5 Tips to Boost Your Willpower
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little extra boost of willpower when you need it most? It would make it so much easier to stick to our plans and reach our goals instead of giving in to temptation! Well, you’re in luck. I’m about to share five different strategies that will help you get that extra boost of willpower whenever you need it. Let’s dive in and explore these willpower “power-ups.”
Take it one task at a time
The best way to strengthen willpower is to focus it on one task at a time. It’s tempting to get motivated and start to change everything all at once. I get it. It’s just not the most successful strategy. Instead, focus on one change at a time, and use all your willpower to take it from new behavior to well-established habit before moving on to the next change. Your willpower efforts will strengthen many times over when you focus them on one thing at a time.
Find an accountability partner
It’s much easier to do what you set out to do when you know that someone is watching. When you know you have to report any mishaps or slip-ups to this person, you’ll think twice about giving in to temptation. An accountability partner works even better when both of you have the same or similar goals and can hold each other accountable.
Track your progress
Often change comes in small increments, and it can be hard to see progress. Track it in a journal, a spreadsheet or any other way that makes sense to you. Revisit it often and see how far you’ve already come. There’s nothing like it to keep you going.
Use willpower to create habits
Use your willpower strategically to create new habits and routines. Once something starts to become a habit, it takes less and less willpower to keep it up. Keep working on what you want to change one thing a time until it becomes routine and so no longer requires willpower.
Remind yourself of your “why”
There's nothing better than motivation to boost your willpower. The best way to stay motivated is to continually remind yourself of why you're doing what you're doing. The "why" is the reason that you want to accomplish your long-term goal. Define it, digging deep to find the things that genuinely motivate you. Then remind yourself regularly of your big “why.” Put it on a sticky note, create a vision board, or put up other reminders of it all around you. Look at them, read them, and spend time with them anytime you need an extra willpower boost.
