For my “I want” challenge, my goal is to get my work done on time and reduce the amount of stress when preparing for each assignment. Ever since I was young, I would habitually let procrastination determine the outcome of my life. In the past, I would have high hopes for improvement by trying different tactics to increase my productivity; this meant I would set strict time goals for deadlines and surround myself in a peaceful environment to stay focused. The result usually meant rushing information and feeling stressed to make sure everything was perfect to fit the needed requirements. Now, I realized that allowing this bad habit into my routine, I am ultimately causing unnecessary stress and missed opportunities that I will never get back. For my “I want” challenge, I will be successful once I can complete at least 50% of my assignments in this winter semester at least 24 hours before they are officially due. With the habit of procrastination, you are always waiting until the very last moment to get the work done with the sense of tension in the brain. However, once I actively use the proper time management skills and stress relief strategies, I will be able to set the goals needed and finish them well before the anticipated deadline.
Meditation is defined as a mental exercise for the intent of achieving a higher level of spiritual awareness (“Merriam Webster,” n.d.). Meditation is a powerful method that can be used for a wide variety of willpower skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control and self-awareness (“LivingFlow,” 2017). Meditation is done by with a rhythmic breathing technique that is called “Breath focus” that is used for training your brain and increasing your willpower. Research shows that breath focus meditation reduces stress and teaches the mind how to handle both inner and outer distraction (McGonigal, 2012). With just three hours of meditation practice led to improved attention and self-control. I used meditation and prayer to help me during my willpower challenge. I found that when I used this technique, I could easily decompress from the anxious thoughts that build within my brain to be more focus and renewed spiritually and mentally when I need to gain the strength to overcome any possible setbacks from my willpower challenge (McGonigal, 2012). Scientists have discovered that exercise is the closest thing to a wonder drug for self-control and energy and with a long-term effect that can be as powerful as an antidepressant called Prozac (McGonigal, 2012). Studies have shown that willpower is similar to the muscle of the body and can be tired from overuse and requires food to replenish. I found that exercising has multiple benefits to help enhance the biology of self-control by increasing your heart rate and training your brain’s mental stamina (McGonigal, 2012). I challenged myself with exercising during this semester for a few minutes per day to release the stress from my mind and body. I used low impact stretches that are catered to a beginner level from previous Youtube video that I have watched in the past to succeed in my current willpower challenge.
Similar to exercising, eating well is also very important for your health. Studies have shown that when you consume good-for-you foods, the more willpower you have to gain. Eating healthier can help you to elevate to healthy blood sugar levels, which can help develop more self-control and can more easily resist the temptations that could fail your challenge (McGonigal, 2012). Regarding my eating habits, I believe that I receive low-moderate amounts of blood-sugar levels throughout my entire day. For my willpower challenge, I have made small improvements with my eating habits to eating at the appropriate times of the day and increasing that amount of fruits, vegetables, and fibers in my diet to help support the function of my frontal lobe when I need to use it the most in my challenge. According to the American sleep association, sleep deprivation is defined as not obtaining adequate total sleep (“American sleep association,” 2019). When we survive on less than six hours of sleep a night, our willpower significantly depletes, which makes us more susceptible to stress, cravings, and temptation (McGonigal, 2012). Research shows that the effects of sleep deprivation has disturbing implications towards the health of the brain. When we are sleep deprived, we can be considered to be in a mental state that is similar to mildly intoxication (McGonigal, 2012). By gaining a single good night’s sleep, we can store brain function to an optimal level. Also, studies have shown that taking short naps can help replenish your brain to restore focus and self-control even when you did not get enough sleep the night before (McGonigal, 2012). I found that my sleeping patterns were not very consistent throughout my week. I believe that I was not getting enough sleep in the past since I usually feel exhausted and stressed throughout the day. For that reason, for my willpower challenge, I wanted to improve on this bad habit from getting less than 4 hrs of sleep to gaining a proper 6 -7 hours of undisturbed sleep each night. Sleep deprivation has a lot of adverse effects on the body; especially regarding willpower. To slowly overcoming my willpower challenge I will need enough physical and mental stamina from sleep and nutrition to gain the strength and motivation to overcome any willpower challenges successfully.