WILL POWER AND SELF-DISCIPLINE (Think Better, Feel Better)

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You go to the highest level of your life only if you begin to develop your WILL-POWER and SELF-DISCIPLINE, to experience an incredible multiplication in your life.

Sometimes, you wish to go for a walk, knowing how good it is for your health and how wonderful you feel afterwards, yet, you feel too lazy, and prefer to watch TV instead. You might be aware of the fact that you need to change your eating habits or stop smoking; yet, you don't have the inner power and persistence to change these habits.

Does this sound familiar? How many times have you said, "I wish I had will power and self discipline"? How many times have you started to do something, only to quit after a short while? We all have had experiences like these.

Everyone possesses some addictions or habits they wish they could overcome, such as smoking, excessive eating, laziness, procrastination or lack of assertiveness. To overcome these habits or addictions, one needs to have will power and self discipline. They make a great difference in everyone's life, and bring inner strength, self mastery and decisiveness.

According to Ramez Sasson:

WILL POWER is the ability to overcome laziness and procrastination. It is the ability to control or reject unnecessary or harmful impulses. It is the ability to arrive to a decision and follow it with perseverance until its successful accomplishment. It is the inner power that overcomes the desire to indulge in unnecessary and useless habits, and the inner strength that overcomes inner emotional and mental resistance for taking action. It is one of the corner stones of success, both spiritual and material.

SELF-DISCIPLINE is the companion of will power. It endows with the stamina to persevere in whatever one does. It bestows the ability to withstand hardships and difficulties, whether physical, emotional or mental. It grants the ability to reject immediate satisfaction, in order to gain something better, but which requires effort and time.

Everyone has inner, unconscious, or partly conscious impulses, making them say or do things they later regret saying or doing. On many occasions people do not think before they talk or act. By developing these two powers, one becomes conscious of the inner, subconscious impulses, and gains the ability to reject them when they are not for his/her own good.

Will power and self-discipline help us to choose our behavior and reactions, instead of being ruled by them. Their possession won't make life dull or boring. On the contrary, you will feel more powerful, in charge of yourself and your surroundings, happy and satisfied.

How many times have you felt too weak, lazy or shy to do something you wanted to do? You can gain inner strength, initiative and the ability to make decisions and follow them. Believe me; it is not difficult to develop these two powers. If you are earnest and are willing to become stronger, you will certainly succeed.

As we go on, you will get some exercises and techniques for developing these abilities. These simple, but effective exercises can be performed everywhere and at any time. Go slowly and gradually, and you will see how you get stronger and your life start improving.

There is a misconception in the public mind regarding will power. It is erroneously thought to be something strenuous and difficult, and that one has to exert and tense the body and mind when expressing it. It is a completely wrong concept. This is one of the reasons why people avoid using it, though they are conscious of its benefits. They acknowledge the fact that the employment of will power in their life and affairs will greatly help them, and that they need to strengthen it, yet they do nothing about it.

Will power gets stronger by holding back and not allowing the expression of unimportant, unnecessary and unhealthy thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. If this saved energy is not allowed expression, it is stored inside you like a battery, and it becomes available at the time of need. By practicing appropriate exercises, you develop your powers the same way, as a person who trains his/her muscles in order to strengthen them.

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Developing Will Power and Self Discipline

An effective method for developing and improving these abilities is to perform certain actions or activities, which you would rather avoid doing due to laziness, procrastination, weakness, shyness, etc. By doing something that you do not like doing or are too lazy to do, you overcome your subconscious resistance, train your mind to obey you, strengthen your inner powers and gain inner strength. Muscles get stronger by resisting the power of the barbells. Inner strength is attained by overcoming inner resistance.

Remember, strengthening one of these abilities, automatically strengthens the other one.

Here are a few exercises:

1. You are sitting in a bus or train and an old man or woman, or a pregnant lady walks in. Stand up and give up your seat even if you prefer to stay seated. Do this not just because it is polite, but because you are doing something that you are reluctant to do. In this way you are overcoming the resistance of your body, mind and feelings.

2. There are dishes in the sink that need washing, and you postpone washing them for later. Get up and wash them now. Do not let your laziness overcome you. When you know that in this way you are developing your will power, and if you are convinced of the importance of will power in your life, it will be easier for you to do whatever you have to do.

