The Five Pillars of Self-Discipline The five pillars of self-discipline are: Acceptance, Willpower, Hard Work, Industry, and Persistence. If you take the first letter of each word, you get the acronym “A WHIP” — a convenient way to remember them, since many people associate self-discipline with whipping themselves into shape. Each day of the series, I’ll explore one of these pillars, explaining why it’s important and how to develop it. But first a general overview…. What Is Self-Discipline? Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state. This book is composed of the articles from Steve Pavlina's website. It contains Self-Discipline series with additional related articles.