What is willpower?
Willpower is ability to reject useless ideas and harmful habits. It is the ability to decide and pull it trough while overcoming obstacles. An effective technique to improve your willpower is to do things, you would avoid, due procrastination or other reasons. By doing so, your willpower will become stronger by overcoming inner resistance.
​Try the following and see how far your willpower go.
•​Choose to climb up the stairs over taking the elevator.
•​Plan to shower in cold water for a minute or two.
•​If you need to clean the kitchen, do not postpone it to do later. Clean it now.
•​Try giving up sugar in your tea or coffee for one week.
•​Do not read newspaper or look at social media for a few days.
•​Park you car far away, so can walk.
•​What more can you add to the list?

Inner strength. Willpower is displayed in may ways, of which inner strength is one of them. The presence or lack thereof is decisive in whether you will fail or accomplish your goals. See inner strength as your engine driving you forward towards achievement. Inner strength is a vital skill needed for the achievement of goals.
Ways to Build Inner Strength.
•​Remind yourself how you got through past challenges. Do not underestimate yourself.
•​Remind yourself that you will to be ok.
•​Read a motivational book or blog.
•​Make sure you life a healthy lifestyle. Exercise. Be out in nature. Eat healthy and get enough sleep.
•​Do at least one thing that scares you.
•​Take responsibility with no excuses.
•​Set a routine to control what you can. This way you will learn to relax.
•​Surround yourself with positive people.

Perseverance. Try... Do not quit, even if you want to. Perseverance is an important quality towards self discipline. If you to do something despite of obstacles and challenges, you will reach success. You need to have faith and belief, as without them, you will not have motivation to pull trough with your goals.
Ways to improve on perseverance:
•​Establish what your true desire is. Set exact goals you care to achieve.
•​Increase Do research before starting with your plans. Have the skills it takes to complete your goals.
•​Create a step-by-step plan on the steps necessary to achieve your goal.
•​Make a commitment to yourself to keep trying for a specific time period and that you won't quit before that time arrives.
•​To reach success, you need to get out of your comfort zone.
•​Now take action.
•​When time is up, decide whether to continue or change your strategy?
•​It is important not to quit. Identify possible challenges on tour way. Keep on revising.
•​Remain focused and do not get distracted by establishing proper daily habits.
•​Don’t let your thoughts dwell on possible failure. Stay positive.
•​Remember to reward yourself for small achievements on your way.

​For further reading:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Deuteronomy 31:6)
​

​“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela
​

​“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney
​

​​“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
(Joshua 1:9)

‘
​Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.’
 Mary Tyler Moore
​
​Further Reading #RoaringCourage

(Second post in the series about courageous habits and characteristics)

​
There is hope for you - you can learn to stand up for your rights and to not please others in everything you do. Assertiveness is essential for success.  Assertiveness is the key to good communication. It means that you are truthful to your true thoughts, feelings and what you believe in, while at the same time, showing respect for the other person. Assertiveness is to define your limits and choose your values. It is to know when to speak when to be silent, and to maintain your yes or no you
​

 
To be assertive is not to be heartless - it's not the same as selfish.
And It is NOT to trample on others on your way to the top of the ladder of success.
 
Be tactful, but stand up for what you believe in even if you standing alone. This means that you should stand up for what is right even if no one agrees with you, and do the right thing in the face of your fears.

A few assertiveness techniques you may try:

• Respect both yourself and the other people involved.
• Have faith in your own abilities. Find out what your strengths are, use them to defend your position.
• Always begin with a positive statement. A Few examples to try:
• Compliment the other person, and mean it.
• Apologize for anything you may have done wrong.
• Acknowledge the other person. An example: “I can see why you feel that way".

 
When you are developing your assertiveness, you should:

• Value yourself but you should remember your rights are not more important than anyone else's.
• Be aware that each person is responsible for his or her own behavior.
• Express your negative thoughts in a positive manner.

 
Reasons to stand up for your beliefs
The more we compromise our values, the more the negative impact is on our mental wellbeing.
Standing up for your beliefs will increase your self-confidence and develops self-respect, and Integrity.

​Further reading - #RoaringCourage

In a series of blog posts we will be looking at 7 courageous habits and characteristics needed
​to life a bold life. We will start with the importance of decision making.

​ "A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. It's much easier to be told what to do." Marilyn Manson
 
If you are not happy with your life right now, it could be wise to make an effort changing the way you are making decisions. We make dozens of decisions every day, and some of these decisions may have a profound effect on our lives. If we want to progress living a courageous life, we must learn to distinguish between right and wrong and then make decisions that reflect our own values, and not those of someone else. 

​One of the key components to becoming a great decision maker is learning to take full responsibility for your decisions.

- Establish a clear picture of your goals before you make your decision.
- Have a flexible approach towards your decisions.
- When you have to make a big decision, your first step is to get as much information as possible.
- Once a decision is made, act it through.
- Make a list of pros and cons, this is still a helpful method.
- Be relaxed, as you can then think clearer, and make a better choice.
- Do not be impulsive, think about past decisions and do not repeat the same mistakes.

Further reading on living a courageous life...

​ “Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
” (Joshua 1:9)

​“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

​​#RoaringCourage - To identify and acknowledge that fear is affecting you in your life, is the first step towards overcoming any fear. Once you put a fear back of you, you will gain a big boost to your confidence to take you to the next level.
 
Learning how to be courageous means learning to do things despite your fear. If you face fears courageously, they diminish. But, if you back away from fear they will grow until they have all the power over you.

 
The world around you is full of people who took risks that paid off, as they were able put their fears behind them.

You can too! Here are a couple of ways anyone can use to conquer their fears:
 
The first step towards overcoming any fear is to identify it for what it is and acknowledge that fear is affecting you in your life.
 
Get specific about what exactly it is that you're afraid of. What is it that really scares you? Ask yourself when the fear started? Write it on a piece of paper. Writing it down brings it out into the light.  It takes the fear out where it's lurking in the dark in the back of your mind, (where it has power over you) into the light, (outside of you) where you have power over the fear. Now you can do something about it, and take control over it.

​Consider praying for guidance on how to start overcoming the specific fear you has. "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:5-7
 
Avoiding fears only make them worse. Attempt to face it head on. Whatever your fear, if you face it, it should start to get lesser and lesser. The successful people all admire is people who were willing to work and move through their fears in to get where they want to be. "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
 
To live a bold life, you need to consistently take action to build your confidence. Do not settle for less - If you hold back because of doubt or fear, you live small and cheat yourself out of a happy fulfilled life. Life is too short to stay stuck in one spot in time. It's time to let go of your excuses, to be brave, to make an intentional choice to do what it takes and face your fear head on.
 
Anyone can learn how to get trough fear, but many people hold on to their fears, as it's part of whom they are. It is not easy but rather faces your fears instead of avoiding it. In this way, fears power will be taken away and we can learn to defeat it. Push fear back and strip it of its power. Combat the feeling of fear and change it towards gratitude.  Remind yourself of the silver lining in any situation. 
 
Make the outcome of success your driving force. Do not imagine the worst. Control your imagination - If you can imagine the worst, you can also imagine the best. You just need to take back control of your imagination and get yourself to think about all the good things that can happen.
 
 For further reading #RoaringCourage