Willpower: Discover It, Use It and Get What You Want
“As a GB rowing coach, I have seen countless young rowers use willpower to overcome physical disadvantages and achieve success. This book promotes the benefits of willpower for everyone, while providing the tools you need to acquire it.”
“I used to believe that willpower was in the genes; you either had it or you hadn’t. This book has changed my mind and convinced me that willpower is a learnable skill.”
Willpower
Discover It,
Use It and Get
What You Want
Ros Taylor
This edition first published 2017
© 2017 Ros Taylor
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ISBN 978-0-857-08719-5 (pbk) ISBN 978-0-857-08714-0 (ebk)
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Preface
Willpower is a series of recipes for willpower success seasoned with some inspirational case studies from adventurers, athletes, Paralympians, CEOs, teenagers and those who have struggled with addiction and adversity. Willpower is dissected and served up in bite-sized pieces so that you can use these tips in your own life for immediate effect.
Willpower is for everyone who wants to be successful in life and work: the unemployed person who wants a job, the graduate setting out on their career, the woman returner, the writer of their first book, the manager desiring to become a leader, the leader wanting to get to the board, the parent wanting to teach willpower to their children, the coach encouraging willpower in their clients
If you think willpower is a Victorian out-of-date concept, think again. Researchers have found that willpower is a better predictor of life and work success than IQ. Children with low willpower are four times more likely to have low-paying jobs, be overweight, have drug and alcohol problems, have short- rather than long-term relationships and have a criminal conviction.
So willpower is the very heartbeat of a successful, engaged and fulfilling life, and is not down to an accident of birth but a series of skills you can put into practice immediately with the help of this practical book.
This book is based on techniques that are known to work, so simply choose which relate to you and put them into practice. There is a three-week rule: try a new skill every day for three weeks and repeat for nine to turn it into a habit.
This book is self-help for self-control.
QUESTIONNAIRES
I have included in each part of the book a number of questionnaires and checklists to gauge how much willpower you have, how you utilise goals, whether you are an optimist or pessimist, or even knowing if you could have the willpower to become an entrepreneur.
Where some established measures have been lengthy, I have shortened them. There is nothing worse than wading through 370 questions when you get the same result with a dozen. Where there is nothing on the market, I have conceived the questionnaires myself and tested them on my clients before you. No person was harmed in this endeavour.
My rationale for these tests is that I want you to become an expert in your own willpower: understanding your strengths and willpower glitches. With that knowledge, you will be that much more successful in negotiating the ups and downs of getting to where you want to be. Knowing when you generally give in to temptation gives you advance warning to initiate your “plan to fail plan”.
THE STORIES
A major part of this book is the stories we collected from a diverse group of people selected for their willpower and remarkable achievements.
• Judy Murray talks about her sons’ willpower to become winners and her own to continue to coach women’s tennis with few resources.
• Jamie Andrew, quadruple amputee, tells us about returning to challenges like the London Marathon and climbing Kilimanjaro.
• Phil Howard, Michelin star chef, discusses the pressures of the job, his drug addiction and how an exercise habit replaced his drug habit.
• Neil Fachie, gold medal-winning Paralympian cyclist, tells about his preparations for the Rio Olympics.
• Justine Roberts, founder and CEO of Mumsnet, talks about the delayed gratification of running your own business.
• Julie Ashmore, business woman and mother of two, shares her adventuring stories of going to both North and South Poles.
• Gordon Baker, CEO of JMT Consultants, discusses the limitations of willpower at work and what you need to be successful. His son Jamie also recounts his story about the power of visualisation.
• Sir Richard Greenbury, former Chairman and CEO of Marks and Spencer, advises what will help you get to the top of an organisation.
• Julian Richer, CEO of Richer Sounds, really grasps the nature of motivation at work and shares his methods.
• Dame Stella Rimington, former Director General of MI5, discusses confidence and its place in getting to the top.
• Charlie Mullins, plumber extraordinaire, shares his joy in owning his own business and the willpower