Cannot stop yourself from repeatedly checking your facebook? Can’t avoid that chocolate bar? Doing spontaneous online shopping? All you need to correct these frustrations from your life is a boost of willpower. Many researchers have shown that having higher will power or resistibility to certain things is your key to self control. Self control is one of the most vital factors towards a successful and stress-free lifestyle. The good news in here is that according to many experts, strengthening your will power isn’t as difficult as it might seem to be. For example if your aim is to cut down on food and lose some weight, you can build on your will power by attempting some non-related stuff – like cleaning your room every morning or taking an evening run. Use these 4 top science-backed hacks to attain better self control.
1. Forgive Yourself
How can forgiving your own self connect to gaining willpower? Well, many science researches have shown that feeling regret about older things can decrease your willpower. That’s exactly why people that drink a few extra glasses of booze one night may go on to drink a full canister the next night, only in regret that they have given in to the temptation of alcohol. Instead of doing this you should forgive yourself for giving up on resistance and aim to resist better the next time around.
2. Meditate
Meditation not only improves your self control but it also helps you in improving focus, self awareness and management of your stress. Meditation for as long as eight weeks can bring about astonishing changes in your state of mind making you a better person in one way or another. With all these benefits on its side, meditation should be pretty difficult to let go if you want to improve self control. Just spare a few minutes from your routine to help yourself relax.
3. Smile More Often
Practices that lift your mood or make you happy instantly can be a source of improving willpower. Smiling every time will leave a pleasant impression on people around you along with being good for yourself. In a study, scientists wore the participants off their willpower by making them resist temptations for a while. Then for one group they took advancements to make them happy by showing them funny clips or giving a gift. While on the other hand, second group just rested for a period of time. After that, people from the first group proved to be better at resisting temptation.
4. Avoid Temptation
You need to put some effort in avoiding temptations. The universal concept of “out of sight, out of mind” does actually work in this case. For example, if you put a candy bar on your desk you are more likely to eat it than if it is hidden in your lower drawer. Try to not get to a state where you give your temptation a chance to get the upper hand on you.