quotations about willpower
To assert your willpower is simply to make up your mind that you want something, and then refuse to be put off. In short, think about what you want and hold to that thought. Believe in it as a reality, regardless of what may appear to be true. This is willpower in action, and anyone can do it.
PHILLIP COOPER
Secrets of Creative Visualization
One notable study showed a seemingly miraculous way to restore willpower: by consuming sugar. The study claimed that participants who had sipped sugar-sweetened lemonade demonstrated increased self-control and stamina on difficult tasks.
NIR EYAL
"The Way You Think About Willpower Is Hurting You", Huffington Post, November 22, 2016
Oatmeal for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Chicken and veggies for dinner--and a bag of chips, some ice cream, a glass of wine, and two cookies for a midnight snack. If this sounds like a typical day, you're not alone. It's a classic example of depleting willpower. Research suggests that willpower may actually be a finite resource, rather than something over which you always have complete control. Studies have shown that people who make one virtuous choice find it harder to choose right when faced with the next decision--as if willpower ran out.
JAMIE DUCHARME
"Is This Phenomenon Ruining Your Healthy Diet?", Boston Magazine, March 15, 2017
If, like me, you made resolutions, they're probably mostly broken by now. Trouble is, the ones we make are hard to keep. I know only too well the only way of achieving my resolve to lose 30 pounds of ugly fat is to cut off my head. Dieting won't do it. No willpower is the problem. Maybe we should give ourselves a break and go for easier resolutions, like abstaining from all green vegetables, and only choking down unhealthy, fat-making, fodder.
PATRICK O'GARA
"The Donald, The Hillary, and resolutions", The Blade, January 11, 2016
Bad habits are hard to break -- and they're impossible to break if we try to break them all at once. The human pre-frontal cortex is like a muscle. It has to be trained. If you joined a local gym, you would never dream of starting out lifting a 300-pound barbell on your first session. You'd start with a 2-pound weight for a 2-minute session, working up slowly to heavier weights and longer periods of endurance. Trying to keep a New Year's resolution to quit smoking or lose a bunch of weight, is expecting your pre-frontal cortex to pick up the equivalent of a 300-pound barbell on the first attempt -- and to keep doing it for hours on end. It's not possible.
MARY HUNT
"Everyday Cheapskate: Sticking to New Year's resolution requires baby steps", Twin Cities Pioneer Press, January 23, 2016
Willpower is likely the most important keystone habit there is. Willpower has more of an impact on individual success than intelligence, talent or education level.
P. JAMES HOLLAND
The Power of Habit
Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
attributed, Effortless Willpower
If you have a will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure!
LEE LABRADA
FaceBook post, May 13, 2011
He who is firm in will molds the world to himself.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
Hermann und Dorothea
The higher life begins for us ... when we renounce our own will to bow before a Divine law.
GEORGE ELIOT
Romola
A strong will deals with the hard facts of life as a sculptor with his marbles, making them facile and yielding to his purposes, and conquering their stubbornness by a greater stubbornness in himself.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought
A willing heart adds feather to the heel,
And makes the clown a winged Mercury.
JOANNA BAILLIE
De Montfort
Wishes run over in loquacious impotence, will presses on with laconic energy.
JOHANN CASPAR LAVATER
Aphorisms on Man
Willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven't dealt with the root cause.
RICK WARREN
The Purpose-Driven Life
Most of the time, when you think of willpower, you think of resisting temptation. Those of us who are able to stick to a diet and resist that perfect looking cheesecake sitting on the counter have amazing willpower and you want to be like them. You know you have a chocolate problem, but if only you could have steel reserve, you'd be able to resist. But this is just one aspect of how willpower manifests in your life. Saying yes is often just as important as saying no. When we have a list of tasks to do, but know that we could just watch Netflix all day instead, willpower is what helps you tackle those tasks instead of, or at least before, giving in and watching the latest season of your favorite show. Willpower means doing this especially when you don't want to.
MELODY VAN DE GRAAFF
"The Secret to Creating a Successful Online Business", Huffington Post, March 13, 2017
Willpower apparently gets depleted if we use it too much -- a growing body of research shows resisting repeated temptations takes a mental toll.
FISHER FUNDS
"Fisher Funds: Willpower keeps bears at bay", New Zealand Herald, February 5, 2016
Did you know that your willpower is powered by food? No wonder it's so hard to diet. When we don't eat, our willpower goes down the drain. The best cure is a meal rich in protein, which enables the most optimal willpower.
GLEB TSIPURSKY
"7 Research-Backed Ways To Build And Maintain Your Willpower", Elite Daily, February 4, 2016
Willpower is comparable to a "magic" power because it helps us reach any goal that is important to us. It helps us create a new reality and perform miracles, big and small. It helps us take initiative and then actually put it into practice. It helps us become the person we really want to be.
BELLA TINDALE
The Magic of Willpower
Acknowledge that willpower is a fickle thing, instead of punishing yourself for lapses in judgment.
JAMIE DUCHARME
"Is This Phenomenon Ruining Your Healthy Diet?", Boston Magazine, March 15, 2017
For most of us, the classic test of willpower is resisting temptation, whether the temptress is a doughnut, a cigarette, a clearance sale, or a one-night stand. When people say, "I have no willpower," what they usually mean is, "I have trouble saying no when my mouth, stomach, heart, or (fill in your anatomical part) wants to say yes."
KELLY MCGONIGAL
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It