How To Have Willpower

What is willpower?  How to get willpower?

Willpower’s definition – the strength of will to carry out one’s decisions, wishes or plans.
It can also be called determination, commitment or doggedness.  No matter what you called it, it is the strength of our mind.  Some people compare it to our muscle because willpower acts in the same way.  The more you exercise your willpower, the stronger it will be.

Some people define willpower as a basic ability to delay gratification, but I think it means more than that.  What is the use of will power?  I was talking to a lady customer the other day.  I was doing a job in her company.  She told me she wanted to have a smoke.  Here is our short conversation.

“You should quit,” I said and I shook my head.  I don’t like people smoke for there is no benefit in smoking and it will definitely do you harm.  Everyone knew that – I am sure she knew it too.

“No, I can’t,” she said.

“Willpower?’ I asked.

“Don’t have any,” she replied as she walks outside.  Leaving me wondering why she (or anyone) has no willpower?

Why do we need willpower?

Willpower is very useful to anyone who wants to accomplish anything.  Here are some of the most common reasons that people need willpower.

• To quit smoking
• To lose weigh
• Save money
• To complete a project
• Make your dream come true

There have been many types of research done on the subject of willpower.   They all agreed on the fact that we don’t have much will power.  We have to use it sparingly, or otherwise, it will run out.  You need to conserve your willpower for something which is important.

The researches did not find out where our willpower came from.  Apparently, the only way to strengthen our will power is constantly exercised our self-control.  Like I said earlier, our willpower is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it becomes.  In fact, our bodies and our mind are the same, the more you use it the better it becomes.

“Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.” – Dan Millman

Willpower is very important if you want to lose weigh, save money or to be successful in anything, big or small.  Therefore, you will notice that many successful and great people have lot’s of will power, they will not give up when times are tough.  They will keep going until the end.  It is one of the best virtues that we can have.

If willpower is so good, how do we get willpower.  One of the reasons why I write this article is I believe willpower can be developed – yes, you can have more.  I don’t agree with the researches who say that we have limited supply of willpower.  That is totally wrong.

How to gain willpower

Have you heard of “character building”?

Willpower is one of the many characters we can acquire.  In order to have more willpower, you need to start from a young age.  Also, children are easier to teach than an adult.  Learning the art of willpower needs to start from young, like playing the piano.  If you start when you are an adult, it will be very hard and you have to put in more effort to learn.  That is why you seldom see anyone became pianist if they learn to play above the age of twenty.

To develop the willpower of children, what you can do is to give them some big tasks to do.  Something which will take a couple or few hours a day and will take months to finish.  Once they have accomplished that, they will be ready to take on anything.  This experience will give them the foundation for their future endeavour.  They will always remember the moment of their success when they are faced with a new challenge.  They just rub their hands together and say, “Here I go again.”  They will not back down until it is finished.

You can get this book from Amazon – The Willpower Instinct

– How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What you can do to get more of it.
$11.29

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal’s wildly popular course “The Science of Willpower,” This is the first book which explains the science of self-control and how it can be used to improve our health, happiness and productivity.

 

 

This is also one of the reasons why a lot of people don’t have any willpower.  It is because when they are young, they have never done anything which required much effort.  So if you are going to quit smoking for the first time, how would you be able to succeed?

If you failed the first time, try a second time, a third time…..  As you try again, you will slowly build up your willpower.  Take a break if you have to, and I am sure you will be successful at the end.

When you have climbed mountains, a small hill is insignificant.

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. – Edmund Hillary

Besides teaching and giving them the big tasks.  You have to teach them the virtue of “constant improvement”.  One needs to improve oneself in all ways, physically, mentally and spiritually.  Be a better man or be a better woman every single day and keep learning.

With this constant improvement mindset set up in their brains.  They will have the determination and drive to improve themselves, they will be able to achieve anything they desired.  For to better oneself is the same as to achieve a goal or a dream, which involves taking one small step at a time to accomplish something big.

The theory behind this is very simple.

• if you don’t see the value of hard working – you will never work hard
• if you don’t see the value of self-improvement – you will never improve
• if you don’t see the value of yourself – you will be a nobody

There is one thing which you also need to teach the children – teach them, love.  Love is the most powerful and valuable thing in this world.  We can do anything for love, even losing our life.  That is why when they promote “quit smoking”, they tell you – Think about your love ones.

I have also talked about love on my other articles, and you can find them on my website.  Before you go, I wish you all the best.

Signing off

-MisterWailor