Nine steps to a more successful you, Part 4

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi
1869 – 1948

We continue our series of the ways to be more successful with steps six, seven and eight.

Step six involves having grit: the persistence and commitment to your long-term goals. Study after study has shown that one key ingredient to success is deliberate practice. There’s no such thing as overnight success; success requires lots of work. It’s both easy and tempting to give up when things get a little uncomfortable. You need grit to stick it out.

According to Halvorson, “Grit is all about not giving up in the face of difficulty, even when you are tired, discouraged or just plain bored.”

Put this concept into action by examining your long held beliefs about what you’re capable of accomplishing. If you believe something is beyond your abilities, you’ll find ways to sabotage your results. Once you decide on a goal, make up your mind to stick with it until the end.

Step seven is in a similar vein: increasing your willpower. Willpower is like a muscle: it grows with proper exercise and use. So the more you exert your willpower, the more you’ll have.

Here are some tips for increasing your willpower.

• Don’t try difficult or demanding tasks when you’re tired or emotionally drained.
• If your willpower is running low, give yourself a rest before taking on something new and challenging.
• Don’t start by tackling large or difficult goals. Begin with easier goals and work your way up.
• Only pursue one major goal at a time.

To build your willpower muscle, remember to start small. If you’re feeling low, speed up your willpower recovery by doing something to lift your spirits or reward yourself.

Step eight is to avoid tempting fate. Don’t tax your willpower when you don’t need to do so; it’s much better and easier to avoid temptation than to fight it. We often think that we have more willpower than we actually do and put ourselves in situations where that willpower is sorely tested. Casually entering such situations is asking for trouble. You should identify specific circumstances that undermine your goals and drain your willpower so you can avoid them. For instance, if your goal is to lose weight, consider the times you strayed from healthy eating in the past; if a particular person, place, or activity caused you to overeat, you should avoid it whenever possible. It’s much better to steer clear of temptation than to try to resist it.

Think about your goals and what you want to accomplish, then think about times in the past when your good intentions were derailed. Seek ways to avoid temptation rather than using up your willpower unnecessarily. Remember the Lay’s potato chip ad: “nobody can eat just one.”

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
Chinese Proverb

Copyright © 2012 John Chancellor