Success and Will Power

Success is not inherited, success is earned, build and developed!

The difference between successful and unsuccessful person is not a lack of strength, or not a lack of knowledge but rather it is a lack of will!

Science of will power:

1.       Will power is like a muscle, nobody is born with will-power. Will-power has to be developed with consistent practice and training. Research suggests that on an average it takes sixty six days to install a new habit, sixty six days for automaticity i.e. if you practice a particular activity for sixty six days non-stop, this would get transformed into a habit and post sixty six days this would take its place in your sub-conscious mind thus not requiring any extra effort by way of will power. However for sixty six days you need that extra effort by way of your will power.

2.       Limit your choices: The more choices you make, the less will power you will have. What you are today is because of the choices you made in the past. Will power is in finite supply. Most of us make better choices early in the morning. The more choices you make during the day, you will have less will power at the end of the day. The more choices you make of unimportant things, you will be left with limited will power for important things. Thus make as few choices as possible, only for few things which are important. Built your life towards minimalism. This is possible only when you deliberately exercise your will power.

3.     Self-Awareness: Self-awareness is the DNA of transformation. Between stimulus and response, between temptation and behavior there is just 0.25 seconds of opportunity window for reaction. For example, if you are offered a sweet and you may either be tempted or not tempted towards it, you just have 0.25 seconds of window to either get tempted or say no for it. When you have a will power you will have better self-awareness thus driving your behavior in a particular situation.

Common success principles and will power:

1.       Genius is much less about genetics and much more about your self-control, discipline, persistent, focus, grit, unrelenting will power and continuous practice in developing your craft. Research suggests that if you practice your craft 2.5 hours daily for ten consecutive years, you will in all probability attain mastery in your craft. A deliberate practice is required with intentions of making each day better than the previous day. Every great performer were in talent hub, surrounded by talented people/right people and had right association, your association plays a big role in whether you will be successful or not.

2.      Comfort Zone: Your growth is built not around your comfort but is built around your discomfort, challenging your safe harbor of the known. Pursue discomfort, go to the edges of your uncomfortable position. When you are at the edges of your capability, your capability enhances and expands. It is always scary when you challenge your limits but it yields significant results if you persist with it. The seduction of safety is more dangerous than the perception of uncertainty. The project you are most resisting is the project you should go for right now because this will challenge your limits.

3.     Natural responsibility to be great: Take personal obligation to run your mind like a super-star. Be the best human being. Will power and expressing your genius is the secret to happiness. Victim loves entertainment, leaders love education. Ordinary people love leisure, extra-ordinary people invest in their learning. Leave people better than you found them.

4.      Goal as a process: Do not get too hung up on achieving the goals. Goals are set because you need some benchmark to work on. The real value of goal is what the process toward reaching the goal make of you. Value the experience you get on the way, enjoy the climb, as this enhances your capability.

5.       Super tiny effect: The secret of all great success lies not in transformation but in evolution. Small daily improvements over time leads to giant/stunning success. Consistently improving day in day out has compounding effect on the final outcome.

Tactics for maintaining strong will power:

1.           Ritual of re-fueling: Build rest to your life. Work in an interval of 90-120 minutes and then take 10 minutes break. Every week one day, try to spend with no technology and no work. Every six weeks take a week-end off or a week off;

2.       Exercise: 1^st 20 minutes of your day must exercise. Exercising early in the say will generate more will power.

3.         Vocabulary: Word is power. Use the vocabulary of “I Can” – rewire your mindset, I have a will or iron and a mind of steel. The words you speak are extraordinarily powerful. No more victim speak.

4.       Deliberate Minimalism: High performance, productivity is less of a “do” and much more about  “don’t do”. Build life around simplicity, strip off complexity. “A person who chases two rabbits catches none” – Confucious. Hence it is important that you keep your focus and choose actions which are important and weed out the unimportant actions. Apply the 80-20 rule in your choices and actions.

5.       Alleviate your association: Emotional contagion, we are bunch of animal, we model people around us. We behave like the people who spend time with. You spend time with victims, negative people, you will also be victim and negativity would pour into you as well. Move from mediocrity to a club of mastery. You must start to live a contrarian life.

6.        Do not allow mess around you: Live in a mess free environment. Mess creates stress, clean and clear all the mess around you.

Start small by making some commitment. Do not try to climb the mountain on day one, start small and gradually you will build for yourself will power to deal with any situation you get into.

Source : Reading from Robin Sharma's articles