If you’ve been around here for a while, you may know I am long on motivation and occasionally short on willpower. Well, the universe seems to be watching me. I was listening to some podcasts from Nutrition Diva this week. [Do you have this podcast on your list? You should! Get it HERE.] In her 5 Healthy Habits for the New Year podcast, Tip #1 was about willpower and totally resonated with me.
From Nutrition Diva (a/k/a Monica Reinagel MS, LD/N, CNS):
“Tip #1: Don’t Wear Out Your Willpower
Whether you’ve resolved to eat less junk food or to get to the gym more, sticking to that resolution will probably require some willpower. But when we call on our willpower to help us resist a temptation, we actually deplete our reserves, leaving us less able to resist the next temptation.
Back in January, I offered 3 tricks to maximize your willpower. The first – and most important – was to remove as many temptations from your environment as you can.
If you don’t want to eat it, don’t bring it into the house. If you must have it in the house, put it in a cupboard or closet that is out of sight and difficult to reach. If, after all that, you decide to indulge, serve yourself a single portion into a small bowl and put the rest away.
I can’t over-emphasize just how powerful this can be. For more, read Why Willpower Isn’t Enough.
Her tips for maximizing your willpower: remove temptations, use positive redirection and keep it simple. So easy and so true! You can’t eat candy while you work at home if you have no candy in your house. Instead of focusing on that candy you want, redirect to focusing on a healthy treat that you have instead.
And finally, don’t start a complicated diet and exercise regimen and then fall off the wagon. Start small and finish strong. This advice was offered over and over by my fave bloggers in my Healthy Tips to Start the New Year Right. Did you miss it? Read it now!
I also found Q from Equinox’s Willpower Hacks That Really Work to be super helpful. I especially love this one:
Never talk to strangers – including yourself.
“We tend to treat our future selves like ideal strangers who have more time and energy to do the things we currently find uncomfortable, boring, and hard,” warns McGonigal. “The truth is that whatever you’re willing to do right now is a really good predictor of what you’ll do next week, next month, and after that.” When you hear yourself promise to start something tomorrow, whether it’s flossing or foam rolling, bump it to today’s to-do list.
They also recommend not trying to bite off more than you can chew, that when you have a set back you check your intent to make sure you have the right goal for you and not waiting to feel ready to start.
Waiting for the perfect time or “starting back on track tomorrow” are true willpower killers. Recognizing this with these “hacks” is a great step. I will definitely keep these hacks in mind.
So here it is friends… we can all be more (will)powerful in 2015! Who is with me?
Have any great tips? Please leave them in the comments!