How to increase willpower and self-control.
How to increase willpower
Why would you ever do something the hard way? Why would you intentionally work with one hand tied behind your back? You wouldn't. But most people unwillingly do it every day. When we tie our success to our willpower without understanding what that means, we set ourselves up for failure and we don't have to.
Content
- Renewable energy(willpower).
- Food for thought.
- Default judgment.
- Give willpower the time of the day.
- What taxes your willpower?
For most of my life, I never gave willpower much thought. Once I did it captivated me. The ability to control oneself to determine one's actions is a pretty powerful idea. Base it on training and it's called discipline. But to do it because you simply can, that is raw power. The power of will.
Willpower is so important that using it effectively should be a high priority. Unfortunately, since it's not on the will call, putting it to its best use requires you to manage it. Just as with "the early bird gets the worm" and makes hay while the sun shines," willpower is a timing issue. When you have your will, get your way. Although character is an essential element of willpower, the key is to harness it when you use it.
Renewable energy
Think of willpower like the power bar on your cell phone. Every morning you start with a full charge. As the day goes on, every time you draw on it you're using it up. So as your green bar shrinks, so does your resolve, and when it eventually goes red you're done. Willpower has a limited battery life but can be recharged with some downtime.
It's a limited but renewable resource. Because you have a limited supply, each act of will creates a win-lose scenario where winning in an immediate situation through willpower makes you more likely to lose later because you have less of it. Make it through a tough day in the trenched, and the lure of late-night snacking can become your diet downfall.
Food for thought
The brain makes up 1/50 of our body mass but consumes a staggering 1/5 of the calories we burn for energy.
Advanced research shows us why this matters. A 2007 article in the journal of personality and social psychology detailed nine separate studies on the impact of nutrition and willpower.
The studies concluded that willpower is a mental muscle that doesn't bounce back quickly. If you employ it for one task, there will be less power available for the next unless you refuel. To do our best, we have to feed our minds. Foods that elevate blood sugar evenly over long periods, like complex carbohydrates and protein, become the fuel of choice for high achievers literal proof that "you are what you eat".
Default judgment
One of the tea challenges we have is that when our willpower is low we tend to our default settings. And if you're not careful, your default settings may convict you too.
When our willpower runs out, we all revert to our default settings. This led to the question- what are your default settings? If your willpower is dragging, will you grab the bag of carrots or the bag of chips?
Give willpower the time of day
We lose our willpower not because we think about it but because we don't. Without appreciating that it can come and go, we let it do exactly that. Without appreciating that it can come and go, we let it do exactly that.
Without intentionally protecting it every day, we allow ourselves to go from a will and a way to no will and no way. If success is what we're after, this won't work.
Think about it. There are degrees of willpower strength. Like the battery indicator going from green to red, there is willpower and there is "won't" power. Most people bring won't power to their most important challenges without ever realizing that's what makes them so hard.
When we don't replenish it when it's low, we are probably setting ourselves up for the toughest possible path to success. You have to make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is highest. In other words, you give it the time of day it deserves.
So like any other limited but vital resource, willpower must be managed.
When it comes to willpower, trimming is everything. You will need your willpower at full strength to ensure that when you're doing the right thing, you don't let anything distract you or steer you away from it. Then you need enough willpower for the rest of the day to either support or avoid sabotaging what you've done. That's all the willpower you need to be successful.
What taxes your willpower
- Implementing new behavior.
- Taking tests.
- Filtering distractions.
- Trying to impress others.
- Resisting temptation.
- Coping with fear.
- Suppressing emotion.
- Doing something you don't enjoy.
- Restraining aggression.
- Selecting long-term rewards.
- Suppressing impulses.
Conclusion
Don't spread your willpower too thin
On any given day, you have a limited supply of willpower, so decide what matters and reserve your willpower for it
Monitor your fuel gauge
Full-strength willpower requires a full tank. Never let what matters most be compromised simply because your brain was under-fueled. Eat right and regularly.
Time your task
Do what matters most first each day when your willpower is strongest. Maximum strength and willpower mean maximum success.
Thanks for reading❤️......
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