that you should live to old age, should be prosperous and healthy; but if you consider yourself as a man, and as a part of the whole, it will be fit, in view of that whole, that you should at one time be sick; at another, take a voyage, and be exposed to danger; sometimes be in want; and possibly die before your time.