Ever wonder why developing self-control and willpower are so crucial for success? Well, keep reading.
Believe it or not, self-control and willpower are two things that everybody needs for success. So let’s look at ways to develop each one to change your own thought process and behavior for the better.
How To Develop Self-Control And Willpower
Self-Control
Self-control is defined as the “restraint exercised over one’s impulses, emotions, or desires” and works side-by-side with willpower.
When you practice self-control, you direct your willpower toward the outcome you want.
This means that at times, you’ll have to not do something, like when you want to eat healthily and pass on the supersize meal. It also means that there will be times when you have to put in a conscious effort to do something, like building good habits or getting started on those taxes.
As with willpower, self-control is also finite. In other words, each time you use self-control, your power to make sound decisions gradually diminishes until you start again the following morning. This is what experts refer to as ‘ego depletion’ and it happens because you spend most of your waking hours trying your best to focus on making decisions and exerting your willpower.
So, it’s no surprise that by the end of the day, you feel depleted and exhausted, and probably find it difficult to think coherently, let alone be able to make choices you won’t regret in the morning.
How to Develop Self-Control
Luckily, there are ways to improve your levels of self-control and reduce the impact of ego depletion. Many of them rely on the same techniques used to boost your willpower, like getting good sleep and managing stress, while others are slightly different.
Here are a few:
- Learn how to regulate your emotions.
- Practice self-compassion.
- Become aware of your wants and needs to direct energy toward self-improvement.
- Manage your time and energy more efficiently.
- Create short and long-term goals to stay motivated.
Willpower
The spiritual leader and activist, Mahatma Gandhi, said, “Strength doesn’t come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable willpower.” Yet, what exactly is willpower?
Basically, willpower is your ability to turn down and curb inner conflicts, such as short-term temptations, to meet long-term goals.
Say you want to supersize your takeout order or smoke a cigarette. But, deep down, you know you shouldn’t.
Or it could just as easily be the reverse. Maybe there’s something you know you should do, but keep procrastinating to avoid doing it, like going to the gym or filing your taxes.
When you reach this crossroads, that’s when your willpower kicks in. This instantaneous reaction stems from the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is the front section of the brain responsible for regulating our behavior and decision-making abilities.
So, the first thing you need to do to develop your willpower is to keep your prefrontal cortex in good shape by:
- Getting quality sleep each night
- Eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet
- Exercising 3–5 times a week
- Managing your stress levels
Can We Run Out of Willpower?
Interestingly enough, experts say that we have a finite stockpile of willpower. You start your day with only so much and the more you use it, the faster you run out.
Take, for example, trying to control your temper on your way to work, at work, then on your way back home from work. You also use up your willpower when you try to ignore distractions, help your kids with their homework, and negotiate a compromise with your partner.
Just like our actual muscles, our willpower gets worn out from all that repetitive use.
How to Develop Your Willpower
Check out these tips to increase your reserve of willpower.
- Learn breathing techniques
- Practice daily affirmations
- Meditate each day
- Focus on what’s important now by postponing what you shouldn’t do for later
- Limit your intake of addictive substances, like alcohol and nicotine
As entrepreneurs, we need both self-control and willpower to forge forward in our business, especially as we are working for ourselves. It is up to us and only us to make a success or failure of it.
You need to decide if you are going to binge on Netflix when you wake up or spend so many hours working on your business.
Please feel free to leave any comments and questions that you may have on this subject below.
A life without discipline or control of the will is a dangerous thing Michel and I believe extremely detrimental to the goals any individual may have set for themselves. I really enjoyed reading your article on developing these habits in order to profit in an online home business.
Creating short and long term goals will certainly help a person remain on task by having plenty to do but I still think there is more real work to do in order to maintain self-control, discipline must be involved also.
Our ability to turn down or avoid inner conflicts is also a critical element of self-control as it provided the “teeth” to go along with the worthwhile goals.
You are right Joseph, there is just so much more to this topic that can be further elaborated on in further articles. This is just the basics in a nutshell.
Thank you for stopping by.
This is a very thought provoking article. Although the two go hand in hand, I think that self control is easier to develop and exercise than will power. I think of self-control in terms of anger, revenge or acting out of upset to hurt. I think of will power simply as restraint. I have a great deal of self control when it comes to being angry or impatient with someone. Yet, I have little self-control sometimes when it comes to stuff I shouldn’t eat but love, for example. I could be wrong but this is how I think of it. Your article was challenging.
Will power and self control… wow.. there’s the rub, eh? Interesting overview of these some times elusive traits. I started working out 3 mornings per week at 7 a.m. I can tell you that every morning I have a conversation with my inner being to talk myself out of going. So far, I have kept going.
Will power is important to exercise when I sit down to work on my internet site and business. It can get pretty rough sometimes. Thank you for the reminder!
I agree that self-control and willpower are critical to success and progress in our daily lives. Mastering ourselves does require a commitment of effort and time. Compassion for ourselves and others allows us to develop the patience to stay with the process long enough to see positive results. Also as you mention managing our stress levels is also critical. You have not only made several good points, but you have presented a viable way for people to take self-responsibility for their lives and strengthen their creative energies.
Thank you, Joseph, and I will be happy if even one person who reads this takes more responsibility for their self-control and willpower.