The Importance of Willpower

Quote of the day: 

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
-Aristotle 

The lack of willpower is often cited as one of the roadblocks to achieving what we really want in life. How many people believe they could improve their lives for the better? A lot probably. And how many have the will power to do so? Probably a little. On one hand we go through life by trying to avoid our impulses, and on the other we wished we had more will power and self discipline. Some have it more than others.

Willpower is often cited as a mental muscle that can be trained. It is no more than the ability to control your thoughts and overcome feelings of laziness and episodes of procrastination, and the capacity to overcome unwanted thoughts and actions. This inner strength and power is necessary to overcome a lot of the things that you face on a daily basis. It is the difference between over-indulging and under-indulging. With it you can practice restraint, and in so doing choose to do things that you need to do -compared to doing things that you want to do or desire. The former is good for you in the long run, while the latter is more of an 'in the moment' satisfaction.

It can be seen in our interaction with people too. How many times have you faced provocation only to lose your cool? And what about the time that you faced provocation, only to take a deep breath and take control of the situation. There is nothing wrong with allowing your emotions get the best of you, but you shouldn't be controlled by it. Instead of a knee-jerk response to a situation, why not take a few seconds to reflect and analyse things. Do you really want to have your good mood tainted over something not worthwhile? There are many ways to vent your anger and frustration but never give the remote control to someone else. But as it is with life and stress, at some point you will reach the boiling point and lose your temper over something or someone. Nothing can be bottled up forever. When such does happen you need to own the situation and move on.

Do the things that otherwise make you feel lazy. Sometimes ordering a take-away is convenient when you are too lazy or can't be bothered to cook. But with willpower, you can get up and start cooking and before you know it the food is done and you will appreciate it more than if it had been ordered. But then again cooking is not for everyone, but you get the gist of things. It's all about developing your will power, get into the act of driving your life decisions and not just be in the passenger seat. Doing things at a steady pace and not trying to do everything at once is a good way to maintain energy levels.

There will days when your will power will be at its lowest, and other times when it will be at its highest -after all it remains a resource that can be depleted or augmented.




Peace. Love. Light* 


Current Listen: Bessie Smith-The Yellow Dog Blues