14 tips to have more willpower

The end of the year is approaching and with it the typical list of resolutions for 2018. Within that wish list, in a large number of cases we will find old acquaintances such as "going to the gym", "losing weight", "quitting smoking". Some purposes that as a general rule are abandoned shortly after starting to carry them out, or that are not directly intended to be fulfilled.

The reason for this? There may be many, but if we put the excuses aside we find that one of the biggest obstacles is a lack of willpower.

And it can be difficult to maintain, since on a day-to-day basis, situations abound that can lead to discouragement and stop trying for something. Therefore, in this article we are going to talk about how to have more willpower.

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The importance of willpower

All or almost all of us know or have an idea about what willpower is, and it is easy to find an example of this ability or its absence. But in order to improve the understanding of what we are proposing to increase, it is useful to make a brief definition of the concept we are talking about.

Willpower is understood to be that ability or ability to pursue a specific goal despite obstacles, difficulties and distractions. It is not about knowing how to reach the goal itself, but about persisting in the will to achieve it despite the fact that we may not know how to face the difficulties that prevent us from reaching it. We would therefore be faced with the idea of ​​not giving in to our claims, not giving up and persevering even if we do not see immediate results.

Willpower tends to positively correlate with the ability to gratification delay: people who are able to postpone obtaining a reward in order to be rewarded later with something that especially motivates them.

Let's look at the examples in the first paragraph of this article: lose weight or go to the gym. The objective is something desired and rewarding for those who set it as a goal, but it requires a continuous effort over time which can be relatively lengthy. And in between, continuous temptations will appear in the form of food, drink, plans or obstacles such as fatigue and even suffering.

The same happens with someone who wants to quit smoking: he knows that it is something he wants to quit, but picking up a cigarette gives him immediate satisfaction. Only those people who are able to resist the urge to get immediate reinforcement to achieve their goal they will persist until they reach their goal (although they may have a specific fall).

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Tips to have more willpower

Willpower, in short, is an important skill that is highly valued socially, personally, and also in the workplace and academia. But not something that appears out of nowhere, rather it is a psychological ability that it is acquired and strengthened throughout life.

In this sense, we can carry out different activities to improve willpower. Some strategies and actions that can help us are the following.

1. Set clear goals

One of the possible reasons for not being able to maintain the willpower to do something is ignorance and lack of security in what we want. Setting clear objectives and knowing how to carry them out is essential and helps us to generate sufficient motivation and willpower to pursue them.

2. Keep it real

Another of the biggest problems most people have is that they want immediate and unrealistic results. I want to lose 15 kilos in a month or I want to stop doing something that I have been doing for the last ten years in a moment. People who already have a strong willpower as a base could achieve it, but the majority of the population should bear in mind that to achieve something there are usually no shortcuts and that a continuous and prolonged effort is required over time. Take into account past experiences and adjust your expectations regarding what it may cost you to achieve your goal.

3. Step by step: divide tasks into subtasks

Something very useful to achieve your goals and at the same time strengthen your willpower is divide your goal into different steps, phases or subtasks. Identify and create short and medium term goals that allow you to reach the final goal.

4. Establish a planing

The opposite of the previous point can also be a problem: setting a goal to meet in an indeterminate period of time can lead us to procrastinate and do nothing. That is why it is highly recommended to establish a prior planning of the time that we are going to dedicate to a specific objective and make an effort to achieve it. In this way we will advance in our objective, and the knowledge of this fact it will reinforce the motivation to keep going.

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5. Keep a record

Related to the previous point, another of the means that can facilitate strengthening our willpower and achieving our goals is to carry out a record of our activity, so that we can assess our achievements and progress.

6. Give yourself small rewards

Achieving something from the pull is very difficult. Self-gratify as we progress in the achievement of objectives (as long as said self-gratification does not go against the end goal itself) can serve to preserve and strengthen our motivation.

7. Don't do it all at once

We all have many goals throughout life. However, if we aim to find a partner, play sports, be more productive at work, lose weight, sign up for a cooking course and do three masters and two doctorates we will end up doing nothing or exhaust us. We must bear in mind that we can't do it all at once. And much less if what we are trying to do is train the willpower: the most advisable and healthy thing is to identify one element at a time and focus on it.

8. Meditation

The practice of meditation contributes greatly to strengthening the willpower, relativizing the importance of things and seeing the world from a more focused perspective. In fact, it has been shown how the habitual practice of meditation lowers stress levels and even contributes to improving the synaptic connectivity of brain regions, such as the prefrontal.

9. Exposition

One of the ways to train your willpower is, precisely, to expose yourself to stimuli that put it to the test. It is about helping us to resist temptation. For this, it can be useful to start by exposing ourselves to situations that, although they are tempting, do not generate a need. immediate and irresistible, for little by little and as we see that we can resist proceeding to expose ourselves to elements that cause us greater attraction.

It is possible to directly expose ourselves to the elements that are most difficult for us to resist, but with this we also We risk not being able to bear it and favor that rather than increase the willpower this decrease. If applied correctly and succeeded, this method will also helps us improve our sense of competence and self-efficacy, which can also contribute to increasing the esteem.

10. Give yourself positive self-instructions

Generally, when doing anything, various self-statements about what to do and how come to mind.

These self-instructions often include mental and emotional content and expectations about the result (for example if we are going to do it well or badly, if we are going to achieve our goal or not, etc.). Try to make these instructions positive And including messages that reinforce and consider one's own ability positively can make us feel more capable in the long run and increase willpower.

11. Find a role model

One way to strengthen your willpower is to be inspired by people you appreciate and admire. Learn about them and their way of doing things and achieve your goals. Observing the presence of great willpower can help us try to imitate it and strengthen our own.

12. Relativize and accept falls

As much as we have willpower, we can all fall at some point when we forget to our goal or we have a moment of weakness in which we do the opposite of what we pretend.

This can lead us to blame ourselves, to feel little competent and finally to demotivate and abandon ourselves. A good idea to increase our willpower is, although it seems contradictory, to accept that we can fail and have some moment of weakness. Of course, without exceeding in being self-indulgent: it is about not crushing yourself if a fall occurs, not just letting them happen.

13. Better accompanied

Maintaining motivation and willpower to reach a goal is tricky. Receiving external support in the process or setting a shared goal makes it easier for there to be an added difficulty in falling into temptation. Secondly, it also depends on the attitude of each one- If someone continually tempts you to abandon your goal, it will become a challenge to your willpower.

14. do exercise

What for many people is a goal to achieve can also serve to help us increase the willpower to do others. Tightening and loosening the muscles can help us to strengthen not only our body but also our mind, releasing endorphins and enhancing our sense of competition. In addition, it requires an effort that causes part of our attention to divert from possible temptation.