How to develop patience and willpower. Willpower - what is it? Eat healthy

Today we will talk about willpower - that part inside everyone that is responsible for the decisions we make: to be or not to be, to do or not. Whenever there is a need for action, which is not part of our habits or contradicts internal desires and beliefs, we use willpower.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was the first to offer a description of man's internal struggle with himself, around 400 BC, by comparing the soul to a chariot. In the place of the charioteer, according to Plato, there was a rational principle endowed with a certain willpower. The chariot itself is harnessed by a pair of horses, symbolizing the noble and sensual principles. Obeying the hand of the driver, they carry the chariot forward, but if he is tired or drives the horses too much, he immediately loses control over them, going against his conscious desires.

Our minds are structured in the same way. In a tense struggle with our internal “I want”, he inevitably gets tired , willpower weakens, and, as a result, we can no longer make some decisions that require some effort from us. By taking care of personal productivity and controlling our inner desires, we want to make the “charioteer” stronger so that the “chariot” always goes in the desired direction. Simply put, we always want to see the results of our efforts. This can be achieved by training willpower.

Willpower is your main ace in the hole

Willpower at its core is the ability to successfully cope with tasks. It is this that determines how quickly you can get back to work, give up unhealthy food, and start going to the gym. Willpower applies to absolutely all aspects of life.

Consider willpower to be one of your muscles that, like all other muscles, requires regular stretching and training. Otherwise, they will atrophy, like an astronaut returning from an orbital station.

Scientists Mark Muravin and Roy Baumeister share the same opinion. (Muraven and Baumeister).To confirm their hypothesis, they once conducted an experiment that went down in history as the experiment with radishes and cookies. Its essence was as follows: hungry subjects were asked to divide into two groups, one of which could only eat radishes, and the other could only eat chocolate chip cookies. After some time, participants were asked to solve a complex geometry problem. However, not a single group of people knew that there was simply no solution.

During the experiment, it turned out that those who treated themselves to radishes gave up a good 20 minutes faster than those who got the cookies? Why? The point is that the last didn't have to make any effort and eat less palatable food, which means using willpower. The experiment clearly showed that the will also has achievable limits.

You may now be thinking, "Hmm, what kind of willpower is there... I couldn’t stand it and attacked the cookies.” I hasten to reassure you: meticulous servants of science have found that willpower, like any muscle, can be successfully trained, like a tiger that fell into the hands of the Zapashny brothers. With proper training, willpower allows a person to perform much more complex tricks. For example, going completely without food for five days, which, you see, is a very serious test.

Two ways to strengthen willpower

1. Cultivate your will. To strengthen muscles, we put stress on them, and they become tired, and when they recover, they become stronger. Willpower is trained according to the same principle: take charge of your health, try to organize your thoughts and become more collected.
2. Use power wisely. Willpower - especially. Sometimes it is better to go around the mountain than to climb it. Likewise, most everyday tasks actually require less effort than it seems at first glance.

So, if you are someone who wants to take self-control to the next level, we will continue to introduce you to tools designed to make your willpower stronger than diamond claws .

How to develop willpower

Let's face it - we are mostly weak-willed. Many people actually have a talent for vegetation and vice: we sit on social networks all day long, indulge in hamburgers, smoke, and do something else harmful. Try going to lunch after postponing mobile phone to the side,- it's not as simple as it might seem to you at first. Being in constant tension, you do not feel the need to train your will. But as soon as the thought of losing excess weight or opening your own business or finding a better job comes into your head, then you will have to learn about the disadvantages of its absence on the thorny path to success.

And yet there are chances to win in this unequal struggle with oneself. It's simple: pay attention to your health physical as well as mental. Try to follow a few simple recommendations that we offer you below.

1. Eat healthy

The human brain is a mystery to this day. The structure of this organ is very complicated, and its significance is not subject to the slightest doubt. The weakening of a person’s mental abilities leads to a disorder of habits and desires. The most obvious external sign of this is the so-called BMI. If it is too high or tends to increase, then the blood sugar level begins to “jump”, and you feel inhibited and “sway for a long time”.

However, body weight is not the only indicator of health status that affects a person’s ability to self-control.

Deficiency of vitamins and microelements in the body, such as vitamin D, may lead to cognitive impairment. That is why healthy nutrition plays a decisive role: a person’s weight is in order, the necessary vitamins and microelements, and willpower is also present in the proper amount.

2. Exercise

Many have probably heard the saying “In A healthy body means a healthy mind." This is true. The more active a person is physically, the better he, as they say, thinks.

If we are without movement for a long time, and especially if we sit, then all the muscles gradually “fall asleep,” and with them our brain.

That's why it's so easy to doze off on a long-distance bus or at a lecture. Partly for the same reason, standing desks are gaining popularity today. The so-called desks can significantly increase productivity due to the fact that the muscles of the legs and back remain in motion, which means that the vessels fully participate in blood circulation, supplying the brain with oxygen. If working while standing is not possible, take time to stand up and stretch a little. You don't have to be a marathon runner or a heavyweight in oats - just be more active. To do this, include warm-up in the list of mandatory activities for every day. After all, we are ourselves, right?

Try to follow the “Japanese” norm, which prescribes 10 thousand steps daily to maintain good health. It will also be useful to climb the stairs a couple of times. Do whatever you want, the main thing is to be in motion.

Sometimes we feel like our strength is leaving us and it is no longer possible to continue working. You shouldn't fight this feeling. Get up and go for a walk! You will be surprised when you feel better within five minutes.

3. Sleep

To achieve the highest degree of concentrated willpower, combine healthy eating and exercise with quality sleep at night.

