Attention: Here’s the Lazy Guide to Improving Your Willpower

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Ever felt helpless before? When you know you're doing the wrong thing
but you can`t keep off it. Alcohol, drugs, food, laziness and tens of
hours wasted on meaningless things. You know you should stop, but you
can`t.
Broken promises, missed opportunities, and low self esteem all are by
products of low self control . But, what if you could flip this
indecisiveness and helplessness upside down and double your willpower
with simple, applicable steps?
Well, it is possible. All you need is a strategy to multiply your
willpower even by 10% and every impossible will become possible. How?
Use the following 7 tested, super-helpful tips:
1 . Get a rule book
A rule book is notebook or a Word file where you collect the advice
you want to follow. The notes you take about life and the quotes you
wish to live by. Leonardo Da Vinci used this technique to boost both
his creativity and self discipline leaving more than 7,000 pages full
of quotes, affirmations and analysis of mistakes he made and wanted to
fix.
To boost willpower spend ten minutes each morning revising and
memorizing the rules you`ve freely chosen to live by and collected in
your book. Soon you'll start altering your behaviors to better ones
without relying much on willpower
2 . Focus on one thing
Narrow your focus as much as possible and work on only one big goal at a time,
Bruce Lee was correct when he said, " the successful warrior is just
an average man with a laser-like focus ."
In one study, researchers found that college students who tried to
chase new goals, quit bad habits or learn new skills during the exam
period, not just failed at their quest, but also did badly
academically. When they were supposed to study hard they highlighted a
notable drop in willpower and a strong desire to waste time, eat, and
drink more. Worse, they almost lost the desire to study.
The takeaway? Focus on one big goal and dedicate all your resources
towards achieving it (including your dreams and money ). By doing this
you'll harness all your powers in one place and it will be much easier
for you to stay persistent at difficult times rather instead of
spreading yourself too thin.
3 . Gradually toughen up
Even the smallest act of persistence done consistently will affect
your willpower in the long run. In one study, two weeks of working on
their posture increased the willpower of a group of participants who
saw themselves become more punctual all from a simple act of
self-discipline repeated frequently.
So what to do? Find something that will slightly test your willpower,
and make a habit out of it. Spend 10 seconds under cold water whenever
you finish a hot bath, ditch the elevator when going to work, wait
half a minute before eating delicious meals, or do 10-20 pushups every
morning. Small, yet consistent, habits like these will help make you
tougher on the long term.
4 . Eat and sleep for a stronger mind
Don't neglect the effect of bad sleeping and eating habits on your
willpower. In one study, researchers found that the decisions made by
judges in parole courts were significantly influenced by how
hungry/filled a judge is. Judges were 65% more likely to release a
criminal on parole either early in the morning after breakfast or
later after lunch breaks.
Neuroscientists also found that adults with inconsistent bedtimes lack
proper persistence, lose focus frequently, make sloppy decisions and
react emotionally to stressful situations. The takeaway? Eat enough
calories, don't make critical decisions on an empty stomach, and sleep
between 7-9 hours at night to avoid wrecking your willpower.
5 . Get reckless
When a ceramic professor chose to play the quality-VS-quantity game
with his students, he found that those who were asked to deliver X
pounds of pots by the end of the semester not only met their target,
but their pots looked much better than those of their peers who were
asked to deliver just one perfectly looking piece to get an A.
What does this mean? The first step to learn any skill is focusing on
how often, rather than how well, you practice this skill. Rather than
seeing yourself as a loser who can't learn anything (which kills
self-esteem ), aim to practice for X minutes/hours each day for
several weeks before judging yourself. You will do well, and the
little perfectionist inside you will no longer harm you.
6 . Be productive for short periods
All frustrations come when it has been 4 or 5 hours since you woke up
and you realize you've done nothing important.
If you chronically procrastinate and need a smooth slide into
productivity then keep every ounce of focus you have on maintaining
two hours of focused work every work day. No matter how "weak" you
think you are, you still can work 1 or 2 hours straight without
distractions or checking your phone.
Get a calendar and mark each day you stick to this habit. Within 3-4
weeks your productivity will pop up, guaranteed.
7 . Distract and schedule
There are two great techniques for tricking your mind to persist when
needed. The first one is to use distractions to keep your mind off
temptations and short-lived gratifications. In the famous marshmallow
experiment done by Stanford, the kids scoring high on willpower used
napping and toys to stay candy-free until the end of the experiment.
The second one is to schedule what can't be done right away. If you
can't do something right now, schedule it and don`t think about until
its time comes. Develop this skill and you will exceptionally limit
that inner voice urging you to procrastinate.
Are these tips helpful in improving your willpower? Please leave your
thoughts below!