Having a healthy willpower allows you to become capable of accomplishing a lot of things in life. Setting a goal and having the motivation to achieve this goal would be a type of willpower.
For example, you want to lose fat and gain a little muscle. Having a high willpower gives you the mindset to encourage yourself to complete this goal no matter how long it takes.
However, a low willpower means you will not have the mindset to achieve your goals, and you will most likely fail unless something is done.
Let’s take a look at seven steps that will take your willpower from the ground back up into the air:
1. Stress decreases willpower
Stress will drain your mental energy along with your physical energy as well. Modern science is starting to piece together the clues that stress is causing medical conditions such as high blood pressure and depression. Your heart is not only healthy when you train and eat right. Understandably, you need to eliminate stress in order to have the willpower for goal accomplishment. Take a look at your work, family, and love life to see if something needs to change in order for your stress to reduce.
“We all have those things that even in the midst of stress and disarray, they energize us and give us renewed strength and purpose. These are our passions.” – Adam Braun
2. Bad habits lead to bad results
A bad habit could be something like eating high carb foods routinely, but the issue is you are on a diet. This could also be something like never waking up on time in the morning, which destroys your willpower to even want to work. A bad habit needs to be targeted and fixed if you wish to increase your willpower. Sometimes you may need help from a friend or family member to help keep you from going back down the path of bad habit making.
3. Balance your life out to sustain willpower
Your willpower cannot exist if you are overwhelmed with a hefty daily schedule. Trying to squeeze in work, family time, and training is difficult without having any willpower. You could try making your schedule work better around your work. For example, go to the gym before work so you have the rest of the day afterwards to have family time. Work obviously cannot be eliminated, but you can try to request hour changes to better fit your daily needs. This doesn’t hurt to ask if the opportunity to ask comes around.
4. Your goals need to be accomplishable
Long term goals are great to set, but sometimes they are a bit unrealistic unless it was set for 10 years from that date. Short term goals help you stay motivated because you are accomplishing tasks one after another until that possible long term goal has been reached. A goal of losing 40lbs. in one month to look slim and strong is pretty hard on your willpower because it is virtually impossible to achieve. This could lead to a possible crash in your willpower, which basically is the reason why most people fail with their goals.
5. Think highly of yourself
Sadly people who start something new in their life often talk bad or negatively about themselves, which leads to their motivation and willpower decreasing. This carries over to a new diet or fitness program. You feel the progress is just not there and often state you suck at this type of thing during conversations. Don’t do this to yourself! Look in the mirror and say out loud you can do it, and while in conversations state that you are doing your best to succeed. This will create a major boost in your willpower.
6. Your willpower derives from actions
Lastly, you have to take action in order to boost your willpower and complete your goals. Motivation and confidence begin to rise as a result of action, and you start to feel that everything is possible if you continue down this path of achievement. However, action only happens because you choose to make it so. Push yourself past your drops in willpower because most people are going to experience the same thing.
“Willpower is essential to the accomplishment of anything worthwhile.” – Brian Tracy
Conclusion
Your drop in willpower should not be considered permanent. Even top professional athletes wind up down this road at some point in their career. As mentioned, the actions you take make the difference of success or failure. Focus on short term goals and keep your expectations to a lower level. Sounds odd to set low expectations, but your willpower benefits from this because you can maintain low expectations and begin to go above and beyond them.
Great job very helpful insight for a struggling entrepreneur.
#5 really resonated with me Demmy. I think all of us need to think more highly of ourselves without being arrogant. We all have unlimited power so we should believe that we are awesome.
Very good article. It makes me more confident.
I’ll stop talking and thinking badly about myself.
Thanks for sharing. Great post.