What is willpower?  According to Wikipedia, it is the ability to exert one’s will over one’s actions.  Willpower is something I wish I had more of, especially when I am around my favorite junk foods, like a large bag of Cheetos or Krispy Kreme donuts.  For most of my life, I associated willpower with routine and mundane activities like eating and shopping (Eat more kale!  You don’t need those Manolo Blanik shoes!)  I never made the connection between willpower and more purposeful activities, like starting a business.  However, a recent article by New York Times op-ed contributors Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang shed some light on this often elusive thing we call willpower and how people who train themselves to increase their willpower capacity can reach long-term success in many areas of their lives. 

Aamodt and Wang say that we can increase our overall willpower capacity by flexing and strengthening our so-called willpower muscle.  In certain studies, people who stuck to an exercise regiment for two months reported increased willpower in other aspects of their lives, such as shopping less impulsively, watching less TV, and eating more healthily.  Learning money-management skills is another way to flex willpower muscle.  The key to growing willpower abilities, according to Aamodt and Wang, is to resist the desire for instant gratification and focus on long-term success when doing activities that require self-control. 

It’s easy to see how willpower is the foundation of building personal wealth.  Whether you are starting a small business or trying to make a million dollars, being able to exert your willpower to take action and to resist certain impulses is one step closer to success.  Instead of spending your entire salary on a house that’s too big or a car that guzzles too much gas, you hoard your cash in anticipation of the Subway franchise that you’re going to start or the investment real estate that you’re going to buy. 

But, just like losing weight, taking action on certain goals that are not related to an immediate consequence is admittedly difficult.  When the doctor tells you that you need to drop a few pounds because you might get heart disease years into the future, all you might hear is “wah wah wah.”  Similarly, you might have certain financial goals that you may want to achieve, but you make little headway because you’re comfortable, you have a stable job, and there is no immediate pressure to move forward.  That’s why strengthening your willpower muscles is critical to success.  As I am writing this post right now (at 10:30 p.m. on a Monday night), I wouldn’t be lying to you if I said that I had to propel myself up off the couch to come over to the computer and start typing.  But once I got over the biggest hurdle - getting started - the rest of the work was downhill from there.  It’s all about exerting willpower to force myself into action.  I think that I’m going to have to put myself on a goal-oriented work regiment.  Everyday, same time, same place.  I’m going to buff up those muscles!

For a humorous and insightful take on how lack of discipline sabotages our chances for success, check out the following post at Bripbrap’s blog: 31Causes of Failure #5 Lack of Self-Discipline.