The old saying ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’ seems the most used proverb. It simply means that if you have the conviction to do something you will find the way to do it. However, most of the times the conviction doesn’t last for long. The most relatable example of this is the infamous New Year’s resolutions, ‘I shall go to the gym regularly,’ I shall eat healthily,’‘ I will learn a new skill’ or ‘I shall save more and spend less.’ The first month everyone is all excited, get themselves enrolled in the gym and starts going and making a promise that they will be regular in doing this. However, within a few months, they can’t keep up with the promise. The excuses “I have a lot of work to finish,”“I am too tired today I will go tomorrow” come up and the conviction, with which you had started, fades away.
This is a very common situation where our will to continue something goes away and if you see the reasons/excuses that we give for not continuing they are rather absurd. But some people are so determined to achieve what they have decided that come what may their focus from the goals they have set cannot be deterred. So what makes these people stick to their conviction? What do they do differently from the rest which makes them accomplish what they have set their minds on?
Little drops of water make a mighty ocean, in the same way, to develop your will power practice small self-control exercises. “The key to the big is the small”. It can be as simple as not having sugar in your morning tea/coffee for a week or try not eating any unhealthy food for few days, i.e. try to do things which are out of your comfort zone for a few days. Practicing some small things which challenge your self-control will enable you to develop your will power as a whole.
The key to having good willpower is, do not give up. People start their tasks with a lot of excitement and determination, but halfway through the task they succumb to temptations and start delaying things which eventually leads to completely giving up on the task. Visualizing the results you want from the task is one of the ways which can motivate you not to give up. Giving up is a very easy way out as compared to proceed- ing with the task, but if you give up chances are high of you regretting that decision.
One of the effective ways to be faithful to your task is by supervising the task you are doing throughout the day. Although it is time-consuming the more you keep track of the things you want to achieve, the more the likelihood that you will stick to the task. If you are trying to eat healthy write down what you ate during the day in a diary or your phone, as by doing this, you know where you faltered, and you will be taking sound decisions the next time you are having a meal.
Willpower is associated with focussing on the task on your mind and completing it successfully. Meditation is a very fruitful way of attaining this. Meditation teaches you to concentrate or focus on one thing in spite of the distractions around. Through practicing meditation one can pull back to the task in hand if you wonder or if you are going to give up on the task. Willpower is in short mind play. Every time we try to make something or inculcate something which we are not habituated we need our willpower to keep it going.