At its base level, the reason we struggle to break bad habits is that we lack willpower and self-control. You need to really want something in order to force yourself to either go without or to put extra in to achieve your wanted result.
Unfortunately, no one is born with a high level of self-control and willpower. However, the good news is that there are ways to develop it. If you are looking to strengthen yours, below you’ll discover how you can strengthen your willpower and self-control.
Don’t Tempt Your Willpower
The first important and too often overlooked aspect of self-control and willpower is that they are habits, like almost everything else we do. They are not a gift. Those who have well-developed willpower have achieved it with practice.
The second and equally important factor is that developing willpower and self-control only happens by its repeated success. If you consistently fail and give in to your temptations that becomes a habit in itself, and your willpower ‘muscle’ remains weak, and gets weaker.
Paradoxically, the best way to strengthen willpower is by not challenging it. This means removing temptation or reducing it as much as possible so that ‘winning’ becomes so much easier.
Start Small
One of the best pieces of advice you can follow to find your willpower is to start small. Whatever your goal is, it’s crucial to split it down into small tasks. With time and practice, you will be able to take bigger challenges.
Losing weight is one of the best examples here. Say you want to lose 56 pounds. Reaching this goal is going to take a lot of time and dedication. If you’re simply working towards losing 56 pounds, you’re going to find your motivation is severely tested, and this will diminish your willpower.
However, if you split the goal down into smaller tasks, you’ll find it much easier to stay motivated. To get to that 56-pound weight loss, you’d need to eat healthier and exercise more. Focus on one small task at a time, such as exercising for 10 minutes right after finishing work.
As you accomplish the smaller goals, you’ll develop more desire to continue and the willpower to see it through. As you start to see results, you’ll also find your self-control strengthens, as you won’t want to derail your progress.
Fuel the Body with Healthy Foods
Even if your goals have nothing to do with weight management, you’re going to find it much easier to maintain your willpower and self-control if you fuel your body with healthy foods.
Adopting a healthy diet helps to keep the mind focused and clear. You’ll also suffer fewer mood swings and feel generally healthier. When your mind is clear and focused, it’s much easier to develop self-control.
Get Your Stress Levels Under Control
When you’re stressed, it’s easy to fall back into unhealthy bad habits. The instinctive stress response is totally based on immediacy. Under the influence of stress hormones, long-term plans are ignored and the immediate present is the total focus.
If you reduce or manage your stress responses better, you will be in a much better position mentally to make better choices. Work on adding relaxing activities into your daily routine to reduce stress levels and benefit your willpower.
Don’t Forget to Reward Yourself
One thing that can weaken your willpower is if you don’t experience any perceived benefits from the habits you’re adopting. It’s hard to continually focus on your goals and maintain good habits. Rewarding yourself along the way for sticking to it is going to really help. If you don’t feel like you’re being deprived of something, you’ll have a lot more willpower and self-control to carry on.
Developing your willpower and self-control can be made much easier by following the advice above. A lack of both is the major reason why most people give up on their goals and fall back into unhealthy patterns.
