Quitting smoking. Losing weight. Starting a business.Writing a book. Making more money. Becoming debt free.
For anything you want to achieve in life, the steps to achieving it are easy to search for, come up with, write down on a napkin, and follow.
Yet every day, people continue to smoke, gain weight, remain fiscally irresponsible and stay at a job they dislike.
Every day, they do the exact opposite of what they say they want to do. Why?
Say hello to the Akrasia Effect.
Human beings have been starting and stopping projects, setting but not achieving goals, intending but not following through on resolutions…and procrastinating for centuries.
Not one of us is immune to this behavior pattern.
The problem is so timeless, in fact, that ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this type of behavior: Akrasia.
Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment through weakness of will.
It is when you do one thing even though you know you should do something else.
Akrasia is what prevents you from following through on what you set out to do.
It prevents writers from writing, painters from painting, runners from running, and coaches from coaching.
In my book, it’s a beast of a problem that warrants a beast of a solution.
BUCKLE UP because here it comes…
Precisely because Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment through weakness of will…it’s in your best interest to learn how to strengthen and enforce your will over any form of behavioral or psychological weakness.
So what is this thing called will or willpower, and how do you use it to overcome the damaging effects of akrasia?
Willpower is your superpower…
It is an undeniable declaration that you are going to succeed…it is the ability to give yourself a command, a direction, a target and then to do what it takes to secure it.
There is no command as great nor any words as powerful as the words “I WILL.”
There is strength, conviction, depth, solidarity, decision, focus, confidence, and sheer determination in the loud, ringing tone which punctuates their delivery.
The words “I WILL” send an advance message to your mind and to those within earshot.
It’s a message of endurance, of triumph over adversity, of victory in the face of great resistance, of the strength, will, and personal constitution to stare down akrasia and PERSEVERE UNTIL THE END.
I will change my life.
I will lose this weight and get in excellent physical shape.
I will be financially independent and debt-free.
I will set the right example and raise excellent kids.
I will get through this better, stronger and smarter.
I will not be defined by this.
I will turn this around and emerge victorious.
I will make this my best year ever.
I will succeed…I will not be denied victory.
In the absence of willpower…without the ongoing enforcement of will, the most complete collection of talents, the best education money can buy and the most honorable intentions in the world are wholly worthless.
ENFORCE YOUR WILL
When it comes to execution, don’t wait for the mood or feeling to hit you…that’s nothing more than a cop out.
You accomplish nothing that way and if you are truly in it to win it…your mind and your will must know that it’s time to get to work.
Every morning is destiny’s way of telling you that your purpose is not yet done, that there is still work to do…that today will present both opportunities to advance your situation as well as obstacles that are armed and ready to test your resolve.
Therefore, mentally prepare yourself to pounce on every opportunity and determine in advance that nothing can stop you from reaching your goal in the same way that no force can stop the sun from rising or the tide from advancing.
Most people fail to achieve their goals not because a lack of desire, but because of a lack of will…that’s why you must learn to enforce your will, to overcome resistance and to put one determined foot in front of the other until the end.
Gary Ryan Blair
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