How to Succeed Without Willpower

Have you ever wondered if you were one of the few who doesn’t have any discipline or willpower? If so, how can you succeed when most goals worth accessing require a certain amount of persistence?

  • 27% of stressed out people state that a lack of willpower stopped a change they wanted to achieve
  • Studies show that people with more self-control, or willpower, do better in life
  • Creative Geniuses appear to have less willpower than most because of different brain wiring
  • The more you have to use willpower in the day, the more your “bank of willpower” gets depleted and you have less willpower – it leads to more decision fatigue
  • You deplete your willpower far less if you are in a positive mood, have a strong belief that persistence will lead to success and have a good overall attitude
  • Willpower can be strengthened through practice and using strategies such as avoiding
  • Use implementation intention if / then statements to manage persistence and obstacles to persistence,
    • for example, if you chose to write every morning at 6 am you can state and make arrangements to, as Mary did, “if it’s 6 am, then I’ll be writing”.
    • If you can anticipate obstacles you can state something like, “if my friends call when I had planned to write, then I will let them know I can’t talk to them right now, but will quickly schedule a time for me to call/ or I won’t answer the call”
  • Steady blood glucose increases motivation – avoid sugar rushes or starving yourself
  • Start with one small goal – break down a large goal into smaller tasks that can be done in the time you’ve set aside

Best Strategy to Avoid Having to Deal with Willpower: Create Habits

  • They reduce decisions so they keep decision fatigue at bay
  • They free up limited brain energy for more important and creative tasks
  • Start with the one-pound (or half-kilogram) habit and build your habit muscle to avoid having to rely solely on willpower

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