Building Mental Strength
http://www.willpowered.co/learn/strengthen-your-willpower?utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Strengthen%20Your%20Willpower
“Is there a way to strengthen someone’s willpower?”
That was the question on researchers' minds as they learned more about how this virtue was used in practical ways. Through many tests, they had discovered that willpower is like a muscle - it gets tired from overuse and requires food to replenish. But can it also be strengthened?
After several studies, we have our answer! With the right practice, willpower can be strengthened just like any other muscle in the body.
Fair warning: like all practice, these workouts can be challenging. After all, you will be exerting your willpower in the same way that you would exert your legs on a run. But they are scientifically proven to get you results.
So although it will be difficult in the short-term, you will find that it will be easier to say no to temptations, make it to the gym and stick with your long-term goals!
1. 10 MINUTES OF MEDITATION
Meditation will give you the fastest results of all of the willpower workouts listed. By meditating you are training the brain to focus and resist the urge to wander. Research shows that after just 2-3 days of practicing meditation for 10 minutes, your brain will be able to focus better, you will have more energy, and you will be less stressed.
To get started with 10 minutes of meditation, download the free Headspace app. It will provide you with guided meditation practices that are designed for beginners.
2. WORK ON YOUR POSTURE
When testing if willpower could be strengthened, researchers asked a group of participants to work on their posture for a 2-week period. Every time they caught themselves slouching, they were to correct themselves by sitting up straight. This simple practice vastly improved their perseverance on various willpower tests like this one.
To get started, simply correct your posture every time you catch yourself slouching at work or at home. It sounds extremely simple, but it takes willpower to sit up straight, and every time you do, you’re essentially doing “one rep” with your willpower muscle.
3. KEEP A FOOD DIARY
The same study also found that those who kept a food diary improved their willpower. Most of us don’t log all of the food we eat, so it takes willpower to remember and keep track of it all. Any similar logging of information will also work, but I recommend a food diary over other methods because of all of its benefits listed here.
To get started, I recommend downloading the MyFitnessPal App. It’s a simple food diary app that has a huge database of foods and nutrition information. Just keep the diary for 2 weeks, and it will increase your ability to resist temptations!
4. USE YOUR OPPOSITE HAND
Using the same methodology as with posture, researchers conducted subsequent studies that tested other corrective actions. One that worked particularly well was to use your opposite hand. Your brain is wired to use your dominant hand, so it takes willpower to use the opposite. [3]
To get started, select a chunk of the day to use your opposite hand. It doesn’t need to be any more than an hour in order to get results. And from personal experience, if you aim for more than an hour, you will unnecessarily expend too much of your willpower muscle.
5. CORRECT YOUR SPEECH
Another test that the researchers conducted was to change subjects’ natural speech. For some this was resisting the urge to use swear words, for others it was to say “hello” instead of “hey”. Again, it works your willpower to consciously go against your instincts. It doesn’t matter how you correct your speech, as long as you change your natural speech habits.
To get started, select a chunk of the day to practice and choose the words you will change. Personally, I tried not using contractions (using “do not” instead of “don’t”, etc.) during work hours and it worked very well. Like all exercises listed above, doing this for just 2 weeks can vastly improve your willpower!
6. CREATE AND MEET SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINES
Anyone who remembers their college days, remembers what it was like cramming for a test or doing a last minute paper. Your willpower gets taxed as you try to tune out distractions and become hyper-productive. Using this same principle, researchers found that by creating self-imposed deadlines you can work your willpower in the same way.
To get started, simply pick a task on your to-do list that you may have been putting off. Set a deadline for accomplishing it, and make sure you adhere to it. The participants who followed this process for 2 weeks not only got their old to-dos done, but also improved their diets, exercised more, and cut back on cigarettes and alcohol.
7. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR SPENDING
In the same way most of us don’t track the food that we eat, many of us don’t track our spending either. Even if you don’t cut back on spending – which would also be a willpower workout – researchers found that simply keeping track of where your money went will improve your willpower.
To get stated, try using a budgeting app like Mint. Mint can connect to your bank account, credit cards, etc. and automatically track your purchases. By simply reviewing this on a regular basis, you will see increases in your focus and ability to resist unrelated temptations like sweets.
8. SQUEEZE A HANDGRIP
For the truly determined who want to increase their perseverance, you can squeeze a handgrip until exhaustion. If you’ve ever squeezed one before, you know that it gives you a deep forearm burn. So it works your willpower to keep squeezing.
To get started, simply get a handgrip like this one, and squeeze with each hand until you’re exhausted. Willing yourself to continue squeezing even when it hurts will increase your persevere on other challenging tasks.
9. CARRY AROUND SOMETHING TEMPTING
Again, for the truly determined out there, you can increase your ability to say "no" by carrying around something tempting with you all day. Researchers tried this with participants by teaching them how to resist cravings, then giving them a Hershey’s Kiss to carry around with them. Those who resisted were much more capable of resisting other temptations in their lives as well!