3. You come home tired from work and sit in front of the T.V. because you feel too lazy and tired to go and wash. Do not obey the desire to just sit, but go and have a shower

4. You may know your body needs some physical exercise, but instead you keep on sitting doing nothing or watching a movie. Get up and walk, run or do some other physical exercise.

5. Do you like your coffee with sugar? Then for a whole week decide to drink it without sugar. You like to drink three cups of coffee each day? For a week drink only two.

6. Sometimes, when you want to say something that is not important, decide not to say it.

7. Don't read some unimportant gossip in the newspaper, even if you want to.

8. You have a desire to eat something not too healthy. For the sake of the exercise refuse the desire.

9. If you find yourself thinking unimportant, unnecessary, negative thoughts, try to develop lack of interest in them, by thinking about their futility.

10. Overcome your laziness. Convince yourself of the importance of what is to be done. Convince your mind that you gain inner strength when you act and do things, in spite of laziness, reluctancy or senseless inner resistance.

Never say that you cannot follow the above exercises, because you certainly can. Be persistent no matter what. Motivate yourself by thinking about of the importance of performing the exercises, and the inner power and strength you will gain.

Trying to attempt too many exercises when you are still a beginner, might end in disappointment. It is better to start training yourself through easier exercises at first, and gradually increase the number and difficulty of the exercises. Practice will improve and increase your power, giving you a lot of satisfaction.

Most of these exercises can be practiced anywhere, anytime. You do not have to devote special times for them. Believe me, they are very effective. Practicing them enables you to be strong and exercise will power and self-discipline in everything you do. This power would become available whenever needed.

If you practice weight lifting, running or doing aerobics, you strengthen your body. When you need to move something heavy, you have the strength for it. By studying French each day, you will be able to talk French when you travel to France. The same thing happens with will power and self-discipline. By strengthening them, they become available whenever they are needed.

It is important to remember not to choose exercises that might affect adversely your body or health. Deny and give up what is not necessary, futile or is harmful, but not what is vital for your well being. Always use your reason and common sense, so that you do no damage to yourself.

If for the sake of an exercise, you stop doing something that you usually do, and overcome the inner resistance concerning it, you may resume doing it, if it is not harmful. For example, if you love drinking orange juice, and for the sake of an exercise you switch to drinking apple juice, after doing so for some time and after it makes no great difference to you, you may go back to drinking orange juice, if you still like it. The point here is to develop inner strength, not making life difficult for you or continue doing things you don't like to do.

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Advantages of Possessing Strong Will Power and Self Discipline

You need both of them in order to rule your thoughts and to be the boss of your mind. The stronger they are, the more control you have over your thoughts, and consequently your powers of concentration get stronger.

When you are the master of your mind you enjoy inner peace and happiness. Outer events do not sway you, and circumstances have no power over your peace of mind. This might sound too unreal for you, but experience will prove to you that all the above is true.

These abilities are essential for self growth, spiritual growth and meditation. They give you control over your daily life, help you improve your habits and behavior, and they are the keys to every success.

Practice the exercises presented here earnestly and persistently and you will go really far. Hope you find this very useful. To do these effectively and efficiently, I suggest you do a proper planning of your time daily. First you do an overall planning on your self-management, outline your activities (by this, I mean those things that are important to you,), then arrange your priorities, take time to do these, you can start with a draft and do re-adjustment till it soothes your heart.

HELPFUL TIPS

It's simple, follow these steps

1. Decide on what you really want for your life.

2. Outline activities you know will aid your achievement of these things you want for your life (First, A draft).

3. Then arrange your priorities.

4. Mark them as

HI (High Importance), HU (High Urgency); (Take very seriously and do it first)

HI (High Importance), LU (Low Urgency); (Set deadlines and follow it strictly)

LI (Low Importance), HU (High Urgency); (Delegation can help in case of a task)

LI (Low Importance), LU (Low Urgency). (Take your time on this, finish up the urgent ones first)

These could help you in tasks you have to carry out say on your personal job or office work; it really helps in achieving set goals, since it calls for strict acceptance of what’s valuable in order of importance.

Don’t always do what needs to be done first, second. Make sure you always prioritize; it is good for you in all areas of life. It makes you be in charge of your time and action on a daily basis, which is very crucial to your success and well being.

When you do all these rightly, you consciously or unconsciously develop you WILL POWER and SELF-DISCIPLINE. You are born to do it right, don’t slow yourself down wrongly, leaving your success at stake.

