Many people believe that they could greatly improve their lives if only they had more of this mysterious thing called willpower. With more self-control, we would eat better, exercise more regularly, avoid bad habits, and reach our goals more often. And of course it is. Willpower is a certain quality of a person's character that can be developed and strengthened on an ongoing basis. But first, you need to better understand what kind of power it is.

Definition of willpower

We have many common names for willpower: self-discipline, self-control, determination, initiative, perseverance, endurance, fortitude, inner strength, fortitude, and so on. But scientists characterize willpower in more specific terms:

The ability to delay gratification while resisting momentary temptations in order to achieve long-term gains.
The ability to suppress unwanted thoughts and emotions.
- Ability to keep a cool head in difficult situations.
— Conscious self-regulation.
— A limited and exhaustible resource.

And here is how dictionaries describe willpower:

- the power of self-control, used to overcome unproductive impulses and achieve difficult goals.
- the ability of a person to act consciously to achieve the goal, overcoming internal obstacles. A strong will causes a reaction of respect, affects a communication partner either in terms of coercion to action, or in terms of persuasion.
- a non-technical term for the ability to self-control or the ability to resist temptation.
- the ability of a person to make decisions based on the thought process and direct their thoughts and actions in accordance with the decision

marshmallow test

In the twentieth century, many social experiments were conducted on the topic of willpower and important scientifically confirmed patterns were discovered between a high level of self-control and success in life. The most famous experiment was conducted at Stanford by psychologist Walter Mischel and was called the Marshmallow Test. This is how it is described in Kelly McGonigal's wonderful book Willpower. How to develop and strengthen ":

“Walter Mischel gave a group of four-year-olds a choice: one treat now or two in 15 minutes. After explaining the problem, the scientist left the child alone in the room with a marshmallow and a bell. If the baby waited for the experimenter, he received two treats. But if he was unbearable, he rang the bell and immediately ate the treat.

Most four-year-olds chose the strategy that you and I would consider the least effective: they stared at a marshmallow and imagined what it tasted like. These kids solved the problem in seconds. Those who endured for the sake of supplementation tried to look away from the promise of a reward. A delightful video has been preserved of the children waiting for sweets, and it gives us an amazingly clear lesson in self-control. The girl covers her face with her hair so as not to see the goodies; the boy stares fixedly at the marshmallow, but pushes the bell as far as possible so as not to reach it; another boy decides to lick the treat but not eat it (which foreshadows the future politician in the guy).

Not only did the experiment reveal how four-year-olds delay gratification, it was remarkably predictive of the future of children. How long a toddler endured the Marshmallow Test determined their academic and social success 10 years later. Children who waited longer were more popular, did better in school and coped with stress. They scored higher on a school test of learning ability and performed better on neuropsychological tasks that tested the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. The ability to wait 15 minutes for two marshmallows revealed something much more important: Could a child endure temporary inconvenience for a long-term goal? And did he know how to distract himself from the promise of momentary pleasure?

This individual feature (measured in childhood or later) plays a key role in our lives. Behavioral economists and psychologists have come up with intricate formulas for determining individual discount percentages: in essence, this is a measure of how much more important it is for a person to enjoy happiness today at the expense of tomorrow. People with a higher percentage of discount on future goods have a harder time controlling themselves. They tend to smoke and drink too much, they are at higher risk of drug addiction, gambling and other addictions.”

Video of repeated marshmallow experiment - Marshmallow Test by Walter Michel

So, now it has become even more obvious to us that willpower plays a big role in our life. The possession of this skill, and this skill, or its absence, is the main factor leading either to success in life or to failure. It is important both for solving everyday problems and for achieving long-term goals, both for gaining material prosperity and for spiritual development.

I wish you to invest time and effort in developing this magical quality of character. You can learn specific exercises and methods for strengthening willpower, for example, from the mentioned book by Kelly McGonigal -

Many of you have probably wondered why it is so difficult for us to get rid of bad habits and instill good ones. We want, for example, to start doing morning exercises, we say to ourselves: “In the morning I will get up half an hour earlier and will do morning exercises,” and we even set an alarm clock so as not to oversleep. However, as soon as the morning comes and the alarm clock makes us get out of bed, we suddenly start looking for excuses, give in to them and postpone our decision to do morning exercises until tomorrow, deciding to spend the remaining half an hour sleeping. And so it happens again and again until we give up our idea or fulfill our plan. Of course, someone may not experience such difficulties with morning exercises, but no one will deny that starting to do it regularly is very difficult.

