This is part 2 of “The secret of being disciplined” series where I help guide readers on how to accomplish anything in life by having great self-discipline.

There is a common myth that will power is an unlimited resource that can be generated from within if enough effort is exerted.

People would tell their colleagues “Hey buddy, just use will power to achieve this task and eventually you will be able to conquer it.” However, little do they know that will power is a finite resource.

There’s a study done by Roy Baumeister, PHD sheds light on how will power actually works contrary to common assumptions about it. In an experiment, he gave one group of participants freshly made chocolate chip cookies to enjoy while he asked another group to resist the cookies and to eat radishes instead. Then, he had the two groups do incredibly tough mental problems such as geometric puzzles.

He found that the group who were allowed to eat the cookies were able to continue working on the puzzles for 20 minutes while the group that had to restrain themselves from eating the cookies prior to working on the puzzles gave up around the 8 minute mark. Using discipline required the participants to exert mental effort to resist doing something that is pleasurable (eating the cookie) or to do something that is not pleasurable (eating the radish). Thus, the participants who had to use discipline prior to working on the mental problems find that they could not exert any more mental effort to last as long as the group who were allowed to eat the cookies.

This explains why people tend to fail on commitments or resolutions. This explains why after a hard day of work, people find themselves caving on a tube of ice cream or binging soda even when they have committed to a low-calorie diet. They depleted their cache of will power earlier in the day. Unfortunately, almost anything that requires mental effort can deplete will power and they occur frequently throughout the day.

However, will power can be trained just like a muscle. Just like a muscle, the more you work it out, the stronger it becomes. Vice versa, just like a muscle, if you don’t use will power for an extended period of time, it becomes limp. And just like a muscle, if you overuse will power, it can be exhausted.

There are surefire ways to hack will power that I have used in my life that helps me get back on track on work:

1.) Pay attention to what you’re eating. Trust me on this.

The food that Americans eat is generally unhealthy. It is full fatty foods and bad carbohydrates. You want to respect your body by feeding it healthier varieties. That means more fruits and vegetable are required in your diet.

I always make my own salad that I bring to lunch at work. It has worked wonders to my energy and my performance in cognitive skills. That is because it feeds to the brain a lot of the necessary nutrients that it wants.

It also helps to make a “green” vegetable shake. What you want to put in your blender are:

Kale – provides a great amount of anti-oxidants that helps clean the body Collard Greens – like Kale, it also provides a lot of anti-oxidant and detox support Broccoli – helps support cognitive performance Spinach – helps with energy. Peanut butter – helps with taste Banana – gives the shake a really nice taste and provides potassium to the body

I have been drinking the green shake for several months and it does wonders to my brain base on on fact that I can think more clearly than before. Therefore, it is a real life hack.

2.) Hungry? Always keep a light snack around

It can be very distracting if you are trying to focus on work when all your mind is thinking of is food. A common cause for deprecating motivation is a lower blood sugar level in the body. Always have a snack prepared around your workplace or office. Will power is limited by the blood sugar level you have in your body.

3.) Small chunk your goals

A lot of times we feel reluctant to start a task because our our minds think it is huge and scary. However, the task becomes easier to work on if it is broken down to smaller tasks where you don’t have to think too much to complete each one.

Instead of saying “I am going to complete this essay”, say instead “I am going to write one 5-sentence paragraph for each period of time.” Notice that the latter statement is much easier to follow than the prior one. It’s important to break a task down into simpler, specified steps to make it more manageable and that each small step does not required too much mental effort. The task of writing the essay can even be broken down to even smaller steps by saying “I’m going to just write one sentence for the time being.”

4.) Get your body moving

I cannot emphasize the great benefits that results from exercise enough. It may seem counter-intuitive to exert more energy when you are in a motivational rut, but exercising helps increase blood flow to the brain and raise your blood sugar level. I have around my workplace at home a set of dumbbells. Whenever, I feel reluctant to continue working, I pump some iron with my biceps to get my heart pumping. Then, I feel more motivated to go back to work. Getting a small workout done provides a small boost of energy and gets the mind in a more active mode.

Most people spend their days working in a sedentary lifestyle, especially if they have to grind their hours at the office. However, being sedentary in a prolonged period of time can actually promote levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Exercising helps to lower stress by helping your body produce endorphins.

5.) Figure out what motivates you

You have to find out what jazzes you up. I prefer listening to movie soundtracks, particularly those composed by the genius Hans Zimmer. His music is usually very engaging and lively since the movies he composed for have a lot of action sequences. Listening to his music while working somehow made it seem as if I was in a movie. I was able to develop stronger focus because the music helped me associate excitement with my work. Once at college, I was once able to pull an all-nighter for a ten page essay that was due in the next morning by putting Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack on full blast. It was the best essay I have ever written.

However, I know that what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for other people. Everybody is different and it is important to focus on what motivates you to work long periods of time.

6.) Still stuck in a motivational rut? Just start on the task

Another cause of procrastination and a general sense of fatigue is the terrible mindset of perfectionism. People think they have to have everything they need in order to start working on a project. A common behavior mindset that they may have is that they have to “feel motivated” in order to take action. And so they wait for that feeling to inhabit their mind, but it may never come.

This is where the concept of acceptance helps tremendously. Just accept the fact that everything does not have to be perfect and start the task right away. By starting on the first smallest step on your project, it helps to get your momentum of work running and the action is often followed by the strong feeling that once the task has been started, it must be finished. Acceptance is the key to starting. The perfectionists tend to have built a lot resistance within them because they are resisting the unfavorable current situation. They do not like the negative emotions in their body and thus are not at peace with the situation. However, by accepting whatever they are feeling inside them, it allows them to make space for action. They can tell themselves “I feel bad. Oh well, I’ll just roll with the punches, take action and see what will result from this.” Therefore, acceptance of all the good and bad things happening in a situation can lead to consistent action, that will eventually lead to the results you want. So take action to get out of a rut.

This is why meditation can provide great benefits. It helps train your mind to be more accepting of the situation.

Figuring out how your will power works is a step to hacking it. Understanding that it is a limited resource destroys the false assumption that you can generate will power whenever you want to. Figuring out ways to overcome that limit allows you to accomplish tasks that otherwise seem impossible.