Imagination Always Trumps Willpower

Your willpower may not be as helpful as you think

Willpower is the conscious part of you that you put to work when you are determined to do something. The sheer force of will can move mountains, at least in the short run. But used alone, willpower almost always fails.

Imagination puts your unconscious mind to work to transform your thoughts into reality. Virtually every major value sprang into existence only after it was first imagined.

How often have you heard the link between willpower and staying on a diet or willpower and sticking to a training routine? Unless you first anchor the willingness to eat properly or to stick to regular exercise to imagination, you will most likely fail. That’s why most people gain weight back as fast as they lose it and why so many health club memberships go unused.

Here’s all you need to do to succeed from now on:

See yourself as you want to be.

Imagine enjoying your ideal lean powerful body. See yourself as lovable, energetic, attractive and happy. Imagine being as fit as you want to be. Keep these images in your mind constantly. Visualize them just before you nod off to sleep and right after you wake up in the morning.

Monitor your thoughts.

If you notice a negative or unhealthy thought, immediately replace it with a positive strong thought. Your mind will not be able to hold more than one thought at a time. When you think it does, it is actually jumping from one thought to another.

So put self-talk to work for you.

You are constantly talking to yourself. Your subconscious remembers every word and eventually transforms those words into reality.

What do you want your reality to be? If you want to eat well and if you want to stick to regular exercise routines, see yourself doing so, and imagine your ideal results. Once you permanently establish these pictures in your mind, you naturally gravitate to the activities and habits that deliver you your rewards.

You will see it from the outside, only after you see it from the inside. No stress. No mess. No willpower needed. Until you replace your old negative images with your new positive images, you will continue finding reasons to abandon your diet and to skip workouts.

If you don’t believe me, listen to Einstein who said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Here’s a tip for you self-control pros: meditate on your goals. Another way to meet your goals is to make sure you are well-rested.  And to achieve healthy weight maintenance, dive into your emotions.