Or, another example: a person wants to lose a few extra pounds. And in order to achieve this goal, he decides to reduce the number of calories consumed by giving up sweets. A day passes, the second, and everything seems to be working out. But then, one fine day, he passes the counter with a cake and his eyes turn to all the variety of delicious sweets. An insidious thought immediately comes to mind: "I tried so hard that I deserved a small reward!" And so, he buys a cake, eats it with true pleasure, and then assures himself that nothing terrible will happen because of one more ice cream. He eats his second brownie and can't stop, because now the thought has settled in his head about postponing his goal of becoming slimmer to the next week or the beginning of the month.

Perhaps you are familiar with similar situations? But what makes us turn off the intended path? Usually in such cases we say that we lack willpower, the very inner quality that millions of people on Earth dream of developing. After all, we all know that willpower is one of the most important components of achieving goals. Whether you want to stop smoking, get rid of alcohol addiction or start doing morning exercises, you need willpower. Almost any goal requires you to use willpower to achieve it. Any new action that causes fear or resistance in you, you perform using willpower. But what is this will power? Can we feel it? Is it measurable? And is it possible to develop it? You can learn about this and much more, with regard to willpower, from the articles on our site in the "" section. Well, for now, a brief summary.

What is willpower?

Before giving a definition of willpower, it is necessary to understand such a concept as will. From the definitions found on the Internet, I was able to find out that the will is our ability to make conscious choices and perform actions contrary to the instinctive aspirations of the body. The will allows us to respond to external and internal stimuli in the way we want it or in the way we previously intended. Based on the definition of will, we conclude that willpower is the degree of development of our ability to think and act consciously. So, the stronger our will, the easier it is for us to resist instincts and the more successfully we control our emotions. On the other hand, if our will is poorly developed, we become slaves to our emotions, habits, and instincts, and often do unconscious things that may go against our conscious desires.

Can willpower be measured?

In general, the task of measuring willpower seems quite feasible if conditional values ​​are used for the magnitude of willpower. After all, we use such terms as strong and weak will, in the same way we can say about the average level of development of the will and about the development of the will slightly above or slightly below the average level. And with the same, and perhaps even greater success, we can offer a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is the absence of will, and 100 is absolute self-control. On this scale, you can mark the value of your willpower, based on your own life experience and how you evaluate your volitional qualities. However, it is simply not possible to create a unit of measurement for the magnitude of willpower, at least not yet.

Is it possible to develop willpower?

Definitely, willpower can be developed, and it doesn’t matter if you have it strong now or very weak, although in the latter case you will have to spend more time and make more efforts to make it stronger. However, just like how we develop our muscles - through regular and systematic training, we can develop our will to almost any level. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the older a person is, the worse it lends itself to training, so you should think about developing your volitional qualities in your youth. True, since the child, due to his age, is not yet sufficiently disciplined, the development of his willpower should be taken care of by parents, who for this will need to introduce methods that develop the will into their educational practice. However, even if you have long crossed the threshold of maturity, your will can still be trained, only this will be a more difficult task.

So, from the article we learned that willpower is the level of development of our volitional qualities that allow us to think and act consciously, as well as to resist the habitual and instinctively conditioned reaction to certain external and internal stimuli. This is our ability to resist temptation and overcome the resistance of the body, in particular laziness, in order to achieve the desired goal. This is the main foundation on which self-discipline is built, and without it, as you know, achieving goals is an extremely difficult, if not impossible task. But, willpower can be developed, and although you cannot accurately measure how strong your will becomes, you will definitely feel it. Read more about willpower in metodof.ru articles and become stronger, good luck to you!

Successful people in today's society boast a very interesting quality that plays a major role in their success. This is developed willpower. It is she who allows people to achieve their goals, not turn off the intended path, follow their plans and finally get good results. But, if everyone knows that willpower is a very important and useful quality, for some reason not everyone is able to develop it yet. Although there are quite a few ways to develop willpower, you need to make significant efforts to achieve the desired result.

What is willpower?

A strong-willed person is often called someone who possesses. Sometimes this concept means purposefulness, intrinsic motivation, perseverance, even stubbornness. There are several components of willpower:

• Faith in success and in your own strength. Many famous and successful people say that it was faith in themselves that allowed them to achieve high results. Without faith in success, it is better not to start a single business from ordinary weight loss to the start of a large business.
• Wish. When a person really desires something, he has a goal, to which he then goes. Without a goal, willpower, in principle, would not be needed, since there will be no final desired image in the mind, i.e. there will be nothing to achieve.
• Courage. Without courage and determination, no really difficult decision can be made.
• Patience. Thanks to him, a person does not give up on the path to achieving the goal, over and over again overcomes obstacles and does not retreat in the face of difficulties.

