Willpower - Why Don't I have Any??????

I've often heard people say "I have no willpower". It's almost as though they sell themselves short on their own ability to exercise willpower or perhaps they are ready to admit defeat on actions not yet tried: "I will fail because I have no willpower" which leads to "See I failed because I I told you I had no willpower!" It's really only in the last month or so that I've come to understand claims of having no willpower may not be the issue.

It seems for the most part, every human have willpower to greater and lesser degrees so when you find yourself mumbling the words.....I have no willpower....chances are its your supply of willpower that's running a little low.

Willpower is a highly desired commodity yes, but there are a couple of other things mixed in there that each and every person alive has and needs that ultimately affects the supply of willpower available to them.

They are: Habits; Motivation; Willpower

Habits: Good habits become repetitive actions that require little commitment to carry out

Motivation: Using self-motivation means your not drawing on your willpower reserve except in cases where you absolutely need it

Willpower: A scarce but invaluable resource that should be used sparingly

So lets have a closer look at each:

Habits: Good habits like diet and exercise, limit alcohol, thinking positive. Developing good habits means simple tasks become an everyday occurrence requiring no real effort to maintain like brushing your teeth. When you develop good habits, you preserve your supply of motivation and willpower. The better you feel about yourself, and your body, well these feelings positively affect your motivation and willpower levels. 

Motivation: The garden needs mowing, I should put that Ikea unit together, must finally sort that back room out....we know these tasks need doing but as these are things we don't do everyday, we don't develop the habit of doing them so we need to draw on our motivation supply to get things done. Sometimes we find reasons to delay - tired, headache, laziness etc but ultimately we have to draw on our reserves of motivation just to start on them....still not touching willpower reserve though

Willpower: This has been defined as a form of control that is deliberately exerted to do something or to restrain one own impulses. Willpower is often enforced when faced with strong opposition and usually works best when focused on one goal at a time rather than spread across several goals at once.

It's important to understand how good habits, motivation and willpower are all reliant on each other and that all three are interconnected:

Good Habits lead to 

Increased Motivation which leads to 

Preserved Willpower 

So consider:

1. Developing good habits helps build motivation
2. Developing motivation means you don't need to call on willpower
3. As you've developed good habits which have built your motivation levels, you will be able to handle almost anything without having to call on willpower. However because your supply of willpower is largely untouched, when you really need willpower, it will be there for you

Remember if you want to give yourself the best opportunity to build and maintain willpower so that you have a reserve supply, its essential to start at the grassroots level by developing good habits for these are the easiest to start and require little motivation to maintain. Start looking at the world through more positive eyes, work consciously on removing negative thoughts and influences. Take control of your world!

G-Raff!

For more information on willpower, refer to this book by Frank Ryan. Definitely worth every penny.

Willpower for Dummies