To get started, first learn how to resist a craving. This will be hard, so you’re going to want to know how to deal with the craving. Then carry something small but tempting with you. It doesn’t need to be for an entire day, but for long enough that you will be truly tempted. By consistently saying "no", you will increase your ability to resist other temptations and ignore distractions!
10. BE MORE CONSCIOUS OF YOUR AUTOMATIC DECISIONS
A final exercise is to simply be more mindful of our decisions throughout the day. We are often so lost in thought, that our actions become automatic. Taking time to think about our usual habitual actions will increase our ability to focus and resist temptations.
To get started, try to catch yourself in an automatic behavior and ask yourself why you are doing it. It may be questioning why you are taking the elevator versus the stairs, or it may be questioning why exactly you put 2 sugars in your coffee. Any way you can think consciously about a typical automatic behavior will increase your focus and self-control.
CONCLUSION
Like all muscles in the body, willpower can be strengthened with the right practice. Above you will find 10 practical and effective ways to strengthen your self-control, focus and perseverance. Do not try to do all 10 at once.
Think about training your willpower muscle like training for a marathon. Your first training run wouldn’t be the full 26 miles or even close to that. You would start small and gradually build up as your muscles got stronger. So choose just 1 of these workouts to add to your daily routine.
Determine which workout seems practical and effective for the goal you want to achieve and get to work. By simply following the steps laid out, you will be well on your way to becoming more mentally strong!
HOW TO WORK OUT LESS AND STILL LOOK YOUNGER!
http://www.lifegooroo.com/look-fit/how-to-work-out-less-and-still-look-younger?utm_source=taboola&utm_campaign=76303&utm_medium=giantdigital-entertainmentwise
Steve Holman, author and creator of the F4X Workout Plan and the book, Old School, New Body, was the editor-in-chief of the Iron Man Magazine, a leader in the fitness magazines for many years now. He has met and worked with the most professional of gym and fitness trainers, and along with his wife, Becky, developed a work out plan that is healthy, time saving, and can make you look a decade younger than you are. It is specifically targeted for individuals aged 35 and up (but is recommended for any age), and is guaranteed to show a difference in just a matter of days!
The book is compiled of information that has appeared in Iron Man over the last several years, and of knowledge gained from working with professional fitness trainers that have trained the best of the best, like Clint Eastwood, Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from the Rocky movies) and Suzanne Summers. The book includes workouts, a nutrition plan, and action steps to take in order to start the process. This is an intense but time-saving and healthy way to slow down the aging process, build and shape muscle, and become healthier.
This workout program is built similarly for men and women. Steve and his wife Becky swear that men and women can, and should, work out in the same way. No need to work out separately or do different exercises.
There are 5 common mistakes to avoid if you want to slow down the aging process and achieve your dream body:
1. Stop The Diets! Stop eating those low-fat foods that keep being advertised as “healthy” for you. Your body needs fat in order to run correctly! If you’re constantly counting all those calories and eating only low fat, you cannot enjoy eating out! Worrying yourself to death will definitely not make you look younger…
2. Quit your crazy long cardio workouts! – Cardiovascular conditioning can be achieved in far less time and with less effort than those long gym classes and hours on the treadmill. In fact, running on the treadmill and other long bouts of cardio work outs can actually accelerate the aging process by increasing free radicals in your body and there are far smarter ways to exercise.
3. Stop blaming everything on your age! Studies have shown that even people in their 90s have been able to gain muscle tone in less than a month with some lifting exercises. People can change their bodies at any age, from 25 to 95! You should constantly challenge yourself because it’s the challenge and the constant work towards improvement that keeps you young! And what better challenge is there than staying fit and healthy?
4. Drink More Water! Water not only hydrates you and keeps you healthy-it also helps to burns fat! Water suppresses hunger and keeps your liver and kidneys healthy. Just drinking a dozen ounces a day will drop years from your face by keeping your skin hydrated and healthy!
5. Work out LESS! Steve and Becky are not saying to stop working out. They are just saying that you should go by the old-school resistance training instead of the hours upon hours of cardio classes like spinning and kickboxing. This resistance-training program includes just four specific exercises that will have you done with your workout while others at the gym are just warming up!
With an exact exercise plan that allows you to gain control of what you want to change and improve, you can get the body of your dreams and look much younger, not to mention feel healthier, with the “Old School, New Body” program.
The motto of this program, and of these two authors, is “Make it Simple, Yet Make It Challenging”. They have seen all of those crazy fads, diets, and workout plans you can find in magazines like Cosmopolitan for women and GQ for men. The time has come to forget all of those confusing, messy, and at times conflicting messages and go for this straightforward, tested and true method that professionals have been using for years!
Steve and Becky are testimony to their own workout plan, but if you try it and do not see a significant change, there is a money back guarantee. So really, what have you got to lose?
To find out more about this great program and experience it for yourself