You can consider all these components in one simple example: the desire to lose weight. If a person is overweight, and he wants to see himself fit, slim, healthy and attractive, the goal appears - to reduce weight. In thoughts, a person who is losing weight already imagines himself to be slim, i.e. he "sees" the end result to be strived for. Really brave can be considered the decision to lose weight on your own, with your own efforts, and not go under the knife of a plastic surgeon. Belief in himself helps him start playing sports and deny himself junk food, and already patience allows him to fight temptations in the form of skipping classes or visiting fast food every day.

The exclusion of at least one of these components guarantees a failure in achieving the goal. If there is no self-confidence or a decrease in motivation from the lack of quick results, with a lack of courage to refuse unnecessary feasts or socializing with friends in a restaurant, with a lack of patience, the desired goal will not be achieved.

Another position in considering this issue is the need for the mind to dominate the body. So, as the opposite of willpower often makes a person lie in bed in the morning for 15 minutes more, depriving him of time to exercise, or leaves the intention to tidy up the apartment or fix the tap just intentions. The body is simply telling the mind, “I feel so good lying on the couch and watching a TV series.” And if the mind does not oppose anything, does not “turn on” willpower, the body wins. The same goes for malnutrition, skipping workouts, lack of planning, leaving things halfway, etc.

How to develop willpower?

The good news for those who recognize themselves in the above example is that willpower can be developed. Undoubtedly, strong-willed characteristics are quite difficult to train, but the results are worth it. The main thing to remember when working on willpower is to start small, and leave more complex exercises for later.

Purpose awareness.

Setting your own goals is a very important step in building a strong will. Aimless attempts to develop and strengthen the will will do nothing. A person must have an incentive, motivation to work on himself.

After determining your goal, it is worth considering why the body is trying to prevent the development or performance of some actions. If it's just laziness, developing willpower will help you achieve your goals. If there are other objective reasons (physical deviations, health problems) that do not allow you to do something, willpower will be a good help, but it will not solve the problem by itself.

Useful habits.

Regularly you need to force yourself to do something useful, for example, for health. Everyone knows that it is useful to get up regularly at the same time, but on weekends, many give themselves slack, everyone knows that exercises or jogging in the morning are useful, but few people also make time for sports exercises. To develop willpower, you need to introduce these good habits into your life. Force yourself to get up 10-15 minutes earlier to complete all these activities. A good shape and a healthy complexion will be a bonus.

At this point, many will say that getting yourself out of bed is the biggest challenge. The body keeps repeating: “Let’s lie still, you can go for a run in the evening,” and in the evening it says: “Tomorrow we’ll definitely run.” And so constantly.

In order for a person to feel the strength in himself to complete all the morning exercises, you just need to move or start some kind of activity. It is advisable to put a loud alarm clock in the opposite corner from the bed and get up to turn it off. You can ask a friend to call and wake up, and let him ask a question to start brain activity. For the most neglected case, you can provide for the installation of a program on a computer that, without entering a password, at a certain time will begin to format the hard drive. For many, this is definitely the best way to get up.

Bad things.

A few days a month should be devoted to doing unpleasant things. Those who do not like to tidy up will need to clean and wash everything that is possible on this day. For those who think shopping is torture, one day you need to buy everything you need for the next month. For those who have never liked the process of cooking, you will have to feed the whole family. This is the best way to get everything done at once, freeing yourself from a nasty pastime for a while. In addition, it is effective for the development of the will, because, having started the process, you want to quickly bring it to the end, without stopping halfway and without stretching the “torture”.

public promise.

Having set a goal for yourself, you can make a promise to yourself or, more efficiently, to those around you by all means to achieve it. When someone is aware of a person’s plans, anyone will try not to lose face and fulfill their plan. By the way, when a person writes down all his goals and plans, the likelihood of their achievement increases.

Restrictions.

One of the most difficult ways to develop willpower is to limit yourself to something. You can do this just for the sake of doing the exercise, or you can additionally help yourself, for example, limit yourself to sweets for a month for those who want to lose weight. Anyone who often loses time on the Internet needs to restrict their access to social networks for a month by asking a friend to change the password for a while.

You should definitely reinforce your attempts to develop willpower with the help of mental images. You need to regularly imagine yourself as a strong-willed person who knows how to resist various temptations and achieve the highest results.

