One of the big mistakes that I see a lot of people making on TRP (and every January 1 IRL) is that they get motivated and make this huge list of goals to pursue, they try to do everything at once, overload themselves, fail miserably, and end up doing nothing. A few months later, rinse and repeat.

Sound like you? Great, keep reading.

In a nutshell, you have a finite amount of willpower that you can spend in one day. There are only so many conscious decisions that you can make in one 24-hour period, only so many things you can force yourself to do. If that's you, congratulations! You're a normal human being.

Think of willpower like money, where you only have a finite supply at any given time. If you suddenly start spending more on one part of your life, one of two things will happen:

  1. You'll eventually peter out. You're spending extra willpower (or money) that you don't really have, and you can only do that for so long before you simply stop. OR

  2. You'll keep at it, but you'll keep dropping the ball elsewhere...you have enough willpower (or money) to go after your new pursuits, but not enough to also keep at it with your old ones.

    Example: maybe you take on new fitness goals but find yourself dropping the ball on your diet goals, similar to how you might start making payments on a car only to find yourself unable to pay the electric bill.

Make sense?

That's the bad news. The good news is, there's a few strategies that you can use to stretch your willpower a lot further, slightly modified from some standard financial advice.

1. "If you're in a hole, stop digging."

In other words, be prepared to make significant lifestyle changes.

Example: you're draining your willpower just getting through the day without punching your boss. Guess what, you need a different job...as long as you stay there, you will be so drained of willpower/energy that you'll never accomplish your other goals.

Make sense? Look for all the unnecessary willpower drains that you can cut out of your life. Your friends, your church, your job, your girlfriend. All should be looked at closely and considered fair game.

2. Some goals are more important right now than others. There is nothing wrong with choosing to focus on a few and letting the others go for now.

Financial example: I have credit card debt at 20% APR, and student loan debt at 8% APR. Do I try to pursue both equally, at the same time?

Answer: no. Obviously I pursue the credit card debt first, and worry about the student debt later.

Similarly, I might decide to only worry about diet and sleep for now, and take on my porn addiction and lack of fitness later.

And remember: once you've established a good habit, the amount of willpower you spend on it will be significantly less than what you spend on it right now.

For example, you might be spending all your willpower on eating correctly. But a year from now, it will come naturally to you...at that point, eating correctly will be so easy that it doesn’t cost you any willpower whatsoever.

Then you’re free to start pursuing your fitness goals...now you easily have enough willpower to pursue both diet and exercise, because you didn’t try to do them all at once.

3. In addition to #2, some goals (once they’ve become second nature) will actually make it easier (ie cost less willpower) to accomplish other goals. Think of them as “enabling goals.”

Sleep is the best example…if you are able to get the appropriate amount of sleep every night, suddenly your other goals all become easier (and cost less willpower) because you’re not so damn tired all the time.

So if you can’t do pursue your goals at once, focus on sleep and other enabling goals first. You get those down, the others will follow more easily.

4. A smart investment up front will save money (or willpower) down the road

Financial example: you ditch the junker and spend extra money on a car that is highly reliable and gets good gas mileage, saving you mechanic’s bills and gas money down the road.

Personal goals examples:

  1. I have a lot of nutritional supplements that I take every day. At first, I was unscrewing every bottle, every morning and evening. I was a dumbass who wasn't putting any thought into it, and surprise surprise, I was failing. I just wouldn't get around to it.

    Eventually, I bought four of these weekly pill organizers on Amazon. Now, I just go and fill them up once a month (not difficult), and pop one slot open and take the supplements every morning and evening (also not difficult).

  2. I used to try to eat greens...but by the time I was done, I looked like a cow chewing its cud and my jaw was literally tired. And again, I was failing at it.

    Until I went and bought a used juicer...now, I juice once a week, and getting a decent vegetable intake is as easy as drinking it.

  3. One of the supplements I take in the evening (per #3) is a small amount of melatonin...this in turn makes getting adequate sleep much easier, which again makes all my other goals a lot easier.

You get the idea? A smart investment can mean a far smaller willpower expenditure in pursuit of your goal. Figure out what’s holding you up, and if there’s something worth investing in to make it easier.

Easier = less willpower expended = greater chance of success & more willpower to spend on your other goals.

TL;DR:

You only have so much willpower to expend in any given day, you probably can't pursue everything at once. To maximize your goal fulfillment, remember the following:

  1. Cut unnecessary drains out of your life.
  2. Figure out which goals are most important. You don’t have to pursue them all at once
  3. Figure out which goals (once reached) will, in and of themselves, make the others easier to fulfill
  4. Look for smart investments that will make your goals easier to fulfill (ie cost less willpower)