Decide what to do and do it, decide what not to do and don’t do it.

THE POWER OF CREATIVE VISUALIZATION

Hello Dear,

What's good?

What have you been thinking lately. You know, the mind plays an important role in achieving every kind of success and goal, minor, everyday goals or major goals.

With minor or day-to-day goals, one usually knows what he wants to do or get, but when it comes to major goals, most people don't know what they really desire. They desire to do something big, but they don't know what. You may have a vague idea, but this is not enough. To accomplish anything, and to use your mind power, you have to know exactly what it is you want to do. To focus your mind power on a goal, you need to have a clear and well defined goal. How do you go about that?

It's easy. Have you seen the book written by SHAKTI GAWAIN on CREATIVE VISUALIZATION (It's about using the power of your imagination to create what you want in your life). I have read it and found it very useful. To be honest with you, am about reading it the second time to confirm I have not missed out anything, coz it's more than just a book, it's a combination of powerful straegies that takes your mind through the path ofsuccess in life if well read and carefully digested.

Since this book is good for me, then every other person needs it. Please find the below link for the online copy of the book for your enjoyment as it is not possible for me to pass to you the hardcopy.

http://books.google.com.ng/books?id=Pw8inb9L0ecC&dq=Shakti+Gawain&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&ei=VHndSuzkN46qlAel7pCoAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I hope you'll read and enjoy it, then get back to me.

Best Regards.
Yetunde

7 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR ATTITUDE @ WORK.

"I love the part of my job where I get to talk to customers and help them solve their problems, but I just can’t stand all the paperwork. It’s getting to the point where I’m thinking of looking for another job." Heather went on to explain that she likes her company, and enjoys the people she works with, and doesn’t want to feel like she’s being driven from a good job by the paperwork.
"The paperwork is just so de-motivating!" she explained.

Have you ever felt like Heather? Are there tasks that you truly enjoy and find motivating, and others that really turn you off? Is finding a new job the only answer? Probably not, because almost every job contains elements that motivate you and others that de-motivate you. The secret is knowing how tackle the tasks you’d rather avoid.

Here are seven strategies you can try:

1. You CAN do it. Low motivation doesn’t mean you CAN’T do something, it just means you prefer not to.

2. Have realistic expectations of yourself. Having low motivation means you may not enjoy the task, and it will take you longer and use more energy than someone with high motivation. Don’t compare your productivity to someone who thrives on the very task you detest.

3. Determine if "Adequate" is good enough. Is it imperative that you be excellent in this particular area? If you have low motivation, you can probably be adequate with enough training and practice, but being "Excellent" may be beyond reach.

4. Reassign the work. Can this task be given to someone else? Perhaps there is someone with high motivation who would enjoy this work.

5. Partner with someone who is strong in this area. This the Rogers and Hammerstein approach. An example would be the successful sales person who relies on her assistant to do all the paperwork.

6. Create a system or use a tool. I know of a professional with high talent for creativity, but low talent for details and capturing all his good ideas. He finally decided to carry a pocket tape recorder in a leather case on his belt. This allows him to make verbal notes to himself on the fly.

7. Ask for reassignment. One of our clients who had always been a successful project manager was floundering in his new role. The reason was that he had very high motivation for routine, methodical procedures. He needed lots of structure and order in his environment. Unfortunately, he was assigned to develop new products in a start-up company, and there were no rules, no structure. His best option was to accept reassignment to a role that allowed him to create processes and procedures for the new venture.

Very, very few people are motivated by all the tasks in their job description. That’s simply because no one, including you, is motivated to do everything. We all have areas of low motivation. The most successful people are the ones who acknowledge these areas, and apply the strategies listed above.

FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY

(By Dr. John C. Maxwell)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into wealth and prestige, and as a young Harvard graduate, he seemed destined for success. By the age of 30 he was elected as a state senator, and a few years later he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

However, shortly before Roosevelt turned 40, tragedy struck when he contracted polio. It's hard to imagine the fear he must have felt upon suddenly losing motion in his arms and legs. FDR could have let the fear of living with polio debilitate him, but he rose above it. Through therapy, he regained the use of his hands, and he learned to walk with braces. Eight years later he became Governor of New York, and he was eventually elected President of the United States.

Interestingly enough, when Roosevelt became President, the American nation was paralyzed. How appropriate that a person who had personally conquered fear would lead a nation filled with fear. In steering the country through the Great Depression and World War II, FDR put his stamp on society and gained notoriety as one of the greatest American leaders of the 20th century.

