“The education of the will is the object of our existence.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The education of the will is the object of our existence – That’s a pretty powerful statement. For someone like Ralph Waldo Emerson to write something like that, the person who has inspired some of the greatest leaders and most successful people in modern history, surely demonstrates that willpower must be important.

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education, is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson which ought to be learned, and, however early a man’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson which he learns thoroughly.”

~ Professor Thomas Henry Huxley, “

How do you want your future to look?

Take just a few seconds to imagine yourself in the future and how your life is going to play out. Then imagine that life and you if you don’t do what you know needs to be done.

You know, things like start paying your bills on time, losing weight, taking regular exercise, studying when you should, saving some money, writing that book, getting your accounts done on time and all those other chores, tasks and duties that we know have to be done and are the key to success.

Imagine your life now and 1 year into the future, 5 years, 10 years and even further. Imagine if you consistently fail to do those things. How will your life look then?

It’s a grim story isn’t it?

Now though, imagine yourself if you could do all those things daily, weekly, monthly, without fail.

Imagine if you set a task right now and found you could work on it consistently until completion. And any other tasks and new habits you wanted to start you were able to keep on doing until you got the results you wanted without giving up along the way.

How would life be different for you? What if you lost all that weight, got a six-pack, saved a lot of money, worked on that course for a new promotion or to pass your exams? How would things be different for you?

Use your Willpower wisely

I never knew willpower was something that was finite and could be used up, ON THE WRONG THINGS!

For years I’ve been wasting my willpower to stop eating sugar, or do exercise, or do work like write blog posts. I didn’t know that whether I was hungry, tired or just in a bad mood could affect it and weaken it. If you are female, even your menstruation cycle affects your willpower!

It’s being used up constantly on the decisions we make throughout the day. On maintaining our state, like being positive, happy and balanced. On resisting reacting to people and things that annoy us, telling the truth in awkward situations, or for some, lying if it goes against your values.

It is being used up like the petrol in your car’s engine and slowly but surely the fuel gauge goes down and down until it enters the red zone and finally empty.

And that’s when your mind can quite easily lie to you. The Sirens start their singing in your head and tell you it’s okay to miss a training session, buy those shoes, eat that doughnut. When you blood glucose levels drop, you’re tired, you’re ill, or something bad has happened in your life, the willpower-omoter drops to empty quickly and we begin to give in to temptation. Addictions take hold!

Willpower is a muscle that you can build

Meditation

Meditation activates the “willpower” part of the brain. In a 2009 Duke University-Caltech study, scientists analyzed the brains of 37 dieters while they looked at 50 photos of various food, rating each by healthiness and taste. The findings showed that the “dorsolateral prefrontal cortex” as the section of the brain activated by people with high levels of willpower. It just so happens that this is the same area that is especially active during meditation, as evidenced by numerous research studies.

Just start with 1 minute of meditation a day or just take 5 deep breaths and that it, done. Breathe in for a slow count of 6, hold for a count of 2, breath out for a count of 8. Repeat 5 times and you’ve meditated.

Mini habits

Just like with lifting weights or running, you have to build and stranghten your willpower gradually. I would say the most important lesson I have learned regarding willpower is to manage it like I would my physical energy. If I want to start a new habit, I build it slowly and in small doses or steps. Gradually I increase the load as I get mentally – willpowery – stronger. I also counter the extra effort it will take me to begin a new habit or cut out a bad habit by being more lenient with myself in other discplines for a period of time. This way my willpower doesn’t get exhausted trying to be diciplined with too many things while I incorporate the new ones.

Research shows that when you build willpower in one area, it also builds willpower in other areas of your life. It’s the same with intelligence. Improve your English, like learning the root of words and your maths intelligence grows with it. So, if you are starting out, just begin with small habits and build then slowly and you’ll notice you become more resilient with your resolutions in other parts of your life.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed

It seems such a small thing to do. I was never taught to make my bed, but I wish I had and I love doing it in the morning now. It starts the day RIGHT! Here’s a quote from a transcript of Naval Admiral, William H. McRaven’s speach to the University of Texas. You can see the full transcript and video here.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

~Naval Adm. William H. McRaven and Navy Seal

Small wins, added together, equal seccess. And at the end of the day, even if everything has gone pear shape, you at least have the satisfaction that you did your best.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.