{"id":493,"date":"2009-06-11T06:49:46","date_gmt":"2009-06-11T13:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/?p=493"},"modified":"2009-06-11T12:48:09","modified_gmt":"2009-06-11T19:48:09","slug":"will-power-is-so-overrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/","title":{"rendered":"Will power is so overrated."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When\u00a0 I need to\u00a0change something,\u00a0I don\u2019t go looking for some (as yet undiscovered)\u00a0\u00a0storehouse of will power.\u00a0That\u2019s just wheel-spinning, time-wasting.\u00a0 Most days I can\u2019t even spell will power.\u00a0 Instead, I ask myself, how badly do you want this?\u00a0 I\u00a0 have\u00a0 to want <\/strong><\/em>to want to before I begin.<\/p>\n

After years of trying to harness\u00a0will power,\u00a0I find\u00a0I don\u2019t stick to positive change just because\u00a0 I should.\u00a0\u00a0 Pitiful – considering\u00a0there\u2019s so much room here for improvement.<\/p>\n

I think about change and\u00a0think about it, talk about it and talk about it, and still\u00a0I know\u00a0that until there is desire, no amount of will power will help.\u00a0 I only accomplish change when the deep-down\u00a0want <\/em><\/strong>creeps in and sticks around for a while.<\/p>\n

I once quit smoking for a boyfriend.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t last.\u00a0 Went to the gym to impress someone\u00a0there with my firm body. Hah.\u00a0 My toned muscles lasted about a minute after he left the class.\u00a0 (Obviously this behavior was when I was very young and\u00a0impressionable.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then one day, years later,\u00a0I really wanted <\/em><\/strong>to be a non-smoker, so I stopped.\u00a0 It was harder without a\u00a0cheering section, but I\u00a0wanted to be a person who didn\u2019t buy cigarettes, didn\u2019t carry them around, didn\u2019t bum them from other people.\u00a0 And that worked.\u00a0 I\u2019m nicotine-free about twenty years and counting.<\/p>\n

Now to the body image thing.\u00a0 I am\u00a0looking in the mirror and seeing a whole bunch of stuff that needs changing.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made changes before, but when the urge left,\u00a0so did\u00a0the positive results.\u00a0This time I want change\u00a0to last.\u00a0 So I ask myself, are you really ready?\u00a0 Do you really want to?\u00a0 Some days, I don\u2019t even want <\/em><\/strong>to want to. But I can feel it in the air – that day is getting closer – the day when I will do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a history of\u00a0 both extremely NON-successful habit changes and a few major successful changes (quitting smoking) I know I won\u2019t even try until there is a stirring of desire.\u00a0 It\u2019s desire and not will power that precedes action in my case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So here are my three steps.\u00a0 Boy how I wish I could claim something more logical, more mature, more focused.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 That would be the definition of will power.\u00a0 Instead, here\u2019s what works for me.<\/p>\n

Step One:\u00a0 I have to want <\/em><\/strong>to want to.<\/p>\n

Step Two:\u00a0 Then I move to actually\u00a0wanting <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to.<\/p>\n

Step Three:\u00a0 Begin!<\/p>\n

Or not.\u00a0 The or not factor is always the variable.<\/p>\n

\u00d3<\/span><\/span> Anita Garner 2009<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0 I need to\u00a0change something,\u00a0I don\u2019t go looking for some (as yet undiscovered)\u00a0\u00a0storehouse of will power.\u00a0That\u2019s just wheel-spinning, time-wasting.\u00a0 Most days I can\u2019t even spell will power.\u00a0 Instead, I ask myself, how badly do you want this?\u00a0 I\u00a0 have\u00a0 to want to want to before I begin. After years of trying to harness\u00a0will power,\u00a0I find\u00a0I … Continue reading “Will power is so overrated.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[485,481,483,482,484,486,480],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-body-image","tag-change","tag-cigarettes","tag-desire","tag-gym","tag-three-steps","tag-will-power"],"yoast_head":"\nWill power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When\u00a0 I need to\u00a0change something,\u00a0I don\u2019t go looking for some (as yet undiscovered)\u00a0\u00a0storehouse of will power.\u00a0That\u2019s just wheel-spinning, time-wasting.\u00a0 Most days I can\u2019t even spell will power.\u00a0 Instead, I ask myself, how badly do you want this?\u00a0 I\u00a0 have\u00a0 to want to want to before I begin. After years of trying to harness\u00a0will power,\u00a0I find\u00a0I … Continue reading "Will power is so overrated."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anita Garner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"headline\":\"Will power is so overrated.\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":444,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"keywords\":[\"body image\",\"change\",\"cigarettes\",\"desire\",\"gym\",\"three steps\",\"will power\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/\",\"name\":\"Will power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/will-power-is-so-overrated\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will power is so overrated.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\",\"description\":\"Anita Garner's journey from rock and roll disc jockey to grandmother.. what's next?\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\",\"name\":\"Anita Garner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anita Garner\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","og_description":"When\u00a0 I need to\u00a0change something,\u00a0I don\u2019t go looking for some (as yet undiscovered)\u00a0\u00a0storehouse of will power.\u00a0That\u2019s just wheel-spinning, time-wasting.\u00a0 Most days I can\u2019t even spell will power.\u00a0 Instead, I ask myself, how badly do you want this?\u00a0 I\u00a0 have\u00a0 to want to want to before I begin. After years of trying to harness\u00a0will power,\u00a0I find\u00a0I … Continue reading \"Will power is so overrated.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/","og_site_name":"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","article_published_time":"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00","author":"Anita Garner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anita Garner","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/"},"author":{"name":"Anita Garner","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"headline":"Will power is so overrated.","datePublished":"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00","dateModified":"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/"},"wordCount":444,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"keywords":["body image","change","cigarettes","desire","gym","three steps","will power"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/","url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/","name":"Will power is so overrated. – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-06-11T13:49:46+00:00","dateModified":"2009-06-11T19:48:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/will-power-is-so-overrated\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Will power is so overrated."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/","name":"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","description":"Anita Garner's journey from rock and roll disc jockey to grandmother.. what's next?","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34","name":"Anita Garner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Anita Garner"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bq0a-7X","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":498,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}