Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Will, Won't and Want Power

It's been 42 days since I shared my Lent sacrifice and lifestyle change to abstain from the cafeteria at work. 

No sausage breakfast, no cheeseburgers, no soup, no salad, no coffee, no second coffee, no third coffee (yes, those days have happened). 

I'm quite proud to announce that I was successful! 

I stayed true to my goals and not only didn't swipe the card at work for 40 days, but also re-formed my favorite routines:

:: Planned grocery shopping
:: Food prep
:: Meal prep 
:: Tupperware game so strong
:: Coffee grinding 
:: Consistency

You might say that it took a lot of willpower, but it also took a lot of won't-power and want-power too.



What's that? They're awesome tips from The Willpower Instinct. If you don't know, I don't often read novels, but rather self-help, psychology, documentary style books that help me learn a little more about the world around me. That's irrelevant to this post, but let me explain what I've learned. 

The actual concept in the book suggest that we use "will, won't and want" separately toward different goals, but I found the three used together working toward the same goal to be three times as effective. 

For me to be successful with lent, I not only had to give up something. I had to form a new habit and had to have a reason for why I wanted that. 

I had an "I won't", I had an "I will" and had an "I want."

"I won't buy any food or beverage from the cafeteria at work for 40 days"
"I will commit to preparing meals for work and brewing coffee at my desk"
"I want to a) be successful, b) form a new habit, c) save money, d) blog about it later"

There was a three-pronged attack on the goal I set out for myself, and by building this foundation I was able to get everything I wanted out of the 40 days. I felt more deeply invested in the commitment because it had layers. To let one ball drop was to let three drop. It made the investment and the cost of breaking the commitment that much stronger which I believe is what made me successful. 

While I'm not planning to be dramatic and never return to the cafeteria at work, I do plan to learn from the last 42 days and understand that willpower is best served with won't and want power as well. I'm also only 9 pages into the book and already achieved this much insight, so expect my understanding of willpower to grow even harder and for this topic to appear again someday. Lucky you! 

What about you, what's a goal of yours that you're going to get after with the "will, won't, want power" method? 

20 comments

Tracy said...

As an avid goal-setter (and, I like to think, goal-accompisher) I LOVE this. It's so absolutely true. Making changes or sticking to a new routine requires a lot more than just the willpower to do. I love that you examined not only what you were going to do, but why you wanted to do it. Not to say that any change is easy, but I'm sure the fact that you could trace your initial feelings back to real, solid reasons for making the change helped you stay on track. Would love to check out this book, it sounds right up my alley!

Sarah :: Plucky in Love said...

Love this tactic for setting goals! And congrats! Seeing progress and feeling empowered are such huge factors in goal-setting and it sounds like you rocked it. :)

B @ The Sequin Notebook said...

Wow, what an awesome accomplishment! And I love your approach...so much more manageable (and positive) than just telling yourself what you won't/can't do.

BLovedBoston said...

Congratulations girl!!! I bet now you'll find that you would prefer to eat food that you prepare rather than spending money on something that is a bit "easier" but not as good for you!! Great job girl! xo, Biana - BlovedBoston

Marie said...

Way to go! What a fab accomplishment. I so love this post. I totally need to check this out.

P!nky said...

Way to go girlfriend, I'm so proud of you. You rocked your challenge! I love how you broke down, will wont and want. I learned those with my Whole30 challenge and not it makes more sense.

MakeMeUpMia said...

Awesome! Love this. We are all capable of making absolutely any change or achieving any goals we want, just takes consistent commitment. You rock girl.

Helene in Between said...

way to go!! that is seriously awesome!

Kathy@MoreCoffeeLessTalky said...

i haven't eaten caf food since.....2012? it's been a LONG time and i prep all of my food and snacks..you should see the huge honkin lunch box i bring! it's so much better when you bring your own stuff and you save major $$$$$$

Anonymous said...

Welp. Goals and benchmarks are my lifeblood; seriously, I would be lost without my goal lists and I get intense satisfaction from setting and meeting goals. But I've had episodes of setting goals just for the sake of setting goals, and I've set goals that don't serve me or my needs and then I get frustrated with myself because I'm not motivated to work on them because they frankly just aren't important to me. Know what I mean? I love this won't/will/want approach and think I'm going to look into this book. Thank you a million for sharing!

Also, can't wrap my mind around the no-coffee concept (currently on cup #3) but can we talk meal-planning? My kitchen is starting to bore me.

Julia said...

Way to go on completing your goals! I like this approach to goals, definitely makes it more concrete and specific which always seems to work best for me!

Erin LFF said...

Love this post so much! First of all- congrats on rocking your goal, you did incredible! That is no small feat! And I love the points you made- I definitely need to focus more on the habit I'm wanting to DO instead of what I'm giving up!

Kristen said...

first off, congrats on being awesome and completing this goal. seriously, awesome. i'm a great goal setter but not so great at accomplishing. i love this will / won't / want approach. think i need to start implementing it. thanks for sharing doll!
now lets talk about this 'i don't read novels' thing. i don't understand.

Brittany said...

Well done! Such a good way to look at structuring your goals. Less then two months until Mexico and I'm finding it hard to stay consistent with my workouts. Gonna give this method a try!!

Nadine said...

Look at you!!! Go you for using your will power, want/wont power! :) I am with you, I like my routine of grocery shopping on Sunday and prepping some stuff for the week. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail or however that goes. I have been trying to focus on less cheat meals and more trying to cut processed foods out and cut back on carbs and all that jazz.

Maddie said...

I'm so glad it was a success! I gave up red meat and soda a while back, and haven't gone back! It makes you feel so great when you look at what you can do when you can put your mind to it!

Myra said...

This is so awesome, friend! I love that since everything was linked together, as you said, it wasn't just letting one ball drop, but instead, watching it have a domino effect. Way to go in sticking to your goal & also creating a new habit!

Kenzie Smith said...

I love this -- what a great three pronged approach to successful goal setting and accomplishing :D

Kay R. said...

You did great girlie. I flopped majorly in joining you in not buying any lunch. I'm proud of you though. Super proud!

Chelsea @ Delipsch said...

You are one bad ass. I am definitely checking out that site and getting on board with this greatness. Cheers!