The word alone can be pronounced with power, which gives the meaning even more body. Perhaps because we would really like to add the meaning of willpower to our own profile. But for those who do not have willpower as standard in their genes, you can stimulate your willpower.
What is it?
The dictionary says this about it: the ability to want something and to carry out that will, strength of mind, perseverance, perseverance. This can vary from pursuing a career dream and continuing to fulfill it, but also coming back from a debilitating illness or regrouping if you have just suffered a business bankruptcy.
The difficult thing about willpower is maintaining the strength. Every person has a limit somewhere, what we call exhaustion of will. The power lies in motivating yourself to keep going.
Naturally or not?
There is a group of people who possess this quality and, quite admirably, manage to overcome obstacles time and time again. But there is also a group of people who do not have this in themselves and relatively quickly give up. It is too simplistic to say that someone is weak by definition, it is too easy to judge. However, if you know that you have relatively little willpower, there are some things you can work on to stimulate this process. It only works if you really want to work on yourself and you can at least muster that (will) power.
Stimulate your willpower
Set goals
Stimulating your willpower starts with determining the goal, every time. It simply works better if your goal is clear and it also makes you happier. Although willpower is certainly not always something for yourself, it is good to start with something for yourself. Willpower is something that you need to gently stimulate and then build up slowly, think of it as a training. If you can build this up slowly, you will also increase your fitness.
Control moments
Once the goals have been set, it is good to incorporate some self-control moments during the day. This is what you have to apply structurally and what seems quite unnatural, especially in the beginning. That is of course true, but as soon as you make it second nature and it comes naturally, your willpower also starts to grow.
Some self-control moments that stimulate willpower:
- Refuse something you really like
- If you are a social media type, consciously skip it for at least one day
- Not sportive? Force yourself not to lounge on the couch during the evening hours, but get moving and go for a walk, run or hit the gym.
- Notorious television series fanatic. Skip an episode and go do something else (and don’t watch it if you missed it!)
Build it up slowly
For example, pick up one thing every day that stimulates self-control and build it up to about three moments a day. Don’t exaggerate and, if something threatens to go wrong, think about why it is going wrong. What is it that you cannot maintain that willpower for a certain item. Find a solution and sometimes it takes some creativity, but make sure you get it done. If you succeed, it feels like a victory and is good for morale.
If it doesn’t work out, don’t punish yourself immediately. Which does not alter the fact that you have to pick yourself up and continue with the self-control moments. Do it in a way that can be sustained, because the euphoric feeling when you have achieved your goal is very short. The entire process must be one that can be sustained and preferably fun. You have to see the fun in it, that makes it a lot easier.
Tackle your health
- What doesn’t work for everyone, but what can certainly play a role, is meditation. A few minutes every day is enough to boost your willpower. During your meditation moment, slow down your breathing and maintain this for the minutes that you are meditating.
- Willpower also works better if you don’t have too much stress and although everyone has his/her way of keeping stress to a minimum, getting enough fresh air every day is recommended for everyone. A nice walk with the dog, a stroll through the local park or even a run or cycle helps.
- Finally, getting enough sleep is extremely important for almost every process in the body, even if you are stimulating your willpower. Your body recovers during your sleep and sufficient sleep is good for concentration during the day. This is important to stimulate your willpower, among other things.
Finally
Everything in life can be seen as a learning process, including setbacks. One person will only naturally pick up the process as such and the other must be helped with it (through training). As long as you see all of life as a learning process, apply this and the mind is strong, you will make great strides, even if you try to stimulate your willpower.