Fuel Your Willpower

Where do you want your goals to take you? Maybe you want to get fit, run a successful business, save money for a house, or all three. Do you have enough willpower to get you there? Like a phone’s battery, willpower dwindles as your day goes on. If you’re not careful, it will run out when you need it the most. How can you use this limited resource wisely?

Health

"Health directly affects your willpower so you need to take care of yourself. Diet, exercise, and sleep will help your body and mind operate at peak performance. When you're at 100 percent, it’s much easier to reach your goals," said a spokesperson for a Minneapolis functional medicine clinic.

Sleep

Imagine that you decided your cell phone no longer needed to be charged. You’re going to force it to work your way. Your day would look like this: Day 1 you feel empowered and nothing can stop you. Day 2 dead cell phone. Unfortunately, you can’t force the battery to work longer just because you want it to. The same goes for your body. If you don’t sleep you’ll work inefficiently until your body just gives up. While most sane people wouldn’t try to run this experiment with their phone, a lot of us suffer from lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation worsens reaction times, makes you less vigilant, and impairs your judgment. It’s the equivalent of trying to make decisions while drunk. Get your rest so that exhaustion doesn’t destroy your willpower.

Diet & Exercise

If sleep is the fuel that powers your car, then diet and exercise are the motor oil and transmission fluid. Think about what would happen if you put bad oil in your car when changing the oil. Little by little the gears that oil is supposed to protect would break down causing serious damage to your motor. It may start small but sooner or later your car will break down. Diet and exercise power your body and subsequently your willpower. Start small. Exercise for 10 minutes a day or replace one unhealthy meal with a healthy one. Small changes go a long way to starting a good routine, but they won’t overwhelm you.

Don’t let decisions drain your willpower

When Mark Zuckerberg had his first public Q&A he was asked: “Why do you wear the same T-shirt every day?” "I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community," Zuckerberg said, after clarifying that he had "multiple same shirts." Turning small decisions into a routine can give you more willpower for decisions that matter. Because even small decisions can drain your mental energy. To avoid wasting mental energy, make unimportant decisions before bed. Take 10 minutes to figure out your tasks for the next day, what you’ll wear, eat, etc. If you're hesitant to try just think “If it works for a 33-year-old worth $63 billion, then it might just work for me.”

Avoid stress like the plague

Exasperation, irritation, and fatigue are just a few of the unpleasant feelings we associate with stress. How can you fight back against soul-sucking stress? Think about your daily routine. Is every morning a rush? If yes, then try waking up an hour earlier to reduce your stress.

Putting it all together

Your body might be a machine. But, it still requires good care routines to function at its best. Good routines will keep your willpower strong and eliminate some of the little stresses of your life. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Instead, pick one routine that will help you build your willpower and put it into practice today.