I was recently provided with a review copy of “The Skinny On Willpower: How To Develop Self Discipline“(affiliate link), written by Jim Randel , as well as a second copy which I will give away to one of you readers. This book series is part of a series of “The Skinny On” books that summarize concepts in a small book format with stick-figure cartoons spread throughout the book to make points more quickly. There are multiple “The Skinny On” books, and they have an appeal in that they are quick and to the point. I see some of the cartoons in the book representing multiple paragraphs with what is being explained in them.
Willpower Versus Planning
One of the messages in the book regards how “the more you plan, the less willpower you need to accomplish your goal”. There is valid material to take from this. If you want to get a goal to work out, your setting up of steps along the way makes it look like a flight of stairs you can walk up one at a time, rather than a leap you have to do to jump from where you are to where you want to be. Planning is one of those underrepresented activities because it has very little short-term gain. Items that lack short-term gain are avoided by the majority of people, which is why they are a tool for the successful.
Computer Programming Example
When you plan an activity, you have branch and break points. If your plan is to learn PHP programming so you can edit and modify certain programs, a plan that includes steps along the way will get you much further than a to-do item “learn PHP”. Steps let you tell other people about where you are, what the next item is, what is holding you back, and so on. If you tell people you are on step 3 of a 10-step process, they will be less likely to detract from your motivation than if you keep telling them your goal is to learn PHP programming, because there are no middle steps involved. You will either have the result or not be there yet, and so the not being there yet will be more difficult to handle. I point this out because we work best in a social context, and others want to see or hear about progress on your part before they help or motivate you further.
Once You Are Rolling, The Problem Of Starting Is Solved
The reason that most of helpful discussion is about willpower and motivation is because once you get started and going, your habits will keep you moving until you reach a point that is stable and fulfilling to you. There is little discussion about habits in comparison to willpower and starting the process because habits are not a problem for people to maintain once they are in place. We run on auto-pilot when we have habits going, and so we then have that goal “in our sights”, and the only problem that might be visible is getting there sooner than later, but that is a more tractable item to deal with.
Time Can Be Your Friend
One more point from the book is that “when you develop willpower, time is on your side if you improve just a little every day.” Regarding this concept, it is valuable to remember that time is either on your side, or appears to you to be working against you. If you have this latter viewpoint that time is running out, it is indeed running out, and you will soon have to make a decision and new plans. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but time works out the way you view it. If, on the other hand, you view time as though you keep growing the more it passes by, you are in a state where you don’t end up anxious for nothing.
The Giveaway
I am going to give a copy of this book away randomly to one reader who comments, or tweets about this post, or stumbles the article, or links to this post, or something similar; basically, as long as you let me know somehow that you want to be in the running, you will be in the running to get a copy of this book. I’ll make the deadline this Friday, August 21, at 12 PM Eastern time.
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I am a believer in planning and strategy. Without prior scheduling and proper planning it’s almost impossible to be able to take that first step towards achieving what you are willing to do.
Doru: It is cool to hear that. We have a planning supporter here. I’m starting to get the feeling that you and the concept is right, because I have yet to see someone go far without having already had told various people about steps they see along the way. Not having a plan in place means that time gets thrown away during the process out of not knowing what to do. A writer without a plan might never get around to contacting a publisher or whatever the next step would be.