Meeting planning to achieve our goals is difficult, in fact, if there is one thing many people have in common is precisely the difficulty of being consistent, having the will to keep moving forward on our goals is hard to maintain. Increasing self-control is a really important task for which we have to take responsibility.
The problem is that when we want to do something, along the way, we find motivations that conflict, for example, on the one hand we want to lose weight, on the other hand we like to eat and we want to give ourselves a sweet treat to keep up with the first goal, in the longer term, and resisting the temptation of the moment is difficult.
- The same thing happens in many other situations.
- Would we like to learn something new like a language.
- A skill.
- Playing an instrument ?.
- But it is difficult to get involved in what needs to be done to learn.
- Because it takes a long time and you would have to reduce free time.
- Sleep time.
- Etc.
Increasing self-control and, with it, willpower is necessary for all those who seek personal self-improvement, both to improve their daily tasks and to increase their personal and professional skills, to be the best possible.
Self-control is the ability of the human being to manage our impulses, emotions and behaviors in order to achieve long-term goals, the ability to exercise self-control is what allows us to direct our attention to achieve all kinds of achievements.
There are many proposals to improve self-control and increase willpower, so here are some that are approved by science.
One of the reasons we lose our self-control and see that will completely collapses is that we feel compelled to do something, as if it were from outside, so considering us a free and responsible person for our actions is the basis for increasing self-control.
In fact, research shows that people work better and are better able to deal with stress when they feel in control. If you think things are in someone else’s hands or beyond personal control, the result is probably that they really will be.
In addition, we know that stress can damage the brain and interfere with self-control in the face of choice. According to one study, the attributes of immediate reward have more influence on decisions, whether we’re stressed or stressed.
Researchers found that when people chose different food options after experiencing a stressful period, the taste attributes of foods were more important and there was a higher chance of choosing an unhealthy food compared to people who hadn’t.
In addition, researchers also found that the effects of stress are also visible in the brain. The brains of stressed participants exhibited patterns of connectivity between different regions of the brain, essentially reducing the ability of individuals to exercise self-control over food choice. some of these pathways have been associated with cortisol, a hormone commonly associated with stress.
Scientists say their study indicates that even moderate levels of stress can affect self-control, and explain that this is important because moderate stressors are more common than extreme events and therefore more often influence the self-control decisions of a large part of the population.
Therefore, we need to look for tools and strategies to manage and regulate stress in our lives, in this sense stop to breathe deeply when we feel overwhelmed or when temptation arises it is a good way to control our stress levels and improve our willpower. properly, exercising and meditating also helps.
According to another study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, self-affirmation facilitates self-control when our resources run out. There was no self-affirmation and less self-control. Self-affirmation, therefore, is excellent as a mental strategy that reduces the likelihood of a failure of self-control.
A good example of this is the difference between saying “I can’t” and “I can’t. “Has it been shown that to increase self-control in a situation, the expression is used?Isn’t it more effective in helping us stick to the plan and break bad habits.
Every time you say “I can’t,” you create a feedback cycle that reminds you of your limitations. This terminology indicates that you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. So don’t forget to say no?you’re trying to break a bad habit, don’t even punish yourself by saying you can’t.
Mindfulness meditation is more than proven to improve a wide range of skills related to self-control and willpower, including mindfulness, concentration, stress management, impulse control, and mindfulness. I.
Meditation changes both the function and structure of the brain to support and increase self-control. In just eight weeks of short daily meditation training, we already have enough to get results.
Other studies have also shown that meditation is very useful for increasing self-control when trying to eliminate addictions or bad habits?How, for example, to quit smoking? Or to make personal improvements, such as losing weight.