An awesome concept I recently read in “The WillPower Instinct” by Kelly McGonigal, is to build will power by increasing your sense of future self.
How many times do we catch ourselves saying, “I will start my diet next week,” or “I will study later.” We have this internal need to delay responsibilities or hardships. We view our future self as more discipline, not as busy, and less distracted. Some how we believe our future self is a better version of our current self. Therefore, it’s best putting things off.
By postponing our commitments, the future self has the additional five extra pounds to shed, pay the unused gym memberships fees, or have health issues that never existed.
Here are a few tips to increasing your sense of future self
- Put yourself in the mindset of the future self. Will the future self be glad that you lost those two pounds? That you aced your exam? You can even write a letter or note to your future self, thanking your self for having the will power to get started.
- Be aware of what is causing the delay of gratification. By knowing the root cause, you can make adjustments. For example, if you can’t seem commit a workout, maybe you need to get more sleep or prioritize your workload.
By being in touch with our future self, it can be a step closer to building will power. I know it has helped me and hope these tips help you.
[…] time, the money, for someone. Meanwhile, doers are those who get it done now. Not later when your future self is […]