Increasing Your Willpower

 

Willpower is one of the most important indicators of success in life.  Scientists put several children alone in a room with a big marshmallow and told them if they could resist eating it for just one minute, then they could have two marshmallows.  One kid ate the marshmallow right away.  He grew up to be a thug and a drug addict and live in a crappy neighborhood with bad schools.  The other kid waited and got two marshmallows as promised.  He grew up to be a successful CEO with a happy marriage.  Until one day he was mugged and killed by the other kid who'd grown up to be a thug.

This shows the importance of willpower but at the same time points out willpower isn't everything.

It turns out willpower is like a muscle.  If you use it too much all at once, it wears out, but it strengthens with exercise.  Since we all want more willpower, here are some tricks to exercise your "willpower muscle."

Try using the opposite hand from what you normally do.  Brushing your teeth left-handed if you're right-handed for example.  You can increase will-power even more if you brush your teeth with your foot. 

Argue with a brick wall for thirty minutes a day.

Get up at 5:00 AM and write blogs about stuff like willpower.

Smile sincerely at the next four people you meet and ask sincerely how they are doing.  When you meet the fifth person, punch him in the nose and run off screaming.

Take a cold-water shower on even days, and a scalding hot shower on odd ones.

Wear your shoes on the wrong feet.

These simple exercises will increase your willpower and make the rest of your life seem tranquil and sane by comparison.  Of course, some people lack the willpower to even want willpower.  Lucky them.