Willpower is kind of like a solar battery. You have a limited amount of energy you can store. You use it up through mental effort, and recharge with rest and recovery.
The problems come from those cloudy days when the amount of mental energy you need is more than the reserves you have available.
You’ve probably experienced willpower failures—and they never feel good.
Think of willpower and motivation as precious resources that you want to preserve and use carefully.
A helpful skill to learn is monitoring your mindset so that you know when to power down before your motivation is exhausted.
While learning how to reset can take practice, the mindfulness strategies that we’ve covered previously are your best place to start.
- Simplify the number of decisions you need to make by learning to say no and by establishing boundaries.
- Know when to play offense and when to play defense. If you are feeling particularly motivated—go ahead and seize the day. But learn to recognize when it’s time to take it easy. It’s okay to shorten your workout, to reschedule a meeting, or pass on a night out.
- No doubt you’re aware of people, places, and activities that fill you up and give you energy. Doing more of the activities that revitalize you will help keep you in positive balance. Did we mention that journaling is a great exercise?