By sleep deprivation we mean sleeping less than seven to eight hours at night. A sleep-deprived brain works at half capacity, as if you “took it on the chest,” which can already be compared to a complete lack of willpower. Imagine, just an hour or two that you need to “get” to the eight-hour norm will make your willpower much stronger. But for someone who doesn’t get enough sleep, even if only infrequently, willpower will not be so easy.

4. Drink more water

This is the last point related to healthcare. Honestly.

Every living thing needs water - an indisputable fact. It turns out that the ability to concentrate efforts is largely determined by the water content in our body. Even minor dehydration can have serious consequences on human mental activity.

It is believed that to maintain normal functioning, you need to drink two liters or eight glasses of water daily. We recommend increasing this norm by one and a half to two times: beautiful skin and a healthy, moderate appetite will be advantages to good health.

Water also contains potassium, sodium and chlorine - the most important electrolytes for the human body.

5. Practice meditation

Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist, professor at Stanford University and author of a series of books on willpower, believes that meditation is one of the best methods for training it.

The concept of “willpower” is associated with a person’s ability to focus on the task at hand, controlling distracted consciousness. Many of us have a problem with this, which is aggravated by the continuous flow of a wide variety of information pouring at us from our mobile phones, laptops and social networks.

With the help of meditation, you can train self-awareness, the ability to abstract or concentrate your attention on some internal process - the goals may be different. If you have mastered the basic techniques of breathing control, then concentrating on work will not be much of an effort, even if the environment is not conducive to work.

Moreover, meditation teaches us to “control ourselves among a confused crowd,” instead of losing our temper or getting upset over any reason - you must admit, the latter is unlikely to make you employee of the month.

By concentrating on different sensations, we learn to get rid of unnecessary emotions in a given situation and their external manifestations.

If you want to try the wonderful effects of meditation on yourself today, check out, for example, the application. which will help you master the science of relaxation.

6. More practice

Whatever you want to succeed at, practice. When starting willpower training, start by checking yourself for lice. Let's do without wisdom, because with willpower, as in war or in love, all methods will be good.

Willpower itself is not enough to achieve your goals. Imagine that you have a Ferrari in your garage, under the hood of which there is a whole herd of horsepower hidden - the car is, without a doubt, very fast. However, if the fuel tank is dry, you won't get anywhere.

This is why it is important to use good and proven control methods. Why run to where you can get there without haste? In the following paragraphs, we will learn about ways to use willpower sparingly so that there is something left “for later.”

1. Divide and conquer

Sometimes, just looking at the front of the upcoming work, we already want to give up and admit: nothing will work out. Same with personal motivation. For example, if you say to yourself: “I have to lose 20 kilos,” then you need to understand that achieving this goal may take more than one month.

However, if you conditionally divide one large task into several smaller points, say, “read one paragraph from a microbiology textbook” or “lose two kilograms,” then the goal will no longer seem so unattainable to you.

The more difficult the task, the more effort you will have to make on your will. Understanding this, tackle the clearly feasible items first. This way you will “warm up” before doing everything else.

2. Form habits

Lifehacker has already talked about Charles Duhigg(Charles Duhigg) and his book "", in which he states: habits make up approximately 40% of our daily actions.

Overall this is good news. Imagine if every time you got into a car, you started a thought chain: “So, I take the handbrake off, press the clutch pedal, turn the key, look in the rearview mirror, look around, put the reverse gear in reverse.” Do you understand? If these actions did not become habits, we simply would not have time to think about anything!

But, whether we like it or not, bad habits, alas, have not been canceled. It is because of them that we snooze the alarm several times a morning, twirl the keys in our hands and (oh, horror!) melancholy pick our nose. As soon as self-discipline weakens, they are right there.

On the contrary, good and healthy habits help maintain willpower in maximum tone and in a state of combat readiness. For example, if your regular schedule includes jogging every morning, jumping out of bed and running to the park is unlikely to be a problem for you. If not, force yourself to start, and within a week your body will get used to the new morning “ritual”. Use this simple technique to gain truly valuable skills.

When starting work, try spending half an hour of your time planning the most important tasks - after a few days this will become quite common for you.

Think about what actions in everyday life require special moral effort from you. Make a list of them and identify those that could become a habit. Service can be an additional source of motivation , which will display the progress of your achievements graphically, identify lazy people and “punish” with a ruble for weakness of spirit. This is Sparta, brother.

3. Avoid bad news

Someone who feels like a millionaire thinks clearly and is usually a strong-willed person. The absence of stress and all kinds of sadness will have the best impact on the development of self-control. That is why the expression “You are what you eat” will also be true for “mental” food - the information we consume.

Of course, our world is not ideal, and not every event can bring a smile to your face. Road accidents, wars, financial market collapses - in a word, everything that is continuously broadcast on TV screens and mobile devices, along with all other information, affects our mood and... willpower. In fact, even vacation photos that your friend posted on his social network page can become a serious threat to willpower and bring your passion to naught. As you know, an ax is the same as chopping. It’s the same with our consciousness, which processes signals coming from outside in autopilot mode.

To avoid being overly “informed,” try to limit your consumption of information that is not directly related to your field of activity. Of course, if you are a broker by profession, then being aware of stock market fluctuations is your direct responsibility. But thoughts from the series “What will happen tomorrow if...” will not bring practical benefit.

4. Create a positive work environment

With willpower it’s like with money: the less you spend, the more you end up with. It would be logical to assume that you can make the environment work for you, that is, reduce the likelihood of situations where you may need willpower. This means you can calmly focus on the most important thing.

For example, you have a box of expensive chocolates on your table. From time to time, a desire arises in your head to open it and treat yourself, but you fight it with the help of willpower. Next to the box is a mobile phone, on the screen of which notification icons appear from time to time. Trying not to be distracted, you continue working. Know: willpower works with you.

The same applies to delicious food photographs in glossy magazines.

