10 Simple exercises to strengthen your willpower

With regards to meeting educational goals — whether you’re studying for a math test, writing your
dissertation or learning a new language — remaining or staying focused can be difficult. In the event
that you have a hard time resisting short-term temptations so you can meet long-term goals, you’re not
alone.
People believe that the number one barrier to making positive behaviour changes is a lack of willpower.
Being able to call upon your willpower will serve you well in school and beyond. In one study, students
who were better able to delay gratification earned better grades and higher test scores, had better
attendance records and were more likely to get into a competitive high school program. What is
researchers’ conclusion? Self-discipline may be even more important than IQ when it comes to
predicting academic success.
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.
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. 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 keep track of it all.
4. USE YOUR OPPOSITE HAND
Using the same methodology as with posture, researchers conducted further 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.

5. CORRECT YOUR SPEECH

Another test that the researchers conducted was to change subjects’ natural speech. This
includes resisting the urge to use swear words, or to say “hello” instead of “hey”. Again, it
takes 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.
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.
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
takes willpower to keep squeezing.
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 the
Kiss were much more capable of resisting other temptations in their lives as well!
10. BE MORE CONSCIOUS OF YOUR AUTOMATIC DECISIONS
A final exercise is to simply be more mindful of your decisions throughout the day. We are often so lost
in thought, that our actions become automatic. Taking time to think about why you are making your
daily decisions will increase your ability to focus and resist temptations.
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!