How to INCREASE and IMPROVE your WILLPOWER! (3 simple exercises)

It looks like some people are under the impression that willpower is some sort of supernatural force that strikes out of nowhere, and that’s not true! So if you would like to understand better what it is and how to make yours stronger, for sure this post is for you!

Willpower it is not something that only super humans have! It’s actually defined as the ability that a person has to control and direct his or her own actions! It happens in the mind and in the brain, so look at it as a mental muscle and as any other muscle in the body, if you want to make it stronger, you have to exercise!

Most of the time we are governed by our subconscious mind! You should look at the mind as an iceberg and the conscious mind is only the tip of it! The subconscious mind represents 88%, so guess who is the boss?

During our childhood we make a lot of positive and negative associations that get stored in our subconscious mind! After we grow up, even though they don’t really help us and they go against what we want to consciously achieve, they are still in control!

Let’s say that during your childhood you made an association that being chubby means to be loved! After you grow up, even though you want to consciously become skinny, while you don’t work on this part of your mind, you’ll be driven by it! This part in your subconscious mind will be controlling your will power and your actions to remain overweight, with the intention to make you feel loved!

Of course it would be much easier if you could become aware of the motivations stored in your subconscious mind that are driving your willpower, but unfortunately this kind of information is not always accessible!

But don’t worry, It is not a mission impossible! You can still gain control over your willpower using only your conscious mind and exercising your prefrontal cortex, that’s called neuroplasticity! And now I will teach you three exercises to do this mental workout!

First Exercise: Set Small Goals and Finish Them

Your mind works in a very similar way to your physical body, if you never exercised before, you cannot expect to run 10 kilometers in your first attempt, right? The same principle applies here, instead of starting with big goals which will to be difficult for you, start with small things because it will be easier to practice.

For example, you can establish goals like reading a book within a week or even eliminate a certain food from your diet for a determined period of time.

It’s very, very important that you finish the goal that you have set for yourself because when you finish something, you get this amazing feeling of achievement and that’s highly addictive! Plus, it will help you to switch your mindset and your attitude from “I can’t do it!” to “Yes, I can!”.

Every time you finish a small task, you prove to yourself that you are fully capable of controlling your willpower and your actions!

Second Exercise: Reward Yourself

When you finish a goal, give yourself a reward! I know, it sounds like training a dog, but our brains are wired in a similar way and we learn a lot through pain and pleasure!

Now pay attention, if your goal was to quit alcohol for one month and once you finish, you go there and binge on beer… that’s not a reward, that’s called indulgence!

A good reward could be pretty much anything! You can pay yourself for your achievement, you can give yourself a gift or it can be as simple as praising yourself, tapping your own back and being proud of what you did!

Third Exercise: Get Inspired

Whatever goals you have, look for people that have managed to achieve the same things that you want and get inspired by their example!

As humans beings, we have very similar capabilities, what makes us apart from each other and different in terms of skill sets, are the mental limitations that we have!

Plus, our brains are equipped with mirror neurons, so when you observe your examples and study closer how they did it, which steps they took to achieve the goal that you want, you are actually learning! And you can use this knowledge on your own journey!

Another thing that i gotta mention, if you’re not feeling very well emotionally or if you’re feeling too tired, your willpower is going to be much smaller! So if you are working on it, choose periods of your life that you are more at peace, and when working on your goals, it is much easier to achieve them in the morning than in the evening time!

Our brains and our minds are super powerful! We just have to learn how to use them and it’s never too late to start! Where you place your attention in your life, energy goes, energy flows and that becomes reality!