To make sure you don't fall into the list of spineless losers that Jonathan talks about, try the service : it will not only allow you to take into account your working time, but will also help classify activities according to their degree of importance.

5. Prepare in advance

Psychologically, decisions are easier if we know about the need to make them in advance. Knowing this, we can minimize the use of our volitional resources in achieving our goals.

Just think about what you need to do and repeat to yourself, fixing the desired thought in your head, as if it were a mandatory rule. For example, “When I get to work, I will immediately answer all emails” or “As soon as I wake up, I will get dressed and go to the gym.”

Such rules greatly simplify a person’s struggle with himself, saving his internal resources. They also help keep promises. Sometimes doing and forgetting is better than not doing and being tormented by internal contradictions and remorse. Believe me, generated by cognitive dissonance, they will inevitably appear to ruin your mood. If you know that there is a lot of hard work ahead of you, prepare yourself for it in advance and complete a few simpler tasks to “warm up”.

6. Listen to yourself

Many people know their natural “clock”. There may be a feeling that you are about to lose your strength, or, conversely, when productivity is at the highest level, it seems that there is no problem that cannot be dealt with.

This occurs due to circadian rhythms -cyclical fluctuations in the intensity of various biological processes associated with change of day and night. That's why most people feel tired around two in the morning and energized after two in the afternoon. If you're one of them, plan to get everything important done before your activity level drops.

Another type of biological rhythm is also known - ultradian rhythms. They are responsible for concentration, changes in pain sensitivity and a number of other processes that occur during the day and night in the human body.

In fact, every hour and a half, our brain goes through a cycle in which high levels of activity are replaced by low levels. If at the moment of peak activity you are busy with work, then the work progresses and brings satisfaction.

On the contrary, by acting contrary to your natural rhythms, you mindlessly waste your limited supply of willpower and, as a result, quickly “burn out.”

If the time of day is not “yours”, and there is still a lot to do, we recommend working in sets for an hour and a half, interrupting for a 15-20-minute rest between each of these sets.

Even more will

So, if you already feel that the knowledge you have acquired is just dying to be put into practice, here are some tips for you to get started immediately:

1. Think about what aspects of health you should pay attention to: excess weight, quality of sleep, exercise. Don't take on everything at once, start with one thing.
2. Evaluate the benefits of currently known assistant services, such as And . They work, we checked.
3. Alternate between simple and complex tasks throughout the workday to stay on your toes.
4. Critically analyze the organization of your workspace for things that steal your attention and time. And try the service .
5. Identify your activity peaks and lows during the day or evening. Remember these time periods and start planning with them in mind.
6. Think about what good habits you could adopt and what must-have items on your list you can plan ahead for.

We hope you are finally convinced of the inevitable success of all your planned events. It’s even better if an action plan has already begun to emerge in your head. We will be glad to learn about other effective methods of self-control and read your “winner story”!

People with strong character are often said to have willpower or fortitude. This trait allows a person to achieve his goals, regardless of any obstacles in life. Strength of spirit helps a person to withstand difficult situations. Therefore, the question of how to develop willpower is quite logical. But before doing anything, you should directly understand the definition of the very psychological concept of will.

From a psychological point of view

Will is one of the most difficult concepts to understand in psychology. But, despite this, in order to know how to develop willpower, it is necessary to clarify for yourself what willpower is. This concept is formulated differently in different sources, so you need to understand it intuitively. The psychology of will is related to the fact that human behavior and all activities are based not only on emotions and feelings. When making decisions, will is required. This means fortitude is a prerequisite for success.

According to its structure, human volitional behavior can be divided into the following stages:

• Decision making;
• Implementation of plans.

In psychology, there are several types of will:

• Inviting or initiating. It is conscious decision making that helps you move towards your goals.
• Stabilizing. These are the efforts that a person needs to maintain his active activity.
• Brake. These are actions aimed at limiting the most powerful desires that prevent the achievement of a goal.

Psychologists say that the essential components of fortitude and willpower are:

• Desires, which are the motivation that discards everything secondary. They initially indicate to a person where to strive in order to achieve his goals.
• Belief in your own strength. It is this that allows you to move in the right direction to make your dream come true.
• Courage responsible for making important decisions. It gives impetus to the desire to realize your own desires.
• Determination, allowing you to make a choice in a timely manner without hesitation.
• Patience, which allows you to remain faithful to your goals and not give up, no matter what.
• Discipline. It forces a person to make decisions in accordance with the rules and norms of society.

Development

Strength of spirit guarantees a person’s determination and organizes his life. Therefore, the question of how to develop willpower is not idle. Without such a character trait it is impossible to become a successful person. Strength of spirit makes a person free and independent. He becomes an active member of society, and the ability for self-regulation makes him resistant to negative external circumstances. When faced with obstacles on the way to a goal, a person is able to make the right decision about whether to choose a different way to achieve what he wants or increase efforts to overcome the obstacles that have arisen.

The question of how to develop willpower often arises in people during difficult periods of life. But it does not apply to complex dilemmas. This is due to the fact that every person has the desire to become strong by nature itself. As a result, when wondering how to cultivate willpower in yourself, you should not immediately resort to the first exercises and trainings you come across. Initially, formulate for yourself what fortitude is in your understanding. Then evaluate how this character trait can affect your life.

If after this the desire to learn how to train willpower or how to strengthen willpower does not disappear, then in order to tune in to effective work on yourself, follow these steps:

• State your goals briefly and precisely in writing. Analyze each goal and predict how much faster you will be able to achieve your goal if the willpower training is successful and you learn to overcome yourself.
• Write down those traits of your own character that the development of will will allow you to modify. It doesn’t matter how many shortcomings you plan to get rid of, the main thing is to take them all into account. If you know how to develop mental strength, you will be able to successfully overcome them in the shortest possible time.

