4 ways to build and strengthen your willpower
I have heard people (including myself) repeatedly mentioning the phrase "I do not have the willpower to do such a thing", whatever the goal, is quite common. While some say that sort of thing, there is probably another taking advantage of an opportunity by willpower, whether at work, at college, in a sport, or even on a diet.
With regard to the latter, it usually happens that one wants to be in the best physical shape possible, but instead of specifying an exercise plan and a healthy diet, the easiest is to lie on the couch to watch a football game or a movie while We have some french fries It's true, it's very tasty, but that kind of attitudes and behaviors leads us to failure of our goals.
I was recently among friends gathered having a small debate on football, something quite normal, we mentioned the very good season closure that Cristiano Ronaldo had with Real Madrid scoring decisive goals and important both in his local league and in the European championship. Few times you see a 32-year-old player playing at the level Cristiano Ronaldo played in the last two months, it's true that physical wear and tear begins to increase as time passes, but there's something about Cristiano Ronaldo that does not seem to run out , No matter how old you are: your willpower. This strong mentality is what has kept him throughout his career as one of the best players in the world, in the company of Lionel Messi, is the source of all his achievements on any team he has played.
Some people believe that willpower is something that some fortunate ones are born with, it seems that some were taken from them at birth, but the fact is that willpower is a learned behavior rather than an innate characteristic of human being.
Recognize your weaknesses.
Maybe eating chips instead of a fruit salad is a weakness for many people (I am one), or maybe wasting time in front of the tv instead of doing something really productive is another weakness (mine too), the first The step that must be taken is simply to recognize these weaknesses, to identify them in order to fight against them. Many people pretend that these weaknesses do not exist, or that they simply exist but that they can control them "whenever they want", the truth is that it is more difficult than it is believed, trying to minimize the negative impact that these bad habits have is really harmful. It's how when an alcoholic says he can quit alcohol if he wants to, he says it because he does not want to admit that he's too hooked.
Stick to a clear plan.
It would be utterly silly to say that a person gets up the next day having willpower, truth is a process, and how any process, it must carry a detailed plan to make it feasible to make it a reality. If you might want to lose weight, get better grades in the studios, raise money to buy a house or a car, or whatever, it is best to design a plan that has realistic detailed steps to progress and see results to long term.
Eliminate temptations as much as possible.
It would be a wonder that we could really be strong enough to withstand the strongest temptation to break a plan to get to something, but the reality is that it only takes a few moments of weakness to throw all that away and convince us Ourselves to fall into temptation. Take the example of French fries, imagine that you are strict diet, but that in your fridge there are potato chips that could be ready very fast, the temptation is enormous. But what if there were no fries in the fridge?
The key to this is simply to eliminate any possibility of breaking our "regime" and "not buy potato chips," knowing that there is no possibility of falling into this temptation is a great relief for our brain and thus avoid trying to convince us otherwise .
Imagine great long-term results.
One of the most effective methods for burying temptations and fortifying willpower is the ability to visualize oneself within great long-term results, it would keep you motivated and focused until you reach your goal. Rio Ferdinand, former defender of Manchester United, in his autobiography pointed out that Cristiano Ronaldo when he started his career in the red devils already played very well, but was ineffective, always had a strong kick but that kick was just going to any Side as if it were a blind shot. However, Ferdinand himself mentioned that this disturbed Cristiano a lot, and that when finishing the practices with the team in general he remained practicing his kick to short and long distance in one of the fields of the sporting city of Manchester United, until Who after so much practice, Cristiano Ronaldo today is one of the best scorers in the history of world football, and one of his secrets was to keep that image in his head every day.
@mynameisricky
Images taken from pixabay.com
Yeah, I totally agree with the elimination of temptation. And I would take it one inch further, which is **eliminating all the "small decissions" from your life. **
Like if you are tired and you know you won't make a good decission, have a default one that you will go to that you decided on when you had willpower and good energy.
For example, let's say you want to buy something but you don't know if it's the right thing and you are tired. So your default decission could be not to buy it if there is some time pressure like marketers use
"Buy this now because we will close this deal forever and you'll never be able to give us your money, because obviously we want your money only now, not later ..."
And another thing I use, which goes a bit against your "great long-term results" is to take it the opposite way and imagine the cost of inaction.
That's why I'm a huge fan of stoicism and challenging yourself with it
Agreed with the last part, but I think if we do both (Imagine long-term results and imagine the cost of inaction) would be much better. One will keep you motivated, and the other will scare you when you feel weak to temptations. Thanks for your commentary.
True :). There's never just one way to do things, and combining things is the best :).
Great! but i must admit short term "rewards" are really temptiting and could be near impossbile to avoid