How does a Muslim train himself in righteous deeds and in following the path of the righteous predecessors?

Disciplining oneself and compelling it to acts of obedience requires strengthening one's faith. The greatest ways to strengthen it are by engaging with the Book of Allah through recitation, memorization, and contemplation, increasing supplication, reading stories of the prophets and biographies of the righteous, accompanying good people, visiting graves, and frequently remembering death.