Why willpower does not work?

We take resolutions to change ourselves for good. The resolutions may be many such as: get your ideal weight, build good relationship, earn certain amount of money etc. Unfortunately, most of the resolutions will not find their ways to their respective final destinations. Typically, our New Year resolution that we take in January eventually dies by February.

In spite of this, there are few who can through this transition phase to reach out the final destination. So, what is the strategy used by this few to really see the smooth path and get into the end result that one deserves. I am writing here my own personal experience & the strategies that I used personally in transforming myself to my higher version.

Interplay: Before describing the strategies, I would like you to first understand certain basics. Our willpower plays a crucial role at the beginning phase. Let us say that we have made a resolution to become fit & we used our willpower to kick start the workouts regime. Remember, resolution means it is something new/unknown and hence we are trying to force ourselves out of our comfort zone. Our old habits that reside in the comfort zone are strong neurological pathways which prohibit the new habit/new neural network that we intend to develop through our new resolution.

Yes, there is an internal conflict between your old habits & your willpower. When the fight happens between these two entities, clearly always the dominant one wins & in this case, the winner is simply your old habits. We are forced again to lead the same lifestyle that we have been leading for years. There is NO change & hence no good transformation. Bottom line is to understand quickly that willpower alone is not good enough for the change to happen. It has to be accompanied with the rightful strategies to undergo the desired transition.

Minds: Willpower is part of the conscious mind & old habits are the design of your subconscious mind. As, we know subconscious mind is 95% active & conscious mind is active for 5% active for all our activities. So, old habits are always the winner.

Strategies: I have used these three key elements: Inspiration, Faith & Controlled ambience that aid me to undergo the transformation.

1.       Inspiration: We need to have some sort of role model who has already achieved the things that we look for. First important thing for us is to get emotionally attached to the goodness of the end results that the role model currently enjoys. Through good emotions, we get the ability to talk to the subconscious mind & make it understands our intention.

2.       Faith: We need to have great faith in ourselves, the tools that we use for the transformation & the person/team that is responsible in providing the tools & techniques to us. Importantly, our belief that the tools & techniques work 100% for you. More the faith, better we could clearly communicate to the subconscious mind.

3.       Ambience: We need to control and design our ambience that helps in achieving our goals. It is not ideal to have fridge full of junk foods when you want to get into your ideal fitness level. Instead, it is good to have some workout charts printed & kept in your vicinity, stuff the fridge with healthy foods, etc. So, designing of ambience is important to avoid the temptation that is driven again by our subconscious mind.