The Secret to Self-Control: How to Become More Patient and Persistent

If you want to be more successful in life, one of the most important skills is self-control. In fact, it’s so important that psychologists have studied how people with strong willpower and self-control live longer and better lives. But what exactly does it mean to have good self-control? Is it possible to learn better self-control? This article will answer all your questions about this fascinating topic!

Self-control is not about being stern with yourself.

Self-control is not about being stern with yourself. It's about understanding what you need and why, and then working to meet those needs in a way that works for everyone involved.

How does someone with self-control make decisions? They look at the long term, not just the short term or immediate gratification. They think about the impact of their actions on others, instead of just focusing on themselves.

Self-control is about knowing what you want out of life and going after it—even if it means delaying immediate rewards or avoiding certain behaviors altogether

Self-control is all about understanding what you need and why you need it.

Perhaps the most important aspect of self-control is understanding what you need and why you need it. The more aware you are of your motivations, the easier it will be to make choices that keep those motivations in mind. Self-control also requires an understanding of consequences--the impact your actions have on others, as well as on yourself.

Understanding these factors can help us make decisions that allow us to feel good about ourselves, while still reaching our goals—this is especially true when dealing with difficult people or situations where we don't feel like we're being treated fairly by others.

Setting reasonable expectations will keep you motivated.

In order to be patient and persistent, you need to have reasonable expectations. When people set goals that are too hard for them or inconsistent with their schedule and motivation, they often give up on those goals and feel like failures.

Setting reasonable expectations will keep you motivated:

• Set goals that are achievable - You know how this one works! If a goal seems unattainable, it won't be motivating enough to keep you going over the long haul.
• Set goals that are challenging but not impossible - If a goal is too easy and boring, then it won't be motivating enough to keep you going over the long haul.
• Set goals that are consistent with your current level of fitness - Don't try something too ambitious if it's beyond where your body is right now; start small instead of quitting altogether!

Understanding the impact of your behavior is critical in making behavioral changes.

Understanding the impact of your behavior is critical in making behavioral changes. If you want to become more patient, for example, make a list of all the times when being patient has helped you or those around you. It might be easier to start with a list of all behaviors that are NOT helpful, such as snapping at your boss or getting upset with someone else on the road.

Afterward, examine each situation for any patterns and try to identify what was going through your mind at that time. For example: "I was frustrated because I had been waiting for five minutes for my food," or "I was nervous about asking about a raise." The more specific these details are, the better chance there will be for recognizing this thought process in future situations where patience is required—and then making it easier to stop reacting impulsively without losing control altogether!

Planning ahead helps you stay on top of things.

Planning ahead is a great way to prevent procrastination. There's always something to do, and it's easy to get overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your plate. With planning, you'll be able to stay on top of things without feeling like you're drowning in work.

Here's how it works: First, make a list of all the tasks that need to be done today. Next, prioritize those tasks so that you know what needs to be done first and next. Then finally, organize these steps into an actionable plan for getting through them each day.

Planning ahead helps avoid stress and burnout too! By creating plans when we have time off from work or school (like during spring break), we can avoid stress by knowing what needs to be done while also avoiding missed deadlines and other problems caused by procrastination.

Planning ahead gives us less room for distractions because we don't end up focusing on those little things that could otherwise take up our time (and energy).

Visualization can help you achieve success.

A visualization is a form of mental rehearsal, which means you can use it to improve your performance in any area of life. You can visualize yourself getting over a fear or overcoming procrastination, for example.

You can also use visualization to train for a sport or even an athletic competition like the Olympics or World Cup. Imagine yourself performing at your best—how does it feel? What are you thinking about? How does your body respond? What does the crowd look like? Are they cheering for you or booing you?

Putting pressure on yourself to get something done by an arbitrary deadline may have the opposite effect and cause procrastination.

Setting a deadline can be the first step in getting something done, but it's not enough. To get results, you need to have a plan that takes into account the time and practice it will take to learn and accomplish your goal.

Think about how long you've been thinking about making that change in your life—it probably feels like forever. Then think about how long it will likely take for you to actually make this change. It's likely still more than just one day! Here's why:

• You need time to learn new skills or information before you can use them effectively
• You need practice with these new skills or information before they become automatic for you
• You need patience as well as persistence because learning new things is hard work at first (but becomes easier over time).

You can also train your brain with mental exercises to increase self-control and build patience skills

You can also train your brain with mental exercises to increase self-control and build patience skills.

Here are some of the tools you can use:

• Practice mindfulness – In this strategy, you focus on the present moment rather than worrying about the past or future (which is what often leads to impatience). When you practice mindfulness, you pay attention to what’s happening right now in your body and mind. For example, if an impatient thought pops up while riding a bus home from work, try taking three deep breaths while focusing on the sound of traffic outside or feeling the wind blowing through your hair as it passes by. This exercise will help calm down your mind and allow for more rational thinking instead of acting rashly out of frustration at being stuck waiting around again!
• Use positive affirmations – A positive affirmation is just a statement that affirms something positive about yourself such as “I am confident” or “I am patient." It might take some practice before this becomes second nature but try repeating these affirmations whenever impatience strikes (e.g., when someone cuts ahead) so that over time they become more automatic responses until eventually there's no more room left for impatience ever again!

Hopefully, you’ve learned some new strategies for increasing your self-control and building more patience skills. It doesn’t matter if you want to become more patient with yourself or others; the key is knowing how to change your behavior by understanding what motivates us as human beings. It may seem like a daunting task at first glance, but once you understand the principles behind self-control, it becomes much easier to implement them into your everyday life.