Self-Control and Score Outcomes
Overcoming adversity and competition to achieve great success always depends, at least in part, on willpower. No less a luminary than the Dalai Lama joined the chorus in praise of this trait when he said, “We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything.” I’ve shared some thoughts on how willpower leads to higher scores as well. Willpower can be defined as the ability to resist urges, impulses, and short-term gratification in pursuit of long-term goals or objectives. We’re always fighting urges to eat what we shouldn’t, pay attention to something other than what is in front of us, or walk away from what we’re doing and just go back to bed. As a limited resource, willpower only lasts so long, especially under sustained stress. Test prep, obviously, demands lots of willpower. For greater success in our…
Signs of Lack of Persistence
Success in the face of great challenges and competition does not come easy. No less an authority than Napoleon Hill asserts that effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. The theme of persistence as an essential ingredient of true accomplishment is central to his famous works, particularly Think and Grow Rich, one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. What happens, in Hill’s perspective, when persistence is lacking? One thing we all know, if one does not possess persistence, one does not achieve noteworthy success in any calling. When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail. Persistence played such a fundamental…
Eight Elements of Academic Persistence
One of the most influential voices on the power of persistence has been that of Napoleon Hill. The author of classics like Think and Grow Rich delivered quotable quote after quote on what he saw as the root cause of all success: Willpower and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible pair. Failure cannot cope with persistence. Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel. Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it. Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. But Hill didn’t expect that everyone was born with or naturally developed equal measures of persistence. Instead, he framed persistence is a state of mind that could be cultivated. The first step involves understanding the essential elements of persistence: 1. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE Knowing what…
Build Your Willpower to Improve Your Scores
Anyone who has ever sat down to take a four-hour standardized exam knows all too well that testing is not just an intellectual exercise. Exams like the SAT and ACT are grueling physical and psychological ordeals. If you want your best test scores, you can’t just focus on learning test content: you must also strengthen your body and mind. Any process that demands commitment over time for true improvement runs on willpower. When your will is strong, you make time to meet with your tutor, to improve your vocabulary every day, and to sit for high-quality practice tests. When your will is strong, you can focus on the task in front of you to derive the most experiential value. And, of course, when your will is strong, you can bring your best to every question on a standardized test, no matter how bored, distracted, or tired you are. So how…
The Secret to Unlimited Willpower
No matter how happy and productive your life is, you probably have the sense that it–and you–could be better, if only you could read-work-study-exercise-sleep-clean more. But what really stops you or any one of us from doing everything we’re supposed to do rather than indulging in all those activities we’re not supposed to? WILLPOWER. Willpower can be described as the control exerted to accomplish or resist an action. For example, consider the quotidian challenge of getting out of bed each morning. While some dynamos apparently leap to action at the crack of dawn, some of us (particularly sleep-deprived teens) arise with considerably less enthusiasm. In these instances, we draw on willpower to resist the urge to hit snooze or burrow into our warm covers. Willpower gives us the strength to get up and begin our day, during which each of us usually draws copiously from our reserves of self-control. But…