5 Essential Ways Everyone Should Hack Their Willpower

 Let’s be real. Willpower is a hard thing to learn. And, now that summer is over, our drive to stay fit for the beach has started waning 1. As the beautiful leaves start turning and fall rolls in, it feels really nice to start wearing pants again and hiding behind sweaters. On the contrary, though, this is the very moment to dig deep and keep on working toward a healthier lifestyle.

Feeling awesome 2 doesn’t just serve us in the summer. It serves us for the entire year, for our entire lives.
In my experience, willpower and brainpower are both like batteries — they have a finite limit of use for each day. The best way to have more willpower and more brainpower is to find some useful ways to hack 3 them!
Check out some ways you can use this moment to hack your willpower and start feeling more awesome today.
1. Set up reminders 4
Each and every day is different, but our goals don’t have to be. The problem with hectic 5 days, though, is that our goals and projects sometimes get hidden behind all of the to-do’s and busy meetings.
In my experience, there are a few easy ways to remember what’s truly important and what I truly want to work on. When the going gets tough, help yourself out by setting up some reminders. That way, you know you’ll remember what’s important when you really need it.
Technology tools help keep what’s important top of mind. (Check out apps like Tasker on Android, Reminders on iPhone or Things on Mac.) Here are a few ways I use these tools to provide me with important reminders:
Gratitude 6 journals go a long way to remind you to take a moment and jot 7 down what you are grateful for. If I can’t remember to make time to do this, I’ll have a mobile app remind me.
Drinking more water is crucial to getting healthier and feeling better. If I can’t remember to do this, I’ll have a mobile app remind me.
Leaving work to hit the gym isn’t an easy thing to do. If I can’t muster 8 the energy to do this, I’ll have a mobile app remind me to play extra-fun music on the drive over.
Catching 9 up with long-lost friends is the last thing on my to-do list, but it always makes me feel so awesome after I’ve done it. If I can’t remember to do this, I’ll have a mobile app remind me of who I’m losing touch with.
2. Put it in your calendar
There is no such thing as “I have no time for ______.” Whatever you can’t find time for probably isn’t too time-consuming — and it’s also not a priority. You know what? It probably should be a priority, starting now.
When I complain about my lack of time or how tired I feel, I sit down and re-evaluate my calendar. Just like we imagined willpower being a battery, it’s also a battery that is completely affected 10 by energy levels. Feeling tired is terrible for my willpower! Once I sit down with my calendar, I make sure that I have scheduled in time to do all the things I love. Here are a few ways I do that:
Morning time is my fitness time. It’s important to me to get my workout in before breakfast, so I make sure to not set any meetings before 9AM. (This also helps me make sure I’m getting enough exercise in each week — and then I never have to worry about it again.)
Meeting up with friends makes me feel much more relaxed and awesome, so I schedule in some time for lunch or coffee with a few of my closest friends or family.
Finding the time to read is tough when there is so much going on — but it’s important to me. I put it in the calendar, and I don’t miss a reading date.
3. Bet money that you’ll succeed
How amazing would it be if you could actually bet your way to willpower? While money isn’t always the funnest thing to talk about, it can actually serve as a great motivator when used in the right way. This whole “betting willpower” can be applied 11 to a bunch of self-improvement areas, believe it or not. Here are a few examples:
It’d be a lot harder to skip your workout if you knew it would cost you $10, right? That’s exactly what I found in GymPact.
My husband has a hard time dedicating time to reading, so we made a bet. We each read 20 pages of a book each day, and whoever fails to do so pays up!
Cleaning the house and doing chores isn’t too fun, until I discovered the game Chore Wars. What it does is help motivate families or roommates to clean by competing! It’s actually pretty fun.
4. Set up systems to keep you on track
I can’t tell you how hard it is to keep myself off social networking websites — especially when I have difficult work to do. You probably venture off into time-suck websites way more often than you think, too! Checking these sites become like a crutch 12 and a truly bad habit. Whenever we have even a minor 13 mind freeze, we revert 14 to these distractions 15 to ease the pain.
When willpower isn’t enough, there are tools to force us to create new habits. These are the best willpower hacks 16 I’ve ever encountered.
There’s a tool for Mac called Freedom that blocks the internet entirely 17. It means I’m disconnected for however long I choose. Once I enable Freedom, there is nothing I can do to get back online — except work while I wait!
Very similar to Freedom is a tool called SelfControl. This one allows me to stay online, but it helps me block out certain websites that I want to avoid. Whenever I have to get work done (and the internet is necessary), I use SelfControl to block out social networking sites. I get much more work done!
5. Make it impossible to fail
I find that the best way to secure the willpower to accomplish my goals and make lasting 18 change is to have a clear purpose. My biggest wins have been the few times I was so clear and dedicated 19 to my purpose that failure felt impossible. For example:
Being healthy for my future kids is what keeps me motivated to be consistent about working out. (For me, it’s a stronger purpose than fitting into skinny jeans.)
Providing my team with challenging tasks keeps me motivated to make my business work and grow. (For me, it’s a stronger purpose than making money.)
Showing my parents that I am grateful for all they have done for me keeps me motivated to visit with them regularly. Maybe even too often! (For me, it’s a stronger purpose than visiting them because it’s what I’m supposed to do.)
That’s my take my hacking 20 willpower!
On your path to hacking willpower and increasing your ability to feel awesome, keep these tips in mind. Some small hacking could be secret to your success.
What tips have been useful to you along the way?