Many learned about what willpower is from the Yeralash series of the same name. Remember how the boy sat over a Snickers candy bar for two hours? True, during this time he had already managed to eat a few pieces, but this is the whole humor. It is believed that a person with willpower will be more successful in career growth, because he knows how to be guided by his head, and not be led by emotions. But all this is so vague that many still cannot accurately understand the meaning of this phrase. And how to strengthen willpower if there is a feeling that it is not sufficiently developed?

Multiple definitions

There are a lot of synonyms for the expression. This is determination, and perseverance, and perseverance, and much more. But before you develop willpower in yourself, you need to understand what it is. We single out three definitions that most accurately express willpower:

1. The ability to suppress emotions that interfere with sober thinking at the moment;
2. The art of resisting temptation in the name of more important things.
3. The ability to postpone pleasant events for later in order to get more vivid impressions.

What does all of this mean? Let's take a look at specific examples.

The employee urgently needs to finish the project, although the neighboring office has long been celebrating a corporate holiday. If he does not have enough willpower, then he will break away from business now and go to his colleagues. But then he would have to take work home. And also there will be no award, because the project will not be delivered on time. A person who decides to finish the job, despite the cheerful and carefree screams behind the wall, has an iron willpower. And for it, he will be rewarded beyond measure, because in a couple of hours he will be able to join the holiday without the unpleasant feeling that a sleepless working night lies ahead.

This example fits all three definitions, which are also practically inseparable from each other. A strong-willed person always keeps his emotions and desires under control, but this does not interfere with him. There is no depression and digging in oneself, and each such case helps to develop willpower even more.

Components

Studying willpower, psychologists have identified 4 integral components of this important character trait.

1. Faith. First of all, faith in yourself and your strengths. When a person is sure that he will succeed, then it becomes much easier to achieve what he wants.
2. Wish. The end you strive for must justify the means. The end result must be desirable, i.e. you have to really want something, and then everything will work out.
3. Courage. Here, it means the ability to take a decisive step in the name of the goal, the ability to say “no” to oneself and even take a risk somewhere.
4. Patience. Building willpower requires a lot of patience.

In the same example with an employee, you can consider all these components. The man believed that he would be able to finish the job quickly. He had a desire to go to the holiday with a sense of accomplishment. The courage lay in the fact that he refused colleagues, who probably came into the office more than once and called him. Well, with patience, everything is clear.

Willpower is an acquired quality. It can be developed throughout life. But for some, it manifests itself in childhood. A very interesting experiment was described by the British psychologist Walter Mischel. It consisted of the following: a four-year-old child entered the room and sat down at a table on which lay a marshmallow and a bell. The kid was explained that you can ring the bell and eat the treat right now. But if he endures 15 minutes, he will get two whole marshmallows. After that, the child was left alone with himself and his desires.

Most of the children could not stand even 5 minutes. And their "failure" is quite understandable. The kids chose the wrong strategy: they looked at the marshmallows with burning eyes, imagined how the tender delicacy would melt in their mouths, and, of course, in the end they could not resist. But the behavior of some children surprised and pleasantly pleased the psychologist. One girl figured out how to train her willpower: she covered her face with hair so as not to see the marshmallows, because she knew that this would allow her to hold out longer and achieve her goal of double the treat. Another boy chose a different tactic: he moved the bell to the farthest edge of the table so as not to accidentally ring it (after all, this would mean that he had given up).

Such an experiment is a great tip for parents on how to cultivate willpower in a child. Although some moms and dads found the experience too cruel and even offended. In particular, these were the parents of children who, without hesitation, ate marshmallows almost immediately. But the lack of willpower does not mean that the child has developmental disabilities. It was just a signal that you need to develop character. Because later it turned out that the kids who managed to wait for the second marshmallow began to do well in school. They dealt with stress more easily and were more patient.

If you conducted a similar experiment at home, and the baby did not cope, do not despair. It is possible to increase the willpower of the baby, but for this you will need to train him regularly with the help of special classes. But, in the case of children, it is still better to contact a psychologist, because too frequent or incorrectly conducted trainings can cause the baby to become isolated.

Development Exercises

To begin with, let's answer the logical question: why do we need willpower? Why develop and raise it in yourself? After all, many people probably live without it. But if a person knows how to make an effort on himself, to force himself to sacrifice temporary pleasure in order to acquire long-term pleasure, then he will go far. . Strong-willed, strong in spirit, self-confident - all these are the qualities of a leader. And if you don’t even plan to become one, willpower will never become an extra character trait.

