How To Get The Results You Want In Anything You Do!

No matter what’s tempting you to go off track, you can stay the course and get the results you want. Science has discovered that we all have a secret stash of self-control. Here’s how to tap yours.

- Sara Angle

Willpower has a bad reputation. It’s known for being fleeting and hard to summon up. And we’ve bought into it, convinced that our stock is precious and limited. But it’s not true, according to new research. Recent studies show that our willpower is in fact strong, boundless and ready whenever we need it. Excellent news!

“Years ago, several landmark studies showed that willpower could be depleted over time,” says Xiaomeng Xu, an assistant professor of psychology at Idaho State University. From that, experts believed that willpower was like a muscle: The more you used it over the course of a day, the more tired it became. But it turns out that theory was wrong. Newer studies suggest that in many cases, willpower may stay strong no matter how often you use it in a day.

Willpower is actually a tool that you can pull out whenever you need it. And while some projects demand more of it – say, pushing through a half marathon as opposed to jogging a few kilometres – it works pretty much the same way every time as long as you know how to wield it properly.

Willpower is the force behind virtually every goal you strive for, so this finding could have major implications for your health. “If you have greater amounts of willpower, you’re healthier and less stressed,” says John Lurquin, a researcher at the University of Colorado. Luckily, harnessing its full power is just a matter of changing the way you think about it. These four key strategies will help you do just that.