This approach will allow you to better understand what willpower represents in your particular case and how to develop and strengthen it.

Types of training

If you are interested in how to strengthen your fortitude, you must first of all understand that for a long time you will need to make certain efforts every day, without doing yourself any favors. You can train willpower with special exercises, which are as follows:

• In keeping a diary. It is necessary to record your plans and monitor their implementation. Planning will ensure greater efficiency in the life process and will help cultivate commitment. You should not note your own achievements in a diary.
• In developing the habit of acting purposefully. To do this, strive to observe all your actions, as if from the outside. The development of willpower involves an objective assessment of one’s own actions. You cannot exaggerate your achievements and flatter yourself. Any failure should become an incentive to successfully take the next step.
• In getting rid of the desire to fight and destroy. A trained will makes a person transform and build. To do this, learn to treat your own mistakes strictly, but always wisely. This will allow you to develop the strong-willed side of your character associated with the desire to become better.
• In the correct formulation of tasks, taking into account the fact that you need to move from simple to complex. Strengthening character cannot be associated with the desire to embrace the immensity.

In addition, among character-strengthening methods, you can focus on the fact that you need to strive to make real promises to yourself. Moreover, they must be fulfilled. This will teach you to keep your word given to other people.

It is also important to train yourself to never quit something you start. It must be brought to its logical conclusion, even in cases where enthusiasm has disappeared or an understanding of the meaninglessness of the activity has come. In this situation, you need to take a little rest and wait until your “second wind” opens. The habit of giving up what you start has a detrimental effect on a person and quickly stops his further development.

Understanding the question of what willpower is, you need to realize that this character trait is incompatible with laziness. Not wanting to do anything is a serious hindrance. Laziness can destroy a person’s will and force him to give up his most cherished desires. Therefore, the strengthening of character developed during training is always associated with the fight against laziness. To do this, it is recommended to praise yourself for any overcoming. You need to force yourself to enjoy even the smallest positive result in your activity. When doing difficult or unpleasant work, never regret it. Discard even the thought that your hobby or communication with friends would be much more enjoyable for you.

An effective way is self-hypnosis. It is only very important to use specific incentives for this. For example, during the auto-training process, prepare yourself for the fact that you are quite capable of achieving your goals. Remember that thanks to a strong character, each of us can become the manager of our own strengths, which are given to us by nature. In other words, this will allow a person to become the master of his own destiny.

Everyone can cultivate and develop willpower, regardless of what character and temperament they were born with. There are ten effective ways to do this better, each of which is based on popular books by foreign psychologists.

Willpower is required to make any decision and perform various actions. Without this important quality, it is impossible to achieve your goals and achieve success in life.

Many people think that willpower is an innate trait. But this is a mistaken opinion. Everything depends solely on ourselves. You can start working on yourself and developing willpower at any age. The main thing is a sincere desire to change life for the better. To make it easier for you to cope with this important task, listen to the following recommendations.

1. Try to control your stress

The ability to control oneself well in stressful situations is a necessary condition for the formation of willpower. In a state of nervous tension, we lose the ability to wisely spend our energy resources. This negatively affects the activity of the prefrontal cortex, resulting in a condition known as “fight-or-flight.” Our actions become instinctive, and we begin to do rash things. The famous psychologist Kelly McGonigal claims that you can regain control over the situation in this way - take a few deep breaths and distract yourself from unpleasant thoughts. If you constantly practice this method, chronic stress will gradually subside. And then you will be able to look at things differently.

2. Maintain a sleep schedule

Regular lack of sleep negatively affects brain function. The body experiences enormous stress, energy resources are depleted, tension increases, and overall well-being deteriorates significantly. In this case, you will not be able to act productively, and all attempts to show willpower will be doomed to failure. Professor Daniel Kripke found out how long a person needs to fully restore his strength. According to his observations, people who sleep 6.5–7.5 hours every night are highly productive, feel alert, and live longer on average.

3. Set specific goals for yourself

First of all, you need to learn to separate the important from the secondary. When compiling a list of tasks, include only things that are important to you, otherwise over time the list will only expand, filled with new unresolved issues. According to social psychologist Roy Baumeister, self-regulation is meaningless if a person does not clearly understand what goal he is moving towards. And the problem is not at all that a person does not have a goal. On the contrary, he has many goals, and they are often contradictory. The person is lost, cannot set priorities, and his activities do not bring any results. In this case, Baumeister believes, the “two-minute rule” will help to organize your activities correctly. It’s quite simple to follow: if a task requires no more than a couple of minutes of time, don’t add it to the list, but do it right away.

4. Try to act strictly according to plan

Never deviate from a previously drawn up action plan. Determine your standards (daily, weekly, unlimited) and strictly adhere to them. If circumstances prevent you from completing your plan, you need to look for workarounds. Let's give a simple example. You decide to go for three morning runs a week. If by the end of the week you only ran once, you will have to do two runs per day. Thus, the plan will be carried out. And this is the most important thing when it comes to building willpower. To make it easier to train yourself to do what you set out to do, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the effective Bullet journal system (author - Ryder Carroll).

5. Don’t put off tasks until later

We often plan to solve several problems for one day, and then postpone them to a later date. This cannot be done without objective reasons. If you are lazy and really want to relax, this is not a reason to put off work. Train your will by forcing yourself to act, overcoming laziness. And soon you will enjoy the results. Things will stop piling up and weighing you down with their burden.

6. Spend quality time

Increase your productivity by completing a certain number of important tasks every day. Eric Larssen (author of “On the Limit: A Week Without Self-Pity”) advises doing everything you couldn’t do before for seven days. You probably have tasks that you have been putting off due to laziness or indecisiveness. Devote your entire week to solving these problems. This way you can strengthen your willpower and develop discipline.

