Willpower is essential to the accomplishment of
anything worthwhile.
Brian Tracy
Usually when people hear the word “willpower,” they think about things like losing weight or quitting smoking. Willpower is certainly helpful when it comes to trying to break those bad habits, but it can also be very beneficial in other areas of your life as well.
Willpower is something we are not born with, but must nurture and build up in ourselves. Once you learn to strengthen your willpower, it will give you a leg-up in achieving your goals. How? Because you will then be able to develop an unshakable focus and intensity in purpose!
So how do you go about building your willpower?
1. Commit! You must be completely and thoroughly committed to reaching your goals. If you are not absolutely committed to what you want to accomplish, there is no way that you will be able to develop sustaining willpower.
It is very difficult to be successful in achieving your goals if you harbor second thoughts, excuses, or doubts. Be absolutely honest with yourself and find that “thing” that you truly want to see through until the end.
Also keep in mind that simply having the desire to succeed at something does not guarantee accomplishment or success. It is entirely possible for you to desire many things without making a firm commitment. So, you need to be able to figure out that you really want and then plan to take the appropriate actions.
2. Call on your inner strength. Building your willpower takes perseverance. This is a time for you to call upon your inner strength, you know, that extra push you need to get through the tough times.
You have made the commitment to take a journey to strengthen your willpower and accomplish your most challenging goals. Great! The truth is, you will have many days of success, but there will also be those days that don’t feel as triumphant. It is on those not-so-good days that you will need to call upon your inner strength to help you get back on track.
Every person has an inner strength and most have used it on more than one occasion. Trust in it, and in yourself, and it will get you through your rough spots.
3. Get support. Building your willpower to achieve a goal is a great undertaking. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming. This is why it is so vitally important that you have good support in place during the journey.
Share with a friend, significant other, or parent what you are trying to accomplish. In this way, when you hit a stumbling block, you will have someone who you have entrusted to help get you back on the right track.
Your support system will help you through the hard times and will celebrate your successes with you.
4. Consistency counts. If you have the willpower, for instance, to stop smoking for one week, that’s great and should indeed be celebrated. But the only way you are going to build your willpower up is to do whatever it takes to avoid a cigarettes today, again tomorrow, and forever. Then soon enough you will be celebrating two weeks, two months, two years, and then forever!
This strategy applies to any goal that you are seriously devoted to accomplish. You must be willing to keep up the positive behavior all day, each and every day, no exceptions, and no excuses.
Willpower can be a tricky thing. Everybody wants to develop it in order to break a bad habit or reach a particular goal. But in order to do so, you must be willing to go that extra mile and fully commit yourself to your success.
If you are committed, you are to be commended! As you achieve your goals, remember to celebrate your successes each and every day.
What are you working on?
Photo Credit: DavidRphoto via Compfight cc
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