“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.”
Iain Somerside, GB Rowing Coach
“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.”
Gordon Baker, CEO, JMT Consultants
This edition first published 2017
© 2017 Ros Taylor
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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If you think willpower is a Victorian out-of-date concept, think again.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.
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.