7. Practice meditation regularly

According to Kelly McGonigal, meditation is one of the most effective ways to develop strong-willed qualities. As you know, willpower presupposes the ability to focus on a specific task, and in the modern world there is too much information that distracts us from the main thing. Meditation helps to discard the unimportant and focus on internal aspects.

8. Don't forget to motivate yourself

If you successfully complete a task, reward yourself for it. For example, buy a nice little thing. You can even make a wish list. And next to each item, indicate a task, the completion of which will allow you to make a purchase.

9. Find time to exercise

Playing sports also helps develop willpower. Author of the book “Developing Willpower” Walter Mischel recommends starting with light exercises. Do simple exercises regularly and run in the morning. When your body begins to get used to the stress, head to the gym. A healthy and active lifestyle will allow you to defeat laziness forever and develop strong-willed qualities.

10. Allow yourself to do nothing

If you have a lot of important tasks to solve, but you don't have the energy for it, put things aside, relax and do nothing. During relaxation, you do not need to listen to music, read or watch TV. Just sit and look out the window. Soon you will become bored, and you will happily take on work that you did not want to do.

Surely each of us would like to develop a useful habit, for example, waking up early in the morning, doing exercises, taking a contrast shower in the morning, eating as many healthy fruits as possible... This is a familiar situation, isn’t it? Below we will look at concepts such as willpower, psychology of personality development and motivation. These concepts, although close, are not identical.

Willpower test

We bring to your attention a simple mini-test of willpower. Read the questions and answer them mentally

1. Do you immediately do tedious work?

2. Can you easily do what you don’t like?

3. In case of conflict, can you calm down your emotions and figure out who is right and who is wrong?

4. Can you diet for a long time?

5. Can you get up early if you decide?

7. Will you take the unpleasant medicine that is prescribed to you?

8. Do you always keep your word?

9. Do you easily decide to travel?

10. Do you stick to a daily routine?

For each positive answer, give yourself 1 point. If you score more than 5 points, then you have willpower. If not, then draw your own conclusions.

How to develop willpower?

Doing this is not an easy task, but the result will significantly change life for the better, since willpower and character are very important things, one might say, irreplaceable. The main thing is to ask this question in a timely manner. Willpower, psychology - these words are very fashionable now, but for most people they are empty.

When taking any action, a person at a subconscious level evaluates it according to two criteria:

• Is it worth doing this?
• Is it feasible to implement it?

As for the first one, it's motivation. If circumstances can benefit us, of course, we will be willing to take action. The second is spirit, i.e. whether a person can perform certain actions - whether he has enough perseverance, skills and abilities.

Why can't you rely on just one motivation?

Today you can find a lot of psychological literature that provides advice and recommendations on how to increase your motivation. However, in practice, such advice is of little use; they do not answer the question of will. Motivation is not a personal characteristic of a person. This is, first of all, the pleasure received from quality work done or pilot results.

So what happens? You want to change your life for the better, you decide to do exercises every day, you understand that it is useful, you become motivated.

You do exercises every morning, learn new exercises with interest, and discuss them with your friends. Your motivation is growing.

After a couple of days, the enthusiasm burns out. Exercises that were new just recently become boring, and you gradually switch to other things. Motivation fades. As a result, you stop doing daily exercise altogether. You understand that this is useful and necessary for the benefit of your health.

For any undertaking, inspiration alone is not enough. Intrinsic motivation is influenced by many factors. If you are hungry or tired, your motivation will be reduced accordingly. Developing willpower is not an easy task. But if you are rested and full of energy, your motivation increases.

How to develop willpower. Four strategies. The first is a promise

Imagine that you had a conversation with your friends, colleagues, enemies, and you decided to lose extra 10 kilograms within 3 months and make every effort to achieve the desired result. If you doubt yourself and don’t want to make loud statements, tell your family and close friends about your intentions. Follow up your promise with action. This is one of the options

People who are interested in your initiative will certainly be interested in your achievements, encourage you, and wish you good luck. However, along the way you will also meet enemies who will only expect your failure.

As a result, you will not live up to the hopes of the former and will only give your enemies a reason to spread rot and throw mud at you. It's a ridiculous situation, isn't it? It is precisely these actions that are designed for you - the reluctance to be humiliated will reinforce your motivation for better achievements. The popular wisdom immediately comes to mind - the “strategy of death”: either you take on obligations and win, or you suffer defeat and are destroyed.

Good Habits

The first strategy will seem quite extreme. But in reality it will give results. It will help you develop efforts to move in the necessary direction. Strategy No. 2 will complement it well.

As a rule, any goal can be achieved if you do not stop and regularly go towards it. If you want to test your willpower, force yourself to regularly do things that will benefit you in the future. You can develop positive habits - morning exercises, jogging.

I would like to tell you a little story. The hero and explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley, made it a rule to shave every day, no matter where he was - on vacation, in a comfortable environment, in the jungle, in a state of fatigue or hunger. Shaving every day was not a fundamentally important habit of his, but it allowed him to maintain his “human appearance,” youth and authority in front of his companions. This motivated him and reminded him that the main task was not survival, but a way to prove that his face should be in perfect shape. This is a kind of challenge to hostile nature, a desire to prove that even in a difficult situation a person must find the willpower to remain human.

If you systematically perform the same actions, they will definitely become a habit, and you won’t have to force yourself. If you regularly stimulate yourself to take action, you will notice that difficulties are overcome more easily.

Forced activation

A good way to increase motivation is to distribute priorities between tasks that need to be completed, but least of all you want to do. Imagine that you are faced with a difficult project at work or school, you will meet a rude and unpleasant person, you will end up washing a bunch of dirty dishes or cleaning out the pantry. As a rule, such activities bring us little pleasure. However, they are interesting to us from a different perspective. What exactly can strengthen willpower in this situation?

