5 practical ways to increase your willpower

The scale at which people achieve results in life differs. Some people achieve better results in self-improvement compared to others. One of the reasons behind this difference is “willpower”. Similarly, few people can resist temptation, and they can do this because they have stronger willpower. Such people don’t find it difficult to delay short-term gratification to gain long-term goals. They are visionary people, and they know how to predict their expected result if they should make a present sacrifice.

That being said, what then is “willpower”?

Willpower is the internal force that helps you to override unwanted feelings, urges, and emotions. The reason why you can say NO to things that are not of your value is that you have the capacity. That capacity to act is referred to as willpower. Life has many difficulties, and it takes a lot of willpower to overcome them.

If you are struggling to make decisions and stick to them, this post is a must-read for you. It will help if you read till the end and enjoy a bonus point.

Always plan ahead

Willpower is your ability to decide between what is rational and your emotion. If you want to resist something, you need to plan. By planning, you are making a logical decision in advance. This helps to strengthen your willpower.

If you are invited to a party, make some decisions within yourself on what you will do and not do when you get there. This will allow you to keep to your goals when those things happen. We all know it is easy for a friend to offer us alcohol at parties, but having a plan of what to do when it happens makes everything easier.

Avoid temptation

Temptations are everywhere, but we can avoid as many as possible. If you are on a diet, avoid buying food that you cannot resist eating when you keep them in your refrigerator. Stay away from fast foods and food with high calories. If possible, avoid friends that invite you over for junk. By doing this, you are putting off things that you desire logically. Eventually, you will miss those things, but you will improve your willpower to do only logical things. Control yourself and be mindful of where you go. Stay away from places that do not agree with your aim. Go to places where you are encouraged and motivated to do more.

Involve family and friends

Most times, when we want to do something, family members and friends are the reason why we don’t get it done. They are also one of the primary reasons why we achieve some tasks. It all depends on how we carry them along in our plan. For instance, if you are on a saving plan, you must communicate with those close to you. That way, they will avoid bringing you items to buy on impulse. You don’t have to give them the details of your goal. Still, it would help if you let them know that you only buy things you budgeted for. Initially, this may not go well with them, but with time, it will settle in, and they will be familiar with it.

Start small

If you are on a journey to personal improvement, don’t take too many activities at once. This is one of the things people don’t realise. Starting something new needs time before you can master the attitude. It’s best if you go easy on yourself by setting achievable goals. If you are on a weight loss goal, begin by lessening your food portion. With time, everything will settle out, and you will do more.

For every achievement, there should be a reward

Small achievements should be honoured and recognised. This will motivate you to hit a more significant milestone. You can buy yourself a new pair of shoes or something you have always admired. It could be anything. The goal is to make yourself feel good about your progress.

BONUS

People often ask, what is the difference between self-control and willpower? Or are the terms the same?

There is a difference between self-control and willpower, but both terms are essential ingredients for success.

Willpower relates to your ability to resist short-term gratification. When you are faced with an instant temptation to do something, and you can control your emotions, you have strong willpower. For instance, a friend invites you to a dinner party, and you show up. However, as the party gets more exciting, you are offered a pack of cigarettes, and you say, “No, thanks, I quit smoking a long time ago”. This is your willpower at work. You were able to say no instantly without thinking twice.

While self-control is how well you can manage your attitude. If this is done right, it assists you in achieving positive results on your goals. Unlike willpower, self-control is not sudden; it has to be a repetitive action. This has proven that both terms are twisted, and one cannot be practised without the other. This is because you need strong willpower to build a positive attitude.

There will be a rapid improvement in your life if you have stronger willpower. Most people you see with a positive life outcome achieve that by sacrificing something. We are all faced with temptation daily; choices need to be made. Still, our present life is a mirror image of the type of choices that we make.

The consequences or rewards of what we choose in a short moment are the reason for how far we have come. If you have many negative traits and attitudes, it will be better if you can work more on your willpower. Train yourself on how you can eliminate those negativities—this includes; laziness, procrastination, smoking, excessive drinking, abuse of drugs and more. Your willpower will help you say a permanent goodbye to those traits.

I hope this content can motivate you to do more with your life. Don’t fail to like and share. You can check out also these related posts on “9 things successful people do to get ahead“. If there are short moments when you were able to overcome temptation, feel free to share your experience in the session below.

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