Willpower – The Real Game Changer

Willpower is a superpower. This superpower is what stands as a wall for most of the success stories. It makes us inculcate self-discipline, determination, self-control, and self-regulation to achieve our goals.   Willpower is the ability to resist short term temptation to achieve long term goals.

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

Willpower is one of the determining reasons for personal and professional success. If one inculcates self-discipline it creates lasting positive changes in lives. It is the inner strength that helps us fight our inner resistance, as it said self-discipline is the center of all material success. You cannot win the war against the world unless you win the war against your mind.

The very famous Marshmallows test by Walter Mischel was performed on kids by asking them you want Marshmallow now or two Marshmallows a few hours from now?  The kids who want the marshmallows now are the ones who look for shortcuts and don’t want to work hard. They want the quick kill and grab the marshmallows immediately.  The other ones who think, if they wait for two hours, they can get two later, so they hold out for it.  They are the ones who are not going to take shortcuts. 

It’s just a psychological experiment performed on kids but when they were tracked decade by decade, it was found out those who delayed taking the marshmallows were more successful, economically stable, and enjoyed a higher status in society.  They didn’t want a simple payoff now but delayed the gratification to get that gold in the future. That is how will power works you control your immediate temptations and work hard to get that huge repay in the coming future.

Success comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over ease of distraction. That is exactly what delayed gratification is all about.

Researchers have found out that the prefrontal cortex( a region that controls your temptations, helps you in making choices) was more active in people with higher self-control. On the contrary, a region called the Ventral striatum ( region to process desire and rewards) was boosted in those with lower self-control.

2 Biggest Reasons for low Willpower:

Tiredness / Fatigue: All of this boils up to just one thing that is, when you are tired, you will want to put the minimum effort to take any decision. You will think of doing something easily without thinking about its long-term effects. Researches prove that lack of sleep could be one of the major reasons for you, losing your self-control.

Environment: It is been said that out of sight out of mind. If you are one who loves to eat sweets, you will eat it all day whenever you see it. The environment you are in is creating temptations to grab that one more sweet. What if you put it, out of your sight, you will control your temptations, once it is out of your sight.

Likewise, when you live with people who lack self-control, who look for instant results you will become one of them who look for shortcuts, to get through their goals. Considering the opposite when you live with people who have a more disciplined approach, who have willpower, who work hard, you will try and inculcate those traits.

Highly Recommended… Best Book you will read to increase your willpower

Simple 5-step Plan to Increase Willpower:

1. Take one step at a time: You will certainly not change your whole routine all of sudden, if you plan to bring that wholesome change in your lifestyle, take easy steps, like for example start with five minutes of exercise daily, then set up the daily routine.
2. Make your to-do list doable: As students, we plan to study a huge syllabus in just one day,  since what we planned was out the capacity to start with, fear develops that it can’t be done. This fear does not let even to start, as it is realized we cannot finish the whole syllabus as planned. This will get the whole work piled up. So try and finish a single topic which is doable, it will maintain the daily momentum which drives to continue the work.
3. Set the reward in advance: We all like rewards, so trick your mind in a way that if you study for four hours daily, on weekends you may go out with friends and enjoy it. The reward set in advance forces you to follow your goal, which needs to be done.
4. Make a note of if-then: Write it down if I do not this, then this might happen. This will make you go through the plan you want to follow. A very simple example, If I eat too many sweets then I’ll not fit in that Birthday dress I bought.  This will allow sticking through the plan made.
5. Meditate Daily: Take out your few minutes and just focus on your breath. Detach for only those minutes from the chaos around you. Know the fact that every time when your mind wanders you have to get it back on track. Meditation helps in building that reservoir of willpower. When you become mindful you engage that part of your brain that you need for willpower (Prefrontal Cortex), rather than just your impulse taking over.

People with greater willpower are happier, healthier, and more satisfied in their relationships. They are able to deal with stress, deal with conflicts, and overcome adversity.  Thus it is important to train our minds to win over the impulsive system.

Also read, Determination is key to success.

“People with low willpower use it to get themselves out of crisis. People with high willpower use it not to get themselves into the crisis”- Roy Baumeister.