What are your thoughts on "When you want to change, strategies are more helpful than will power.?

Use this forum to discuss the May 2021 Book of the month, "Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute: Tools To Spark Your Dream And Ignite Your Follow-Through" by Jeff Meyer.
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Francis Aderogbin
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Re: What are your thoughts on "When you want to change, strategies are more helpful than will power.?

Post by Francis Aderogbin »

I agreed with the author on this assertion. Strategy is more helpful than willpower when we want to change in our lives. Willpower without a clear-cut strategy will result in frustration. We need both to effect change because willpower is the first element we need. The willpower will then push us to define a working strategy and help us to keep at it consistently.
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itisprapti
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Post by itisprapti »

I don't think we should compare them. For a change, we need an equal balance of both. One can spend hours creating the perfect strategy, the perfect 'action plan'. But the key point here is 'action' you need to act on the strategy you need to take action. And not always it's simple and easy. Rather there may be tasks that seem very difficult to do and provides results only in long term. Here comes willpower. Having strong willpower will help to survive the temporary pain & unpleasantness for long term benefits.
On the other hand, if you have strong willpower but no strategy. You won't know in which direction to go. And as we all know 'direction is more important than speed'. Therefore a combination of both willpower & strategy is required for change.
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Kaushiki Parihar
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Post by Kaushiki Parihar »

If you want to accomplish any of your goal, we need will power and when we have it then we make strategies and start working accordingly. If we don't have will power, your strategies can fail because you lack that burning passion. Strategies do fail sometimes but one can overcome apathy, doubt or fear with his will power and can start again. So in my opinion, will power is more important.
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Post by Reader-247 »

Say you come up with a strategy to achieve something and you share it with people who aspire ti achieve the same goal. Isn't it will power that seperates the doers from the no doers?
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Post by Abdullahi A 2 »

Of course strategy should be considered more than will of power because no matter the strength of your will,you can't reach the peak without following the basic strategies.
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Post by Unique Ego »

DANAWEB wrote: 09 May 2021, 08:27 For me one of the most important points put forward by the author in this book is "When you want to change, strategies are more helpful than will power."

I find this true in every aspect, whether it is about our personal lives or about our career, or even in the work place scenarios.

When we consider our careers, everyone of us do want to make a move to another career or another work place at some point. However, unable to have a clear plan or a step by step approach as to what needs to be done on a consistent basis in order to succeed the chosen path.

Most of us has the will power, however we will not be successful if we do not have a clear strategy to follow our dream.
Willing to do something and actually taking steps to do something are entirely different things. However, they're both essential steps in the right direction. There are people whose hearts burn to do something but they have too much inertia to make a move. And there are others who just make a move without any forethought or planning and no internal resolve to be committed. Such people tend to burn out almost as quickly as they started. So yes, when you want to change, you need strategy/plan, but you also need staying power while carrying out said strategy, and that's where the will comes in.
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Post by Laura Britos »

Mindful Wordsmith wrote: 09 May 2021, 22:16 I think the author is right is when he says that strategies are more helpful than will power. It's because will power will last only until we do something that interests us and can keep us motivated. And thus, he asks us to establish some powerful but pragmatic morning routines. By doing this, we supply the necessary momentum to our will power to stay focused. Remember, will power is like stamina or physical strength. It's a resource that gets depleted over the course of the day. Just like how eating nutritious and balanced meals is imperative to a healthy body, so are strategies to our will power.
I agree with you, when we loose momentum our motivation seems to be running out. Therefore having a plan we stick to even during times of un motivation, allow us to not diverge from the path we set up for our goal.
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Post by Nebula__12 »

I completely agree, Having an organized plan is the way to go. when you have a clear timeline/path to follow, you find tasks easier, you recognize where you need to start and where to finish.
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Post by Laksha Maria Charbel »

I have observed that willpower is often confused with persistence. Psychologically, the mind is fatigued before the body. It is a built-in, self-preservation mechanism that prevents the human body from overworking and dangerous exhaustion.
In "Grit: How to keep going when you want to give up" the author Martin Meadow's explains the importance of establishing, a consistent routine. How to use ques and rewards to keep performing tasks till they become habits, highlighting the important role strategy plays in one's self-help journey. He further elaborates that willpower is beneficial in getting us through the tough times or what he refers to as "the dip". Therefore, it can be summarised that to initiate change in our lives and maintain it, strategy is key. However, willpower is of value when we reach sticking points to push us toward our goal.
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Post by angelap5467 »

I see this reliable only approaching it from the aspect of will power is easy to have, at least from my experience but the strategy part is more tricky. So when you accomplish the harder part, the strategy, the willpower won't be the only lacking.
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Post by Ngozi Onyibor »

As a person who has/still is struggling with making positive changes in my life, I can tell from my experience that willpower trumps strategy. One might have a blueprint for what needs to be done to go from point A to B, but if they don't have the willpower to take action their strategy will remain just that, a strategy.
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Post by Sohana Hasan »

I think that this is a pretty fair point. Consider this analogy: When you’re walking or driving, it doesn’t matter how dedicated you are to getting where you want to be—if you’re driving in the wrong direction, you’ll never get there. No matter how powerful your willpower is, no matter how dedicated you are to your goals, unless you have a plan of action, you might not get far.
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Post by Urvashi Tripathi »

I agree with author because this thing works for me . I do sometimes have lots of will to do something specific but don't know how to complete that work and end up getting disappointed . Even though I'm hard working and have positive mindset but strategies plays a main role. It is said , “A vision without a strategy remains an illusion” by Lee Bolman. Thanks for this amazing question. Xoxo:)
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Post by Kuchi Mercy »

I would rather say both are relevant. It takes will power to set up and follow strategies. However, when will power fails, the laid down strategies will keep you moving.
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Post by Sasha_100 »

I agree with the statement. i believe that where one should exactly use it is often misinterpreted.

It is helped when you wavering sticking through to see the end result of a descision yoy made but when it comes to stuff like controlling your desires I often find will power very less helpful them properly planned strategies.

A conditioned body and a mind which is used to schedule is a lot more productive than just sole will power.

Though there might be difference in opinion this is what I believe in.
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