In the last article we looked at the anatomy of willpower and how it related to your comfort zone. We established that the size of your comfort zone is directly relatable to the strength of your willpower.
So now let us look at how we can increase the size of your willpower and thus the overall strength of your willpower.
Pushing The Zone
So we have established that willpower is the ability to operate outside of your comfort zone, and that the size of your zone grows with time. Then it only makes sense that if you are able to carry on growing the size of that zone, it will be easier to do hard things.
So the question is how do you do such a thing; can you create a comfort zone that is so big that it grows to encompass things that you previously found uncomfortable?
The answer to that question is a resounding yes!
So going back to the newborn baby analogy we used in the last article, when it is first born it has to eat every half an hour or less. As it stomach grows it can go longer and longer without food, until it reaches adolescence whereby it can go hours without food.
In other words the time it is comfortable without food has grown as its stomach has; so how do we recreate this in our lives?
Your comfort zone is multifaceted, because during the course of your life you take part in activities more varied than simply eating, so let's take a look at some of those activities and how they are related to your comfort zone.
Cold Turkey
How warm do you like your bath or shower? Whatever the temperature is, it perfectly reflects your comfort zone in this area.
So if you want to increase your willpower, you have to take that temperature down a notch or two. So next time you have a shower or run a bath, make it a few degrees cooler than you would usually have it.
This will not be a pleasant sensation, at first, however you will soon get used to it. In other words you will have increased the temperature range you feel comfortable in.
Repeat this until you get all the way to a cold shower or a freezing cold bath. If you're anything like most people, that will sound horrible to you, however this is essential if you want to increase your willpower.
Hunger Games
Most people have two to three meals per day, a lot of us (particularly in the Western world) tend to snack between mealtimes, immediately reacting to our hunger pangs.
This habit, coupled with a lack of exercise is why around 61% of America and 59% of Europe are overweight*. It has nothing to do with under active thyroids or genetics, it is simply too much food and not enough activity.
Put another way, if you live in the United States or Europe, the chances are, that you are eating too much food, and can therefore ignore most of the hunger pangs you get throughout the day.
So if you want to increase your willpower, then it only stands to reason that you should ignore most of the pangs you get.
Next time you get a pang, instead of reaching for that cake bar, or even bit of fruit, simply don't. Also resolve to yourself that once a week, you will not eat anything between the hours of 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. Making sure that you do not stuff yourself before or after those times, and simply eat normally.
*WHO report 2014.
End Of Part One
Hunger and exposure to cold temperatures represent the first two parts of your training. By increasing your resistance to these two stimuli, you will grow the size of your comfort zone, whilst at the same time improve your ability to operate outside it.
As we continue through this series we will look at other parts of the zone and how we can create an iron will within you. Making sure that you have the ability to push yourself further than you ever thought before, and to become the Incredible You! that you know you can.
WHAT DO YOU THINK; ARE THERE ANY OTHER AREAS OF YOUR LIFE WHEREBY YOU CAN PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE FURTHER? WHAT WAS THE LAST HARD THING YOU DID; OR HAVE YOU EVER DONE ANYTHING DIFFICULT?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Incredible You! - The Anatomy Of Willpower - Become A Stronger Person
Title Image: Timothy Eberly on Unsplash