6 WillPower Hacks: A Cheat Sheet for Growing Your WillPower with a Few Simple Exercises

by Tony Robinson

Willpower is the driving force behind any goal you want to achieve. Say for instance you want to lose weight. You can get a gym membership, hire a personal trainer, and buy fancy running shoes, but if you don’t have the willpower to walk past the vending machine without buying a Snickers—then everything else you’re doing is in vain.

But the good news is that willpower functions a lot like a muscle. If you lift weights consistently, gradually increasing intensity, your muscles will grow. Well, your willpower responds similarly—the more you use it, the stronger it gets. And there are plenty of studies to back this up.

If you want to grow your muscles, you need physical activity. If you want to grow your willpower muscles, you need mental activity. You can do this in a number of ways.

6 Will Power Hacks

Your biceps can’t tell whether you’re curling a dumbbell or a gallon of milk, as long they’re working hard, they’re growing. It’s the same for your willpower muscles. They can’t tell what they’re working on, they only know that they’re working. So this means that you can strengthen your willpower on relatively menial tasks and your “muscles” will still grow—without overwhelming you in the process.

Below are few really simple, non-stressful tasks you can try out for the next few days. And, although they may not seem important, they’re still strengthening your willpower.

1) Use you non-dominant hand to open every door

2) Say “yes” instead of saying “yeah”

3) Don’t swear

4) Don’t cross your legs when you sit

5) Commit to calling a family member (or any person you should be calling) at least once a day

6) Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth

This is just a quick list that I came up with in a matter of minutes, but you get the point right? You can pick any task you want, it’s just the simple act of exercising your willpower on anything that will help it grow.

As you exercise and strengthen your willpower with these simple hacks, you’ll find your capacity to stick with life’s more consequential tasks expanding.

The growth you find through opening the door with your non-dominant hand will also be present when you know you should be working on your artwork, but the magnetic pull of the internet or T.V. tempts you to “wait until tomorrow.”

So give it shot, then tell me how it’s working for you and any other hacks you would like to try by leaving a comment below.

Tony J. Robinson is a budding entrepreneur, father, and full-time student living in Southern California. He is also the founder of www.doreallygood.com, a website devoted to jumpstarting personal development and inspiring others to do really good.