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Jay Rifenbary's Blog
Willpower - An Ageless Attribute
The
motivation to achieve personally and professionally can be a daunting task. The
demands of life, and the distractions that occur in the process of maintaining
life balance can be a formidable challenge. Your willpower to drive forward
directly relates to your strength of character, and a solid foundation of
self-respect. Your strength of character provides a platform for your life’s
purpose, and your self-respect generates your level of confidence to accomplish
that purpose. How much do you believe in yourself and the principles that you
stand for? How strong is your willpower to work hard, parent effectively, live
an honorable and personally honest life, and live healthy? Have you given up,
or do you believe you have a purpose, and the ability to continue to contribute
to yourself, and more importantly those around you?
Recently, my mother who is
88 and resides at Wesley Health Care Center, spent ten days at Saratoga
Hospital as a result of a fall. In the immediate aftermath of her fall and
seeing her physical state, as a family we had doubts in her ability to pull
through. To our amazement once again, she had the will, the desire, and the
zest to persevere and make a remarkable recovery. Although the road for her to
return to her previous state of health is tenuous, her determination to
continue her life with purpose is exemplary. What are the roots to a resilient
willpower, and how do you harness it? Willpower is defined as, “the ability to
carry out one’s decisions, wishes, or plans; strength of mind; self-control.”
To harness the will to be resilient is dependent on the very core values that
motivate you to live a purposeful life. Without a foundation of core values
that sustain you, your life will have little direction. Your attitude will be
negatively impacted, and therefore your will to persevere diminished. As
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes
from an indomitable will.”
Ethical core
values also develop the willpower to cast away temptation and defeat elements
of evil. If you genuinely believe that honesty is a vital characteristic of a
fulfilled purpose, then you will have greater willpower to avoid the temptation
of dishonesty. If integrity is a core value that you genuinely believe defines
who you are, then you will have greater willpower to fend off situations that
might compromise your integrity. It is having the willpower to do the right
thing over any evil temptation that continually builds your character and
self-respect. How many individuals who succumbed to unethical or unhealthy
temptations are proud of themselves, and free in thought and spirit in the
aftermath of forfeiting the willpower to do the right thing? Are you exercising
your willpower on a daily basis that reinforces the very core values you
believe in? Do you have the willpower to set that example?
The American
Psychological Association expanded on the basic definition of willpower by
including more specific behavioral applications. These include, * the ability
to delay gratification, resisting short-term temptations in order to meet
long-term goals, * the capacity to override an unwanted thought, feeling or
impulse, * the ability to employ a “cool” cognitive system of behavior rather
than a “hot” emotional system, * conscious, effortful regulation of the self by
the self, and * a limited resource capable of being depleted. I believe we all
have the potential to develop the willpower to push us toward the
accomplishment of our desires and aspirations. It is the continuous process of
putting into practice the core values you believe in that generates that power.
It is also making a concerted effort to ask yourself in harmful and tempting
situations, what will be the consequences in lacking the willpower to do the
right thing? What hurt might I cause
others or myself if I lack that willpower?
Although the willpower of my mother did not revolve around resisting temptation, she had the willpower to be resilient through her physical and emotional challenges. She had the willpower to not relinquish a purposeful belief in herself. As former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.”
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