The Main Benefits Of Willpower For People's Daily Life
Why is it so important to have better control over willpower in our lives you might wonder? There are many reasons why you would want to learn to enjoy the benefits of your willpower. This essay will review some concrete examples people might encounter in their daily routine.
Exploiting your strengths
Because life sometimes throws you curveballs, it is to your advantage to develop your willpower and be able to use it on demand. So when you control your thoughts, you can face everything that will come your way with grace and strength. Because you will feel like the boss, the person in charge of your own destiny, you will feel amazing and empowered. This is a feeling you owe to yourself and that you should cultivate. To be able to stop certain thoughts, or unleash them depending on what you have to accomplish is proof of strength, and once you have mastered that piece of your life, the sky is the limit. Your everyday activities will have more purpose as you behave in a certain way that is intentional, or choose certain things in order to get to a bigger dream, a bigger goal. Your power and your strength are directly linked to the amount of willpower you are able to show day after day in all areas of your life.
Better overall health
Stop and really consider the following for one minute. Using your willpower to follow a diet or go to the gym three times a week can certainly equal a healthier lifestyle for you. Not only can you manage your weight so you look and feel better, but this will also help you prevent many diseases. Each time you resist the temptation to stop at the drive through to order that junk food, or each time you don’t serve yourself a second portion at dinner time, you are showing willpower. The same thing goes when you get dressed for the gym early in the morning or after work. Despite your desire to go home and relax, you are showing self-discipline that will benefit your health in the long run. As we mentioned already, if you are strong enough to control your alcohol intake or refuse drugs and nicotine, you will also contribute to a healthier you. These are some of the positive effects that willpower has on your physical health.
But wait, there’s more! You can also greatly improve or maintain better mental and emotional health by keeping your willpower in check. It’s all linked. By controlling so many areas of your life you will feel more empowered, and your self-confidence will skyrocket. This will allow you to perform better in everything you endeavor to do in your life, because you will know that you have it within you to do it. You will exhibit the “winner” attitude, so no matter what you touch, you will not give up as easily because you will have confidence that you can accomplish anything you put your mind too. You will stay away from depression and anxiety as you will definitely make sense of the proverb ‘the sky is the limit”.
Achieving your goals
Last but certainly not least, achieving your goals is definitely affected by your ability to manage your willpower. Managing certain temptations in order to reach certain short-term goals will lend itself to you achieving long term goals. So no matter what your goals are, your willpower will be what helps you keep them in focus and take the appropriate actions to get where you need to be. By displaying willpower, you will not be tempted to go out instead of studying on a Friday night, so you can pass your exams with high honors etc. Also, if you are trying to get pregnant, you will do everything within your power to eat healthy, exercise, rest, and whatever else the doctor recommends. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds within 3 months, your self-discipline will guide you and will help you avoid eating out too often or choosing fried or processed foods. You won’t mind drinking those awful shakes in order to reach your goals. You also won’t mind training every day of the week if your goal is to compete your first triathlon this year. You reaching your life goals will be directly linked to you taking charge and showing willpower.
Measuring your success
There have been endless studies focused on willpower within individuals. For example, a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania: Eighth grade students were studied to measure their self-control. The students that scored the highest on the test were also consistently performing well in school, and maintaining better attendance. So, there was an obvious correlation between self-discipline and academic success. Other universities performed similar tests, specifically to measure willpower. The results speak for themselves, as the students with a higher degree of self-control had little or no alcohol or drugs abuse problems, better social skills and better eating habits. Although these experiments were done in schools, the need for willpower doesn’t stop there. It is a concept and ability that will stay with a particular individual for a lifetime. Of course, willpower might be stronger at certain periods of time in someone’s life, but once you are practicing it on a regular basis, it is easier to maintain it.
If willpower and self-discipline are indicators for success, how exactly can it be measured? Again, studies revealed that people with strong self-control and able to resist certain temptations are less likely to stray away from their ultimate goals. These same well-disciplined people will generally demonstrate more intelligence and are more in tune with what is going on around them, making them successful in areas like school and work. These same individuals will display more patience, and control their impulsivity better to react inappropriately in situations, making them more likely to finish tasks and be successful at whatever they decide to do.
