Will Power

(sequel to the control blog last week)If we are resolved to give up trying to control life or ourselves, if we are interested in “what is wanted?” rather than “what we want” we need a different technique to make changes.Will power is the ability we have to make productive changes in our self that support a great life.I discovered a useful principal that relates to will power. I call it “pain first, pleasure second.” I don’t mean this as a life principal, but a will power principal.If you look at it almost everything that is good for you and creates lasting pleasure, there is pain first… exercise, healthy eating, meditation, study, stretching, a relationship discussion, letting go of emotional pain, being coached, doing homework, marketing, etc… If I pay my dues first, I get a good benefit.When I think of things that are immediate pleasure first I think of doughnuts, computer games, TV, alcohol, recreational drugs, credit card shopping… you can make your own list of things that are pleasure first. The thing is that there is always the pain that follows it, hangover, excess weight, low energy, debt, …etc.Will power is the ability to move through the pain first to get the benefit.However we have to be careful. Studies have shown that we have only a certain number of will power “points” each day and as we spend them we run out at some point in the day resulting in pizza and a beer after work. We run out of will power, so we want to be selective in how we spend these resources.Once we are in harmony and alignment with life and in the flow, we can begin to direct our life with will power rather than control. Knowing we only have so much of this energy let’s carefully pick how to use this energy in our life so that we can craft our growth, development and pleasure.Most of the things that give us lasting pleasure are created by using small amounts of will power over time, think 1% effort.Things that give us immediate pleasure usually come with some kind of debt attached to them; this does not mean not to enjoy life fully but to manage this kind of debt carefully.Where do you do pleasure first, in a way that gives you pain second?If you had 10 will power points per day how would you spend them?