Facts about Fear

1) Every generation experiences fear.

In the past 100 years alone, Americans have felt the fears of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the prospects of nuclear war with the Soviet empire, international terrorism, and the present financial recession. Our fears change with the time in which we live, but every generation has fears.

2) Every individual has fears.

Each person has something they're afraid of. Commonly held phobias include public speaking, sickness, insects, heights, loneliness, or financial problems. Leaders aren't immune to fear, either. Peter the Great trembled and wept whenever he had to cross a bridge. Julius Caesar was terrified by thunder and would hide in a cave during severe storms.

3) Fear is destructive

Upon taking office, FDR saw the crippling effects of fear creeping across the USA. That's why, in his first inaugural address, he famously told Americas, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Let's look at some of the ways fear undermines leadership.

Destructive Effects of Fear

1) Fear breeds more fear

By avoiding what we're afraid of, our fear breeds lack of experience. In turn, inexperience breeds ignorance, which results in even more fear. It's a vicious, downward cycle.

2) Inaction

Fear paralyzes and immobilizes us. In the words of John F. Kennedy, "There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."

3) Divided thinking

Fear removes focus from a person's life. Like worry, fear divides the mind and prevents concentrated thinking.

4) Isolation

We withdraw from others in an effort not to have our fears exposed. As Michael Pritchard said, "Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."

5) Procrastination

We delay what we're scared to do. In my opinion, the only person worse than a quitter is the person afraid to begin.

6) Misused energy

Fear is the energy to do your worst in a new situation. I compare fear to gunning the engine when your car is in neutral. You're making lots of noise, but there's no accomplishment.

Three Responses to Fear

1) We Can Avoid Fears

2) We Can Wait for Fear to Magically Disappear

3) We Can Face Our Fears and Overcome Them

Of course, there's only one healthy response to fear-facing it courageously. Fear undercuts personal dynamism. Instead of self-confidently emitting enthusiasm, fear causes charisma to erode and gradually robs a leader of influence.

How to Constructively Face Fear

1) Discover the foundation of fear.

Fear usually resides in feelings rather than facts. Drill down into your emotions to figure out the basis of your fears.

2) Admit your fears

We never help people by trying to cover up our failures. Admit them and realize you'll make them. Something about owning up to our failures helps us deal with the fear of making them.

3) Accept fear as the price of progress.

We have the terrible idea that we can eventually rid ourselves of fear. However, if you want to grow, then you will encounter fears the rest of your life. The good news: each victory over fear adds to your confidence and helps you to overcome fear again in the future.

4) Develop a burning desire within you.

Get red hot. Desire propels you to go where you're afraid to go and to do what you're scared to do.

5) Focus on what you can control.

For example, I can control my attitude, but I can't control the actions of others. I can control my calendar, but I can't control life circumstances. Remember: it's not what happens to you, but what happens in you that counts.

6) Feed the right emotion and starve the wrong one.

We have both fear and courage within ourselves. Here's what I've learned: you cannot purge either one. However, you can weaken the emotion of fear by starving it. Whichever impulse we feed dominates. When we feel fear, but act anyway, we deprive fear of nourishment and strengthen the impulse of courage inside of us.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line, it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." (A quote from FDR's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, a fantastic leader in her own right.)

HOW OPTIMISTIC ARE YOU?

It has been three days since you left a voicemail message asking your friend to call you, and you haven’t heard a word. You reject the notion that she doesn’t like you anymore, and choose to believe she must bereally busy with important and exciting things.

Congratulations! You chose optimism over pessimism, and will probably live longer for it.

Optimism has been shown to improve the quality of life (yours and those around you), and several studies have linked optimism with longevity. In fact, a recently concluded 10-year study showed that pessimistic men were twice as likely to experience angina and heart attack as optimistic men. Twice! And that’s independent of all other health-related factors.

Optimists often have more friends. Think about it. Would you rather hang out with a doom-and-gloomer, or with someone who always sees the opportunity and potential in life’s circumstances? That’s why optimists tend to get hired before pessimists.

While some people naturally view the glass as half-full, optimism turns out to be a learned behavior. You can choose an optimistic response to the events that come your way.

I encourage you to invest in yourself and see how optimistic you really are. It could turn out to be an important step in improving the quality of your life.