Willpower and self discipline

[Noelle]

I think if you can will yourself to do good things like exercise every day, it makes life so much easier! but i'm at a loss, how does one acquire will power? I am so lazy and indulgent, lol, I make plans and then toss them out the window as soon as something more attractive comes around.

[zeitgeist]

Originally Posted by Noelle

I think if you can will yourself to do good things like exercise every day, it makes life so much easier! but i'm at a loss, how does one acquire will power? I am so lazy and indulgent, lol, I make plans and then toss them out the window as soon as something more attractive comes around.

Excercise and diet is a good way to start - building 'willpower' is a process, the more you have the better you will be at everything you do - being on a spiritual path requires willpower too.

All the best, and may the will to succeed be with you

Zeitgeist

[anghel]

how about rewarding yourself after accomplishing your goals. That works for me. I always think "after I finish this task I'm gonna buy something or go somewhere".

[ZephyrusX]

I use to think of my self as being lazy as well because I had this long list of things that I 'wanted' to accomplish in my life. But, I never seemed to get around to doing certain things. It eventually dawned on me that I actually didn't want to do any of them but knew that if I did I'd be allocated a certain amount of external validation, such as respect. It helps to sort out your goals and try to aim for stuff that would confer you internal validation. In my case, I would do all sorts of things that I truly wanted to do with zest and spirit, so it wasn't accurate to say that I was 'lazy' simply because I imposed all sort of externally valididating goals upon my self that I never really wanted to do in the first place.

That is just one aspect of it anyway... aim for stuff you really want to do (internal validation). How well you can distinguish between internal and external validation depends upon how well you know your self. I'm still working on it my self

My observations may be wrong, but if you just 'toss' your plans out the window, perhaps you didn't have a strong attachment with them to begin with?

[Criseyde]

Me too. I can resist everything except temptation.

But seriously, my mom has complained my whole life that I have no self discipline, and it's kind of true. If I'm not excited about what I'm doing, I don't do it. I've never solved this "problem" (which I no longer consider to be a problem). The only way around it is to do what I want.* Darn.

*e.g. picking my own education/career interests instead of letting my parents tell me to be a doctor (finding out that I am internally motivated was a huge shock to me, I had always thought of myself as lazy too), taking dance classes instead of getting a gym membership, and other bits and pieces. I'm not sure how well this would work if I didn't actually want to do anything.

[Greek Dog]

I have struggled with this issue for some time.

I have found some success in finding ways to strengthen the pre-frontal cortex where the "executive function" resides.

Some of the techniques I have used include EFT, tickling your amygdala, and meditation.

[Angela]

I'm not interested in using willpower -- *just doing* things I don't want to do.

I'm only interested in doing things I'm inspired to do: things that breathe life into me, and things that I breathe life into life by doing.

[ZephyrusX]

I'm not sure how well this would work if I didn't actually want to do anything.

lol - we can take cat naps together in the sun and watch the world fly by