Stopping something harmful is more potent than starting something useful
I didn’t know what willpower was, I didn’t know I had it until this afternoon.
I was reading an incredibly interesting book, by Ben Settle, and eccentric copywriter and marketer…
In the book, Super-Villains of Persuasion he talks about the ten characteristics that make a person a super persuasive person… even without becoming a villain.
The tenth characteristic of virtue is willpower.
Turns out what I have been calling TLB is in fact almost the same thing as willpower.
I am going to quote from the book… with my personal notes
…
Willpower is the throne room in the Super Villain’s Lair of Influence.
Indeed, one must have abundant Willpower to even be a Villain.
For without Willpower,
- how can you have Patience? Or
- have Superior Preparation? Or
- resist the multiple daily temptations to ignore your sense of Integrity when presented the opportunity to ‘get away’ with giving in to those temptations? Or
- put in the often mind-numbingly tedious and boring effort to master a skill to Specialize in? Or
- have the Superior Confidence it takes to control your emotions when tested by dames, disobedient henchmen, or random circumstances beyond your control?
You either have will power or you are a limp dick…
That’s why, like it or not, for Villains, Willpower is… A Non-Negotiable Requirement!
To have persuasion, you need Personal Authority, and believe it or not, Personal Authority is impossible for you, if you have weak willpower
A Villain without Willpower is not truly a Villain any more than a hero without someone to save is a hero. – The one cannot exist without the other.
At the very least, you need more Willpower than those you wish to influence.
The good news is, anyone can have strong Willpower just as anyone can have strong biceps. Because, like your biceps, Willpower is a muscle. And like any muscle, it can be strengthened (with use) or weakened (with non-use). It can grow (with resistance) or it can shrink (with zero resistance). And, it can help you overpower and destroy (with rigorous exercise), or it can atrophy and become useless (if never used at all).
For most, Willpower is The Least Used Muscle of All!
If you doubt this, observe popular culture.
There are countless ads, infomercials, books, so-called scientific articles, and websites selling diet products and philosophies touting how they require no Willpower, saying it is not reliable, and how they can show you how to get what you want without it.
To ordinary men, Willpower is something to avoid and mock that holds them back.
But to a Villain, Willpower is something to pursue and celebrate that lets you… Bend Others to Your Will!
A Villain also knows it comes first, since it makes all the other Superpowers of Persuasion work.
As FJ Shark (author of How to be The Jerk Women Love) once wrote:
‘Willpower is everything. It can create, destroy, dissolve, unite, conquer, anything. Control over money, control over others, all of that is secondary. The triumph of the will is the greatest accomplishment of humanity, the pinnacle of sentient achievement.’
This is why Villains with strong Willpower are unnaturally influential.
People just know — by the way you look, the way you speak, the way you move, even the way you write — you are mentally and emotionally stronger than them (even if not necessarily physically). People are attracted to mental and emotional toughness over physical toughness. All the great Villains and leaders of men have always had exceptionally stronger Willpower than their enemies, subordinates, henchmen, dames, soldiers (who, incidentally, have always been physically stronger than the Villains who commanded them, further proving the superiority of Willpower over any other muscle), and anyone else they want to influence and persuade.
But what about you? Is Your Willpower Strong… Or Is it Flaccid?
Answer with 100% Integrity:
Does your Willpower help you persuade and influence? Or does it repel and create indifference?
If the answer is the latter, then I propose a test. A test guaranteed (if you do it to the letter) to strengthen your Willpower beyond that of probably everyone you know. And that test is to pick the one vice you lack the most Willpower to control, and that is holding you back from accomplishing your Mission…
And ‘Fast’
For 30 Full Days!
For example:
- If you’re addicted to fapping, cease doing it for 30 days.
- If your vice is sitting on the couch all day wasting your life watching TV, then throw your couch and TV away for 30 days and do something productive with that time instead (i.e. pursue your Mission).
- If you’re a heavy drinker, no alcohol for 30 days.
- If you smoke, no nicotine for 30 days.
- If you are addicted to junk food, no sugar for 30 days.
And the list goes on.
Whatever your vice is… especially the one you are having the hardest time controlling and that is holding you back from achieving your Mission… you abstain from it for 30 days.
But before you begin, a few things to think about:
- 1. If you fail at any time during your 30 days you start over again from day one. No whining, complaining, or excuses. The goal is to strengthen your Willpower, not coddle it.
- 2. You will likely be excited to start, only to hate everything a day later. This is where Integrity comes in again. Character, Integrity, Superior Confidence, Patience, and of course Willpower… are strengthened beyond that of ordinary men every time you follow through on a decision long after the excitement of the moment has passed.
- 3. FJ Shark said something else about Willpower you should think about constantly during your 30-day test:
‘The key to success in any endeavor is not to work when you are motivated; it is to work when you are Unmotivated.’
Truer words have nary been spoken.
It’s easy to do anything when you’re motivated, excited, and energetic.
Not so much when you’re tired, bored, and distracted.
So, if you have the guts, do this 30-day test. And do it cheerfully, knowing it will not only help create an indomitable Willpower, but also with the knowledge that doing it is 100% in your control — with complete Outcome Independence.
To put it bluntly:
The Only Way to Lose Is If You Quit!
So, start your 30-day test today.
Don’t put it off until tomorrow or the first of the month or New Year’s.
Do it now, as soon as you close this book, and you will begin creating a strong kind of Willpower your enemies will tremble at, and those you wish to influence will respond to.
www.BenSettle.com
OK, now, to go public with your willpower test… post on the 20-day skill building challenge site, and make this a 30-day challenge. It can be all by itself, or it can be in addition to what you are already doing.
Raising your willpower, raising your TLB is probably the best investment you can make with your time and energy.
Do it. Start it today.
I don’t have a vice. So I’ll be the cheering squad on the sidelines.
