Your Windshield and Willpower

“Your Windshield and Willpower”

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Ahh, spring! This time of year brings flowers and frustration, doesn’t it? You are facing too much to do and too little time.

 

Take a breath. Realize you DO have enough time to accomplish what you need to accomplish. You don’t need more time—you need to eliminate something that is stealing the time away from you: distractions.

 

I want to talk today about one way to improve your willpower and help you stay away from distractions.

 

Imagine for a moment you are an Olympic class athlete arriving at your training facility. World class trainers work here; world record holders train here. What do you see on the walls as you walk through the facility?

 

You would see reminders of the great athletes who have stood where you are standing right now. You would see the photos of the greats from years past and recent winners. You would train around and with constant reminders of who you want to be.

 

Daniel Coyle, in his book The Little Book of Talent, tells us that “we each live with a windshield of people in front of us” (5). He reminds us that research validates that the more we find connections with role models, the more we increase our motivation.

 

Need help staying motivated in the sciences? Print out a picture of a young Marie Curie. Struggling to finish that paper? Make your phone screen a young Toni Morrison or Amy Tan. Find someone who can inspire you and surround your “windshield” with reminders of that person.

 

Likewise, you can fill your windshield by physically going to a place where people are serious about doing what you need to do. Need to get motivated about studying? Find a place where people are going at it hard-core – the medical library, the law library. Every time you look up, you will be looking at hard-working students.

 

Cal Newport reminds us that if you find yourself tempted to stray from your studies, you are not alone—we are constantly being tempted to leave the tough work and move to something easier and more fun. This is not a personal failure on your part – this is being human.

 

Newport points out that if you try to fight these temptations, you often will lose. Your willpower has limits. The best way to boost your willpower is to add routines and rituals to your study time. Block out consistent time each day to study – maybe 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning, for example. Never vary from this. Maybe reserve Tuesday and Thursday afternoons – 4 p.m. to 5:30 for chemistry. Now, you can do more than this per week, but if you set up a routine where you will always spend this time on the subject, you will find that it is easier to stay on track.

Remember, fill your windshield and set up a simple routine and you will you become a willpower hero.

 

 

Sources referenced and recommended reading:

Coyle, Daniel. The Little Book of Talent. Bantam, New York: 2012.

Newport, Cal. Deep Work. Grand Central: New York, 2016.

 

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