Willpower.Willpower. Is it the same as Self-Control?

byCeci28

536 followers

4 years ago

Please raise your hand if you never get distracted by social media, email or television. Do you always stick to your exercise schedules and diets, are never tempted by junk food when you catch a whiff of it, or are able to resist mouth-watering desserts and of course chocolates.

Just when you've made that empowering decision to achieve your set goal of writing one blog today and you sit down at your computer, you hear a "ping" on your phone. You look away and then you hear another one.....and then another one...... and yet another one, and then of course your curiosity gets the better of you, and you GRAB the phone as if it is the end of the world. Before you know it, you've been sucked into the vortex of aimless behavior - politics, responding to text messages, laughing at Whatsapp videos, checking Facebook etc.

Between one and two hours later............you suddenly remember what you were supposed to be doing! Does this resonate with anyone? Anyone?

It's all about willpower. Willpower comes from that part of our mind where we consciously decide on what actions to take. Anytime we resolve to do something that goes against our impulses and desires - guess what? We are using some of our willpower. Naturally, I decided to look into this a bit more and needless to say, I've learned a thing or two and pratical ways to beat THE URGE.

The American Psychological Association calls willpower "the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals." Self-control is the companion of willpower. It gives you that dogged stamina to persevere with whatever you do - such as " I will not get up until I have finished writing this post".

Using willpower sometimes means not doing something, such as skipping that second slice of strawberry shortcake you really want, picking up that pinging phone, or delaying the purchase of something that you did not budget for.

Here are a couple of my findings:

1. Willpower is like a muscle - you lose it if you don't use it enough. You can flex and relax it as you need to and strengthen it with training. Like your muscle, willpower also tires if you keep using it over and over and over throughout the day.

Setting small, incremental goals that you regularly meet is the best way to boost your willpower. Just like with your body, if you overdo it by taking on a bigger challenge right at the beginning of your new work-out, you won’t get stronger, you will just get sore!.

2. Your feelings (sadness and worry) and anything that involves a lot of thinking and decision-making will make you more vulnerable to temptation and distraction.

3. To reach higher willpower levels, you need to combine diet and exercise with a good night's sleep. Listening to soothing music is also helpful. Good habits help you preserve your willpower E.g a scheduled workout time each day can soon become a habit

4. Drink lots of water. Even a little dehydration can impact your cognitive functioning and willpower

5. Scrub your environment of temptations E.g.Remove the candy bowl on your desk, turn off notifications on your phone while working, resist the urge to go down the cookie aisle at the grocery store or refuse to pick up the call of a friend who is always going to take you down the rabbit hole of politics when you are in the middle of writing, or doing something important.

Waste less time and get more done with RescueTime, a great time-management tool (there are tons of others out there and I don't want to bore you) that provides intelligent insights into how you spend your days.

Finally, remember we are all human (not Superman or Cat Woman) and there will be times when our willpower will run out. To recharge your willpower baterries, take some time out for yourself. If you get stressed, get up and take a short walk - hopefully to get a breath of fresh air and certainly NOT a walk to your pantry or refrigerator!

More willpower to everyone!

Ceci