If a task is difficult and interesting for us, of course, we are happy to start doing it. In this case, we are driven by interest; it is this that motivates us to action. If the matter is not of interest to us, then, accordingly, we should apply The question is asked: “Why then wait until willpower “turns on” under unfavorable conditions, if everything can be corrected in advance?” Initially, it will be a burden to do things that mean little to us, but this is the main criterion by which one can judge a weak will.

Sport

A great way to develop willpower is to play sports. Sports mean not just this or that training, but also success. Remember the long-forgotten slogan: “Faster! Higher! Stronger! Sport is not only a competition with your opponent, it is also a test of your will and aspirations. It doesn’t matter what kind of sport it is: football, tennis, weightlifting or athletics - in any case, you set yourself up to achieve a positive result and strive to achieve them by all means. However, success can be hampered by fatigue, loss of interest, and failure. Results can only be achieved by making every effort and using willpower! But imagine what the long-awaited victory will be like! It is better to overcome failures and disappointments in competitions than in reality - by trial and error.

Don't put it off until later!

Pay attention to yourself, play sports! Start with morning runs, they will allow you to record your achievements and set new goals! And finally: before you make a promise to yourself, think about the question of whether this work is feasible for you. Once you say to yourself: “I can do it,” be sincere with yourself, stick to your promise without breaking your word!

How to develop willpower? Don't put it off until later - take action now!
As a rule, we always put off the fight against our bad habits - quit smoking, eat less, play sports - for later, for tomorrow, for the day after tomorrow. Quite often we tell ourselves: “I’ll start from tomorrow, etc.” And day after day we deceive ourselves. Many people are concerned about the question of how to develop willpower. Let's look at some recommendations that will actually help you cope with this difficult task.

Do what you wish!

No matter how strange this attitude may seem, in reality it can help overcome apathy and develop strong-willed qualities. Remember less desirable things - clean the house, wash the dishes, take out the trash. Don’t wait until tomorrow, otherwise tomorrow’s worries will double. Learn to solve problems small, and after a few months you will notice positive results.

Think about self-development

Any hobbies: needlework, learning foreign languages, astrology - will only help strengthen willpower. People who have succeeded in any business have made a lot of strong-willed efforts. Why don't you start with what you love?
Can't? Find someone who will support you.

Self-organization is not an easy task, but a person’s willpower is developed precisely with its help. If you cannot coordinate your actions and force yourself to run in the morning, try visiting a gym or fitness center. The classes will bring together like-minded people, develop your special skills, and this is the first step to success! Find people with a strong will, communicate with them, ask for support, and you will have someone to look up to!

“Moscow was not built in a day!” - Surely each of us has heard the old Russian proverb. It really speaks for itself. Don’t exaggerate your capabilities, don’t make grandiose plans right away. Failure to do so can greatly undermine self-confidence. Achieve your goal consciously and gradually. We hope that in this article we were able to answer the question of how to develop willpower.

Today we will talk about willpower - that part inside everyone that is responsible for the decisions we make: to be or not to be, to do or not. Whenever there is a need for action, which is not part of our habits or contradicts internal desires and beliefs, we use willpower.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was the first to offer a description of man's internal struggle with himself, around 400 BC, by comparing the soul to a chariot. In the place of the charioteer, according to Plato, there was a rational principle endowed with a certain willpower. The chariot itself is harnessed by a pair of horses, symbolizing the noble and sensual principles. Obeying the hand of the driver, they carry the chariot forward, but if he is tired or drives the horses too much, he immediately loses control over them, going against his conscious desires.

Our minds are structured in the same way. In a tense struggle with our internal “I want”, he inevitably gets tired , willpower weakens, and, as a result, we can no longer make some decisions that require some effort from us. By taking care of personal productivity and controlling our inner desires, we want to make the “charioteer” stronger so that the “chariot” always goes in the desired direction. Simply put, we always want to see the results of our efforts. This can be achieved by training willpower.

Willpower is your main ace in the hole

Willpower at its core is the ability to successfully cope with tasks. It is this that determines how quickly you can get back to work, give up unhealthy food, and start going to the gym. Willpower applies to absolutely all aspects of life.

Consider willpower to be one of your muscles that, like all other muscles, requires regular stretching and training. Otherwise, they will atrophy, like an astronaut returning from an orbital station.

Scientists Mark Muravin and Roy Baumeister share the same opinion. (Muraven and Baumeister).To confirm their hypothesis, they once conducted an experiment that went down in history as the experiment with radishes and cookies. Its essence was as follows: hungry subjects were asked to divide into two groups, one of which could only eat radishes, and the other could only eat chocolate chip cookies. After some time, participants were asked to solve a complex geometry problem. However, not a single group of people knew that there was simply no solution.

During the experiment, it turned out that those who treated themselves to radishes gave up a good 20 minutes faster than those who got the cookies? Why? The point is that the last didn't have to make any effort and eat less palatable food, which means using willpower. The experiment clearly showed that the will also has achievable limits.

You may now be thinking, "Hmm, what kind of willpower is there... I couldn’t stand it and attacked the cookies.” I hasten to reassure you: meticulous servants of science have found that willpower, like any muscle, can be successfully trained, like a tiger that fell into the hands of the Zapashny brothers. With proper training, willpower allows a person to perform much more complex tricks. For example, going completely without food for five days, which, you see, is a very serious test.

Two ways to strengthen willpower

1. Cultivate your will. To strengthen muscles, we put stress on them, and they become tired, and when they recover, they become stronger. Willpower is trained according to the same principle: take charge of your health, try to organize your thoughts and become more collected.
2. Use power wisely. Willpower - especially. Sometimes it is better to go around the mountain than to climb it. Likewise, most everyday tasks actually require less effort than it seems at first glance.

