January is approaching fast, and you may already have some new year's resolutions in mind. Whether you're planning to grow your emergency stockpiles, learn a new skill, quit smoking, lose weight, finish a household project, or get back the six-pack abs you had in high school, you're going to need considerable determination to get there.

Unfortunately, there's a reason these resolutions have become synonymous with over-promising and under-delivering — it's not easy to stay disciplined and achieve your ambitious goals. If it were, we'd all be muscle-bound millionaires with no bad habits. So, it's beneficial to take some steps to improve your self discipline, thereby improving your emergency preparedness. The person who preps by thinking “I'll do that later” is usually the same one who's in serious trouble when disaster strikes.

The following infographic from CashNetUSA outlines 14 tips which can help you improve your self discipline in 2018. Each tip is supported by scientific research — see the list of sources at the end of the graphic or click here for a list of web links. A full-size version of this graphic can be downloaded here.

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Admittedly, the catch-22 here is that you'll need enough discipline to study and apply these tips to your life in order to improve your discipline. But if your willpower needs a little boost, give them a shot. They may help you be happier, healthier, and better prepared for survival.

Written by Patrick McCarthy