20 Feb, 2020
How to Build your SuperpowerHow to Build your Superpower
Do you remember, when you were a kid, making a cape out of your coat and pretending you were a superhero?
I certainly do.
Do you remember what your superpower was? Could you “jump tall building in a single bound?” Did you have ‘Spidey-senses” which tingled? Could you fly? Make yourself invisible?
Whatever you pretended as a kid, these days you probably don’t think about superpowers.
Yet, there is one which is common to all humans. A power which, when used, allows you to achieve your goals and to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Willpower!
Willpower is your ability to make decisions about the thinks which are important to you. It is the power of choice.
Do you know what you want?
Whatever you want in life – to be slim fit and healthy; to be the best parent ever; to grow a business – it is willpower that takes you there.
Without willpower, you don’t go to the gym, you snap at the kids, you don’t make those cold calls… Instead, you give in to impulses and only do what you feel like doing. It is a pretty unsatisfying existence, since it is in those uncomfortable actions that we get our sense of achievement.
And achievement is what gives our lives meaning. It is where we grow.
Your superpower has kryptonite
If that’s the case, why don’t we always take action? What’s stopping us from powering through and creating the future we’ve always wanted?
As I mentioned in my previous blog Willpower is drained throughout the day. It is vulnerable to a range of pressures on us all. These include
- Lack of sleep – if you are sleep deprived you are far more likely to give in to impulses.
- Decision fatigue – the more decisions you make in a day, the less willpower you have left.
- Poor nutrition – sugar is the worst culprit here but junk foods and highly processed foods all contribute
- Alcohol – it goes without saying that when you are drunk you make poor decisions
- Stress – this is a huge drain on willpower. Your brain is busy dealing with the emergency that is triggering the ‘fight or flight’ response and there is not a lot left for considered decisions
You may have other triggers that impact your life too. Just be being aware of them you are increasing your chances of exercising self-control when you need it.
Topping up your superpower
So if you are constantly draining your willpower, what can you do to top it up. Of course, avoiding the things that drain it is going to be a big help but, short of moving to the top of a high mountain, living on organic hand-grown foods and sleeping ten hours a day, there will always be times when your willpower needs topping up.
There are several proven ways to do this
- Exercise – this is a massive stressbuster and detoxifies the body
- Sleep – get a good night’s sleep or take a power nap and you’ll be better able to make the choices that take you forward
- Meditation – which decreases stress, improves focus and increases the gap between an impulse and the action so you are more likely to resist temptation
- Action – when you don’t feel like it, getting started has been proven to reduce the resistance.
As you may have noticed, it takes willpower to do these things – so there is a vicious circle here. So let me give you some extra help.
Tools to tap into your superpower
Here are three simple ways you can get yourself moving and give your willpower the boost it needs.
- Have a ‘floor’ and a ‘ceiling’ – it’s actually the floor which matter here. Suppose you want to be able to run for an hour (that’s your ceiling). The thought of it is probably making you shudder at this very moment: It’s cold, it is hard work, getting changed feels like too much effort, you are too busy… There are lots of reasons not to take an hour of your day to run. So don’t. Just do a minimum (the floor). Go and run for 2 minutes. This works for anything: studying, housework, exercise, meditation, writing these blogs…. Just getting started usually means you will
- Watch your language – it is amazing how changing the words we use makes a difference. Think about something that will take you forward but which you don’t feel like doing. What do you say to yourself? I ought to… I need to… I’m supposed to… I should. I say, stop shoulding on yourself! When you catch yourself referring to these actions in this negative way, change it round: I get to… I’m going to… I want to…. Think about how great you’ll feel when you’ve done it.
- The five second rule – this is a technique developed by Mel Robbins. When you need to take action just 54321 and go…. It really works!
If you want to know more about how to boost your willpower superpower, download my free e-book at https://willpower.petecohen.com
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂
I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn a lot of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
Hurrah! Finally I got a web site from where I be capable of actually
take helpful facts concerning my study and knowledge.
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
I genuinely enjoy looking through on this website , it has good posts . “Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come.” by Carl Sandburg.
Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and
starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one¡¦s website, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this web site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
I simply want to mention I’m new to blogging and really loved your website. Probably I’m want to bookmark your site . You really have good well written articles. Appreciate it for revealing your blog.
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I
encounter a blog that’s equally educative and
entertaining, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head.
The issue is something which not enough people are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy I found this in my search for something concerning this.
What’s up, yup this paragraph is truly fastidious and I
have learned lot of things from it concerning blogging. thanks.
I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this web site. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
Hello! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your
content. Please let me know. Thank you
Check out my blog – Lou
Your way of explaining the whole thing in this post is truly fastidious, all be capable of without difficulty know it, Thanks a lot.|
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I was looking for this info for my mission.|
This is the perfect site for anybody who wishes to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a topic that’s been discussed for decades. Great stuff, just great!|