English Text How To Have More Willpower

English Text How to have more willpower?
I remember a couple of years ago I used to get very

little sleep and I really struggled with making the right decisions. I’d be running on 4 hours of
sleep and when I was presented with something healthy to eat and an unhealthy choice, it was
really hard for me to pick the healthy one. And now a couple of years later, I get plenty of sleep
and it’s so much easier to make the better decisions. So whether you need to refrain from
eating something unhealthy, or you need to actually do something productive like working on
your project, getting plenty of sleep will make it so much easier and I can attest to this from
my own experience. So the first big idea for strong willpower is to get adequate amounts of
sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, you’re prone to all kinds of stress and cravings and
temptation. Research has shown that being sleep deprived is very similar to being mildly
intoxicated; which is probably not the best time to be making decisions. And too little sleep
has been shown to cause problems that mimic those associated with ADHD. So getting enough
sleep is absolutely one of the most important things you can do for your willpower. Now, just
like you go to the gym to build muscle and get stronger, you can do the same thing for your
brain and the activity that trains your brain is meditation. It makes your brain grow denser,
packing in more gray matter, just like a muscle bulking up from exercise. And research has
shown that those who meditate really do have more gray matter in their prefrontal cortex and
the prefrontal cortex is the area associated with decision making and willpower. It’s the part of
the brain that gets you to say no to something unhealthy and it’s the part of the brain that gets
you to get up and start working on your project. And the impact of meditation is fascinating.
Even after only a few weeks of being consistent with it, we can already observe the brain
structure physically changing. You don’t need to meditate for hours either, even a short period
of meditation is effective. You can start with five minutes of meditation, focussing on your
breath and move up to ten, fifteen or however long you like. But it’s much better to be
consistent and do only five minutes than be inconsistent. So I would personally highly
recommend starting with five minutes if you’re just starting out. I also get a ton of emails and
messages and what I used to do before was wake up and check all that stuff first thing in the
morning and I would spend hours doing that and then when it was time for me to actually do
creative work, I was just completely exhausted. And this is because willpower is like a muscle –
it gets tired. It’s kind of like going to the gym to deadlift and instead of deadlifting, you decide
it’s a good idea to run on the treadmill for two hours first and then deadlift. So, by the time
you’re done running, you probably won’t have the energy to deadlift and if you somehow do,
it’s not going to be the most effective workout. And that’s exactly how the brain works too.
You start out with your willpower for the day and then it just keeps getting depleted and
depleted. So, one of the most important things I’ve done is to wake up and start with my
creative work. I never check any of the messages first thing in the morning anymore because I
know my willpower is going to get depleted. And I know so many people who wake up and go
straight to Facebook or do something else that isn’t important. Don’t do that. You’ll deplete
your willpower and then you won’t be able to do what’s actually important. Instead, wake up
and do that important thing first; before your willpower gets depleted. So those are the three
of my favorite ideas that I found to be really effective in my life. And to recap them briefly:
One, make sure you’re not sleep deprived. Not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest
enemies to your willpower. Two, just like you work out to build up muscle, you can meditate to
build up your prefrontal cortex. And three, willpower is like a muscle. It gets tired. Don’t wake
up and get on Facebook first thing in the morning or do anything else that isn’t important.
Instead, do the most important thing first, before your willpower gets depleted.

English Text How To Have More Willpower

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

English Text How To Have More Willpower

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

English Text How To Have More Willpower

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

English Text How to have more willpower?

I remember a couple of years ago I used to get very

You might also like