Have you ever had this struggle? You’re out with family or friends and you really don’t want to break your diet. You tell yourself “don’t eat any of that stuff!” But “that stuff” keeps winking at you. Your will power gets you so far but eventually you can’t resist any longer. You find a plausible justification for eating “that stuff”. You feel bad about it but can’t stop yourself.
Your imagination dominates your will. If you will your heart to beat faster you can’t do it. But if you vividly imagine a scary situation your heart rate will increase.
Elite athletes know this well. They use mental rehearsal to increase skill, performance, and the chances of success. When you vividly imagine an outcome (hitting a winning shot in tennis), you programme your nervous system to automatically respond that way.
The trouble is people use mental rehearsal to programme the very behaviours they want to avoid. They imagine themselves bingeing and then try to use their will power to avoid it. But will power is a conscious activity and it’s exhausting.
Now some people will tell you that all you need to succeed is to vividly imagine success. If you’re familiar with the law of attraction you know what I’m talking about.
The truth is you need both mental rehearsal and will power. Will power is the ability to push on when you really don’t want to – when things are really tough, or just a pain in the arse. Sometimes you just have to be willing to get uncomfortable.
The better you get at mental rehearsal the less you will suffer, because you’ll learn to eliminate cravings, or loss of motivation by directing your focus on what you really want and the big picture. But that doesn’t altogether eliminate the necessity to be tenacious, and willing to do the hard work when it is required.
For unstoppable motivation you need both mental rehearsal and will power.
Author: David Godfrey