First there are some things you should know about willpower:

1. It is a finite entity – that’s right, at some point you do run out. This explains why most of us start the day strong, making good decisions etc and by the end of the day we’ve opened that block of chocolate, or sent that nasty text to the ex, or just curled up into a ball ignoring the world…

2. Like a muscle, it can be strengthened. The more we practice using our willpower day by day the stronger it can become – much like exercising in the gym. Also like a muscle, it can be subject to “over-training” where we actually lose strength rather than building it – and this relates to point 1 – it is finite so beware of overdoing it in one go.

3. If you use your willpower in one area of your life you will be left with less willpower in other areas. This may be why you find that focusing on one goal at a time works best for achieving that goal but in the long run it will not build good habits across all areas of your life.

4. Sleep increases willpower. With a good night’s rest you wake up with a replenished store of willpower. Hence the importance of a good nights sleep to make good decisions and have a successful productive day.

5. Your beliefs can change how much willpower you have – NEVER underestimate the power of our mind. In a later post I will be talking about how you should “trick” yourself and you will become more successful and happy in all areas of life. If you BELIEVE that willpower is INFINITE you will in fact have more of it! WOW!

6. Glucose increases willpower! Now I’m not talking about the kind of sugar high then crash that you get from a chocolate bar or sugary treat. Go for fruit and eat regularly – this is not just for health reasons, you will make better decisions, have more willpower and you are less likely to lose control of your emotions!

HOW DOES WILLPOWER AFFECT OUR LIVES:

More willpower means: you will most likely make healthy food choices, exercise regularly, work harder at work and be productive working on your own projects, not lose your temper when faced with upsetting situations, have less domestic arguments, and (for women) have less PMS symptoms, so basically you will have a happier and more productive life!

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WILLPOWER:

1. Have fruit on hand to snack on (grapes are especially good) and don’t skip meals. Try to ensure a healthy and balanced diet. For women when they are about to get their period their glucose stores are depleted so it is especially important to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables – you won’t be craving all that chocolate and lollies anymore! Ever noticed that you or one of your friends always gets cranky and is not good company when they’re hungry – problem solved!

2. Make sleep a priority – get your 8 hours. Some people may feel they need more or less – you can judge it by tracking your sleep for a period of time and noting how many good and bad decisions are made the following day.

3. Make habits and start by focusing on your most important priority earlier in the day while your willpower is strongest. At the same time do not burn your willpower out early in the day – when working take regular breaks. Look into the Pomodoro technique – where you do 25 mins of work and then take a 5 minute break. This will keep you working for longer as opposed to working for 3 hours straight and then not being able to focus for the next 2-3 hours. Why are people more productive in the morning and then useless in the afternoon? They burn our their willpower early on.

4. Start things SLOWLY. If you are starting a diet/exercise routine and you are coming from NOTHING do not dive straight into it, take it one step at a time. This could mean exercising everyday in the morning for 5 mins and then building up, or start by going to the gym on one day a week then increasing slowly over a couple of months to 3-4 days a week. If you are starting a personal project and you are used to working 9-5 and outside of work you generally don’t use your brain use the same habit-building strategy as the gym technique – start with 5 minutes a day and increasing this time gradually or start with one day a week for an hour and increase this over a few months until you are doing this 3-4 nights a week after work. When you build the habit you may find you are no longer using ANY of your WILLPOWER because it has become a habit and not something you have to make yourself do. Starting slowly and building habits is the key to long term success. When people go on a “diet” they inevitability “break it”. Statistics show that in almost all cases they end up gaining back everything they have lost. They use all their willpower putting themselves through a drastic change to lose weight and are left with none to maintain the changes.

5. Whenever possible make things AS EASY AS POSSIBLE so you do not have to use ANY WILLPOWER – then you will have more to use in other, necessary, areas of your life. For example – if you don’t have the chocolate in the house then it is not a decision whether to eat it or not for dessert. If you have set up your computer home screen to log you straight into your work project then when you wake up on the weekend it becomes easy to start working rather than an effort or a decision. TAKE AWAY THE DECISION MAKING WHEREVER POSSIBLE.

6. Believe it is infinite!! Practice meditation and mental strength and have a positive attitude. Our mind is our strongest tool. Visualizing who we want to be and what we want to achieve assists the process that will get you to your goals.

“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.”