So, if you are someone who wants to take self-control to the next level, we will continue to introduce you to tools designed to make your willpower stronger than diamond claws .

How to develop willpower

Let's face it - we are mostly weak-willed. Many people actually have a talent for vegetation and vice: we sit on social networks all day long, indulge in hamburgers, smoke, and do something else harmful. Try going to lunch after postponing mobile phone to the side,- it's not as simple as it might seem to you at first. Being in constant tension, you do not feel the need to train your will. But as soon as the thought of losing excess weight or opening your own business or finding a better job comes into your head, then you will have to learn about the disadvantages of its absence on the thorny path to success.

And yet there are chances to win in this unequal struggle with oneself. It's simple: pay attention to your health physical as well as mental. Try to follow a few simple recommendations that we offer you below.

1. Eat healthy

The human brain is a mystery to this day. The structure of this organ is very complicated, and its significance is not subject to the slightest doubt. The weakening of a person’s mental abilities leads to a disorder of habits and desires. The most obvious external sign of this is the so-called BMI. If it is too high or tends to increase, then the blood sugar level begins to “jump”, and you feel inhibited and “sway for a long time”.

However, body weight is not the only indicator of health status that affects a person’s ability to self-control.

Deficiency of vitamins and microelements in the body, such as vitamin D, may lead to cognitive impairment. That is why healthy nutrition plays a decisive role: a person’s weight is in order, the necessary vitamins and microelements, and willpower is also present in the proper amount.

2. Exercise

Many have probably heard the saying “In A healthy body means a healthy mind." This is true. The more active a person is physically, the better he, as they say, thinks.

If we are without movement for a long time, and especially if we sit, then all the muscles gradually “fall asleep,” and with them our brain.

That's why it's so easy to doze off on a long-distance bus or at a lecture. Partly for the same reason, standing desks are gaining popularity today. The so-called desks can significantly increase productivity due to the fact that the muscles of the legs and back remain in motion, which means that the vessels fully participate in blood circulation, supplying the brain with oxygen. If working while standing is not possible, take time to stand up and stretch a little. You don't have to be a marathon runner or a heavyweight in oats - just be more active. To do this, include warm-up in the list of mandatory activities for every day. After all, we are ourselves, right?

Try to follow the “Japanese” norm, which prescribes 10 thousand steps daily to maintain good health. It will also be useful to climb the stairs a couple of times. Do whatever you want, the main thing is to be in motion.

Sometimes we feel like our strength is leaving us and it is no longer possible to continue working. You shouldn't fight this feeling. Get up and go for a walk! You will be surprised when you feel better within five minutes.

3. Sleep

To achieve the highest degree of concentrated willpower, combine healthy eating and exercise with quality sleep at night.

By sleep deprivation we mean sleeping less than seven to eight hours at night. A sleep-deprived brain works at half capacity, as if you “took it on the chest,” which can already be compared to a complete lack of willpower. Imagine, just an hour or two that you need to “get” to the eight-hour norm will make your willpower much stronger. But for someone who doesn’t get enough sleep, even if only infrequently, willpower will not be so easy.

4. Drink more water

This is the last point related to healthcare. Honestly.

Every living thing needs water - an indisputable fact. It turns out that the ability to concentrate efforts is largely determined by the water content in our body. Even minor dehydration can have serious consequences on human mental activity.

It is believed that to maintain normal functioning, you need to drink two liters or eight glasses of water daily. We recommend increasing this norm by one and a half to two times: beautiful skin and a healthy, moderate appetite will be advantages to good health.

Water also contains potassium, sodium and chlorine - the most important electrolytes for the human body.

5. Practice meditation

Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist, professor at Stanford University and author of a series of books on willpower, believes that meditation is one of the best methods for training it.

The concept of “willpower” is associated with a person’s ability to focus on the task at hand, controlling distracted consciousness. Many of us have a problem with this, which is aggravated by the continuous flow of a wide variety of information pouring at us from our mobile phones, laptops and social networks.

With the help of meditation, you can train self-awareness, the ability to abstract or concentrate your attention on some internal process - the goals may be different. If you have mastered the basic techniques of breathing control, then concentrating on work will not be much of an effort, even if the environment is not conducive to work.

Moreover, meditation teaches us to “control ourselves among a confused crowd,” instead of losing our temper or getting upset over any reason - you must admit, the latter is unlikely to make you employee of the month.

By concentrating on different sensations, we learn to get rid of unnecessary emotions in a given situation and their external manifestations.

If you want to try the wonderful effects of meditation on yourself today, check out, for example, the application. which will help you master the science of relaxation.

6. More practice

Whatever you want to succeed at, practice. When starting willpower training, start by checking yourself for lice. Let's do without wisdom, because with willpower, as in war or in love, all methods will be good.

Willpower itself is not enough to achieve your goals. Imagine that you have a Ferrari in your garage, under the hood of which there is a whole herd of horsepower hidden - the car is, without a doubt, very fast. However, if the fuel tank is dry, you won't get anywhere.

This is why it is important to use good and proven control methods. Why run to where you can get there without haste? In the following paragraphs, we will learn about ways to use willpower sparingly so that there is something left “for later.”

1. Divide and conquer

Sometimes, just looking at the front of the upcoming work, we already want to give up and admit: nothing will work out. Same with personal motivation. For example, if you say to yourself: “I have to lose 20 kilos,” then you need to understand that achieving this goal may take more than one month.

However, if you conditionally divide one large task into several smaller points, say, “read one paragraph from a microbiology textbook” or “lose two kilograms,” then the goal will no longer seem so unattainable to you.

The more difficult the task, the more effort you will have to make on your will. Understanding this, tackle the clearly feasible items first. This way you will “warm up” before doing everything else.

