Category: Personal Growth and Development

Who is the winner when your Willpower goes head-to-head with your Imagination?

Willpower, without it, you are left wafting in the breeze, victim of any and every whim that takes you.

Ahhhhh, where did that ‘whim’ come from?

Just popped out of thin air?

That ‘whim’ usually comes from your imagination, and your mind is a powerful projector, a personal ‘movie maker.’

What makes you want to bite into that donut even though you’ve vowed to lose those extra 10 pounds? Is it really a lack of willpower?

I think not.

I think that your imagination is to blame 🙂

The key here is to focus on using your imagination to support your willpower, instead of undermining it.

When the urges strike you, don’t just grit your teeth, clamp down on something nearby and refuse to let go. This method will end in failure more often than not.

Instead, focus on your image, the one you created of the new, better, healthier, wealthier (whichever is closest to your specific goal) and let that feed your willpower.

Tell yourself, “I see myself feeling, looking better, and this donut isn’t part of that plan.” Imagine what it will feel like to obtain that goal, what you will look like, what others will say about you, think about you, or what you will think about yourself when your new goal has been reached and you’ve scratched it off your list.

Ask yourself, after I give in to this urge, how will I feel? Is that how I want to feel? Will it truly be worth it?

Then, willpower and imagination will be working together to help you instead of being locked in a cage match, winner-take-all brawl that willpower is bound to lose.

I hear this, I read this, I have this problem myself at times.

There’s just not enough time in the day to get it all done.

Suffering from the ‘not enough time in the day’ syndrome?

Bullpucky!

Yep, one of the things that is eating up your time is just that sort of thinking.

Okay, Allen, so what can I do about it?

Glad you asked . . .

This is one of the biggies, even for the biggies. When you whip this, you’ll be absolutely smoking.

My take on Mike Litman’s “Success 6” method. That’s a great resource btw, Mike Litman.

Nutshell:
At night, list the 6 most important things you need to do tomorrow. (may not do this justice on the fly, but hope you get the idea. He also recommends choosing the ones that you know will better your life, business, etc, and that you find you don’t want to do.)

Put them in order of importance. (I like to put them in order of reward if done.)

Next day, take out your list, start at number 1. Finish it. Move on.

That night, take what’s left of your list, oh yeah, you’ll have days you don’t get all of them done, and make it 6 again.

One thing that works for me especially well, is instead of using the ‘today I’ll do this, this and this’ method, I use the list, and put “I’ll do this before 11:00, this by noon, this by 3:30, this by . . . ”

Rinse repeat.

Be well, live well, die last.

Allen