Five Tips to Help Strengthen Will Power

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi wasn't physically a huge man but he will forever be remembered for breaking the British shackles from the  Indian colony...

According to Baumeister, willpower is not a personality trait, a skill or a virtue. Instead, it operates like a muscle. And as such, it can be strengthened - but also easily exhausted (Baumeister 2003).

Act in line with our highest goals, and not with our immediate appetites. 

Challenges are there to limit successes, but with the right attitude and willpower we still can achieve extraordinary feats...

In the 1960s, Walter Mischel tested four-year-old children for self-control in "The Marshmallow Test": the children were each given a marshmallow and told that they can eat it anytime they want, but if they waited 15 minutes, they would receive another marshmallow. Follow up studies showed that the results correlated well with these children's success levels in later life.

Focus on long term goals... like a career path... 

Five Tips to Help Strengthen Will Power

1. Reset your internal hard drive: Know thyself... Focus on your goal: Intensity beats extensity every time... "You are the only person on earth who has your ability." Zig Zigler
2. Surround yourself with the right people: "Tis better to be alone than in bad company." George Washington. Understand the demand placed on you by your relationships and prioritize.
3. Get to work: Stop analyzing, over thinking or doubting... start doing... read biographies, research alternatives, ask people.... keep working on it... "I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work." - Pearl S. Buck
4. Believe: “You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will” Epictetus quotes (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135. Fear Nothing: Nihil Timendum Est. You're never failing once you're trying... the only true failure is failing to try...
5. Take good care of your physical body: Eat well, sleep well and dress well and every other thing you do will be done well...

References:

http://www.ideafit.com/library/how-to-strengthen-willpower-part-1

Photo Courtesy: http://www.articlesweb.org/lifestyle/strengthen-your-willpower

Men of Honor!

I can't propose that everyone wants to be the best they can and live life the right way, but for those of us that do... here's a tip for change... Lead a life of honor... Respect authority, our parents, our spouses, our relatives and everyone we come across. We may not agree with others all the time but because of our quest to become the best, we'll honor them.

The irony of such an ideology is that some people may think that they are being honorable for the sake of others, but that's not the case... We lead honorable lives for ourselves. We're the ones that have to live with ourselves anyway.

Men of honor keep their head up and do what's right out of respect for themselves.

It's true that sometimes we may fall off the wayside of the track we would like to live, but a great philosopher once said, "It's not where you stand that matters, but the direction you are going".

Let's continue to sow seeds of greatness in our lives by living honorably and kick negatives like pride, jealousy, sarcasm and disrespect out the door. Remember, this doesn't mean we're weak, but it shows our strength to deliver upon our own expectations.








Photo Courtesy:
http://www.du.edu/studentlife/studentconduct/honorcode.html


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