2. Form habits

Lifehacker has already talked about Charles Duhigg(Charles Duhigg) and his book "", in which he states: habits make up approximately 40% of our daily actions.

Overall this is good news. Imagine if every time you got into a car, you started a thought chain: “So, I take the handbrake off, press the clutch pedal, turn the key, look in the rearview mirror, look around, put the reverse gear in reverse.” Do you understand? If these actions did not become habits, we simply would not have time to think about anything!

But, whether we like it or not, bad habits, alas, have not been canceled. It is because of them that we snooze the alarm several times a morning, twirl the keys in our hands and (oh, horror!) melancholy pick our nose. As soon as self-discipline weakens, they are right there.

On the contrary, good and healthy habits help maintain willpower in maximum tone and in a state of combat readiness. For example, if your regular schedule includes jogging every morning, jumping out of bed and running to the park is unlikely to be a problem for you. If not, force yourself to start, and within a week your body will get used to the new morning “ritual”. Use this simple technique to gain truly valuable skills.

When starting work, try spending half an hour of your time planning the most important tasks - after a few days this will become quite common for you.

Think about what actions in everyday life require special moral effort from you. Make a list of them and identify those that could become a habit. Service can be an additional source of motivation , which will display the progress of your achievements graphically, identify lazy people and “punish” with a ruble for weakness of spirit. This is Sparta, brother.

3. Avoid bad news

Someone who feels like a millionaire thinks clearly and is usually a strong-willed person. The absence of stress and all kinds of sadness will have the best impact on the development of self-control. That is why the expression “You are what you eat” will also be true for “mental” food - the information we consume.

Of course, our world is not ideal, and not every event can bring a smile to your face. Road accidents, wars, financial market collapses - in a word, everything that is continuously broadcast on TV screens and mobile devices, along with all other information, affects our mood and... willpower. In fact, even vacation photos that your friend posted on his social network page can become a serious threat to willpower and bring your passion to naught. As you know, an ax is the same as chopping. It’s the same with our consciousness, which processes signals coming from outside in autopilot mode.

To avoid being overly “informed,” try to limit your consumption of information that is not directly related to your field of activity. Of course, if you are a broker by profession, then being aware of stock market fluctuations is your direct responsibility. But thoughts from the series “What will happen tomorrow if...” will not bring practical benefit.

4. Create a positive work environment

With willpower it’s like with money: the less you spend, the more you end up with. It would be logical to assume that you can make the environment work for you, that is, reduce the likelihood of situations where you may need willpower. This means you can calmly focus on the most important thing.

For example, you have a box of expensive chocolates on your table. From time to time, a desire arises in your head to open it and treat yourself, but you fight it with the help of willpower. Next to the box is a mobile phone, on the screen of which notification icons appear from time to time. Trying not to be distracted, you continue working. Know: willpower works with you.

The same applies to delicious food photographs in glossy magazines.

To make sure you don't fall into the list of spineless losers that Jonathan talks about, try the service : it will not only allow you to take into account your working time, but will also help classify activities according to their degree of importance.

5. Prepare in advance

Psychologically, decisions are easier if we know about the need to make them in advance. Knowing this, we can minimize the use of our volitional resources in achieving our goals.

Just think about what you need to do and repeat to yourself, fixing the desired thought in your head, as if it were a mandatory rule. For example, “When I get to work, I will immediately answer all emails” or “As soon as I wake up, I will get dressed and go to the gym.”

Such rules greatly simplify a person’s struggle with himself, saving his internal resources. They also help keep promises. Sometimes doing and forgetting is better than not doing and being tormented by internal contradictions and remorse. Believe me, generated by cognitive dissonance, they will inevitably appear to ruin your mood. If you know that there is a lot of hard work ahead of you, prepare yourself for it in advance and complete a few simpler tasks to “warm up”.

6. Listen to yourself

Many people know their natural “clock”. There may be a feeling that you are about to lose your strength, or, conversely, when productivity is at the highest level, it seems that there is no problem that cannot be dealt with.

This occurs due to circadian rhythms -cyclical fluctuations in the intensity of various biological processes associated with change of day and night. That's why most people feel tired around two in the morning and energized after two in the afternoon. If you're one of them, plan to get everything important done before your activity level drops.

Another type of biological rhythm is also known - ultradian rhythms. They are responsible for concentration, changes in pain sensitivity and a number of other processes that occur during the day and night in the human body.

In fact, every hour and a half, our brain goes through a cycle in which high levels of activity are replaced by low levels. If at the moment of peak activity you are busy with work, then the work progresses and brings satisfaction.

On the contrary, by acting contrary to your natural rhythms, you mindlessly waste your limited supply of willpower and, as a result, quickly “burn out.”

If the time of day is not “yours”, and there is still a lot to do, we recommend working in sets for an hour and a half, interrupting for a 15-20-minute rest between each of these sets.

Even more will

So, if you already feel that the knowledge you have acquired is just dying to be put into practice, here are some tips for you to get started immediately:

1. Think about what aspects of health you should pay attention to: excess weight, quality of sleep, exercise. Don't take on everything at once, start with one thing.
2. Evaluate the benefits of currently known assistant services, such as And . They work, we checked.
3. Alternate between simple and complex tasks throughout the workday to stay on your toes.
4. Critically analyze the organization of your workspace for things that steal your attention and time. And try the service .
5. Identify your activity peaks and lows during the day or evening. Remember these time periods and start planning with them in mind.
6. Think about what good habits you could adopt and what must-have items on your list you can plan ahead for.

We hope you are finally convinced of the inevitable success of all your planned events. It’s even better if an action plan has already begun to emerge in your head. We will be glad to learn about other effective methods of self-control and read your “winner story”!