Now we will tell you how to cultivate willpower in yourself. Oddly enough, the complex of psychological developmental exercises does not include those that involve prolonged sitting over your favorite treat. These are more general tips that suggest how to develop willpower at any age.

1. Positive thinking. If you see everything in gray, it will be difficult to find what you want to strive for. Those. it will be hard to see and feel the desired goal, which will require willpower to achieve.
2. Overcoming fears. This refers to social fears: fear of misunderstanding, fear of being rejected or looking ridiculous. Willpower training just means thinking and reasoning that fears can become an obstacle to your inner development.
3. Ability to take responsibility. A strong personality will never try to make himself a victim..
4. Self-discipline. This means doing something for yourself, arranging mini-checks for yourself: do not be late, start the morning with exercises, be sure to wash the dishes at night. Yes, it is such banalities that help to gain willpower and temper character.
5. Speech control. Foul language, harsh words thrown at someone - all this speaks of weak self-control. Strengthening it will help to temper the character and learn to restrain yourself at different moments.

By the way, the development of willpower in some people occurs in the course of life. Those. many don't have to do it on purpose. Everything happens on a whim. A person does not think about how to cultivate will and character, but in different situations he acts in such a way that hardening is carried out by itself. What is needed for this? Perhaps the right upbringing from childhood. Therefore, every young person has a chance to grow strong and strong-willed people out of their children.

Specific trainings

Now let's look at how to develop willpower and self-discipline using real examples. To begin with, come up with a simple task for yourself that will require some time and effort from you. For example, set a goal to learn how to juggle three balls in a month, while training for 20 minutes a day. And be sure to spend those 20 minutes exercising. Missed a day - punish yourself . By the way, another way to develop willpower in yourself is a system of punishments.. Don't buy yourself a treat or replace a hot bath with a cold shower. Yes, no one can check and judge you. But this is the point of training your own willpower.

How else can you develop and strengthen willpower? With non-dominant hand. Are you right handed? Then for one hour a day, make the left hand active. At the same time, do not tie your right hand behind your back, but simply try to control yourself and do everything with your left. Yes, it won't work at first, and it can be annoying. But you can handle yourself, right?

When we train willpower, we are primarily engaged in self-development. And this is very important, because except from yourself you will not be able to receive such valuable lessons. All the qualities developed during the trainings will come in handy in life more than once, so do not forget to pay attention to yourself and try to regularly train willpower.

Willpower is hard work?

Many people believe that they could make their lives better if they had such a quality as willpower. By learning to control ourselves, we would all eat right, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol and nicotine, have savings, stop postponing everything for tomorrow, and achieve our highest goals.

Social surveys have shown that many people suffer from a lack of willpower: it is for this reason, according to the respondents themselves, that they cannot make beneficial changes in their lives. And although people admit that weak willpower largely determines their imperfect choices, it is absolutely clear that they are still hoping for the best. Most believe that this quality is subject to development. Indeed, recent research suggests several ways to build willpower in a practical way. On the other hand, some claim that they could overcome their lack of self-control if they had more time for themselves. However, willpower is something that doesn't come naturally when you're resting or having a carefree time.

Success factors

So how do you resist temptation? In recent years, scientists have made some interesting discoveries regarding how our willpower works. According to a report by American researchers, lack of it is not the only reason why you may fail to reach your goals. There are three components needed to solve complex problems. First, you need to find motivation and set a clear goal. Secondly, to have a clear action plan that can lead to a positive result. Willpower is the third component. So, whether your goal is to lose weight, stop smoking, study more, or spend less time on the computer, self-control is a critical step towards achieving it.

What is willpower?

In everyday life, we can come across a lot of words that people use when referring to willpower: aspiration, focus on results, self-discipline. Psychologists, however, characterize this quality more specifically. According to them, willpower can be given the following definitions:

1. The ability to restrain sensual desires, to resist short-term temptations in order to achieve important goals.
2. The ability to ignore unwanted thoughts, feelings and impulses.
3. The ability to maintain a calm and rational behavior, not subject to ardent emotions.
4. Conscious and successful self-control.
5. A limited resource that can run out.

How to develop willpower

Where should you start if you recognize the importance of willpower and want to develop this characteristic? Make an effort. By controlling yourself in a certain behavior, you enhance this quality in general. For example, if you decide to drink a glass of water every morning (which is great for brain function) or to exercise for at least 15 minutes every day, you will notice that your willpower level will become higher in relation to other tasks. Think of a simple activity that will bring positive changes into your life - start now and never look for excuses. This will be a great start in order to recreate yourself as a new, strong personality.