hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about 12 signs you're a
mentally strong person now let's begin number one cool traits the most important element of
a strong mind is self-control it's your ability to set aside your immediate interests in favor
of something more meaningful so whether you're avoiding fast food to lose weight or saving money
to buy a car self-control makes those long-term goals possible but how does it work scientists
explain self-control as a hot and cool system you see one part of your brain will call that the hot
system is impulsive and passionate it acts on urges and seeks out short term rewards well the
other part of your brain will call that the cool system is logical in cognitive it thinks through
problems and tries to figure out the best course of action your self-control depends on the dynamic
between these two systems so if your hot system is stronger well self-control is probably difficult
for you but if your cool system has the upper hand then you're much better at resisting temptation so
how can you tell which system is stronger well those hot and cool traits are often reflected
in your personality if you have strong willpower then you're probably more careful and analytical
you reasoned problems out over time instead of making impulsive decisions so if this sounds like
you you may have more willpower than you realize number two zero hot triggers some people have
dominant cool systems 95% of the time and then they lose control around certain temptations these
are called hot stimuli or triggers no matter how logical you are a hot trigger can still provoke
that passionate impulsive side of your brain now obviously this can be a huge inconvenience knowing
you have certain triggers will motivate you to avoid those stimuli yet you might have to change
or cancel plans simply because you know you can't resist if you're able to identify and eliminate
your hot triggers that's an obvious sign of great self-control number three childhood control an
influential study on human willpower tested how well children could control themselves around
sweets now in this study researchers started by giving each kid a marshmallow they asked the kids
not to eat their marshmallow while the researcher left the room if they succeeded the kid would get
two marshmallows once the researcher came back if not they would only get one nearly four decades
later another study tested that same group of kids to see if their willpower held up over
time to their surprise their performances were almost identical the kids that showed
self-control with the marshmallow ended up scoring higher on willpower tests as an adult
but what does this mean for us their findings show that developing discipline and willpower
when you're younger carries over into your adult years so if you had great self-control as a child
well your willpower is likely above average today number four internal willpower okay let's say you
resist the urge to buy yourself a new watch why didn't you go through with it was it because you
didn't have enough money or did you think that purchase was fundamentally a bad idea if you
chose the latter it means you're using internal willpower instead of external willpower they look
the same on the surface but internal willpower is significantly more effective in the long term
okay so let's imagine that after you resist the urge to buy yourself that watch you come across
another tempting item that you can afford you won't have any way to stop yourself because
you drained all your external willpower the first time around this is called willpower depletion so
anytime you spend a considerable amount of energy avoiding something it becomes even more difficult
to resist additional triggers but there is one way to dramatically reduce depletion researchers
found that it takes much less internal willpower to resist a stimulus so if you're motivated by
your values beliefs and morals you'll have an easier time avoiding temptations of all
shapes and sizes number five baseline stress how much pressure are you under on a daily basis are
you generally high-strung or are you more relaxed your willpower can fluctuate based on your daily
stress levels one study showed that significant stress reduces self-control it clouds judgment
and it leads to impulsivity your brain will also crave short term rewards it wants to relieve all
those negative emotions created by stress which means you have a harder time avoiding your usual
temptations number six implementation intentions without realizing it people with strong willpower
use a trick recommended by psychologists around the world it's called an implementation intention
but you probably know it as an if-then statement okay let's say for example that you're going to
a mall with your friends you know ice creams a major trigger for you so you plan ahead you say
if I pass by an ice cream parlor then I will eat a banana instead these statements increase
self-control by giving you something active to do in place of your temptation eating a banana is a
great substitute for ice-cream because it provides a healthy alternative to the same activity you're
eating something sweet while completely shutting down your trigger number seven willpower tests you
can't spend your entire life avoiding temptation though many people have tried the problem is that
living temptation free isn't the same thing as building willpower all you're really doing is
avoiding your triggers if one does pop up somehow well you'll be completely defenseless the key to
strong willpower is consistent testing in other words you have to let yourself make contact with
your triggers yeah it'll be hard to resist at first but the more times that you do it the
more resilient you'll get an obvious sign that someone has strong willpower is that they can
freely interact with things that use to trigger them over time they used small bursts of exposure
to test their self-control until suddenly those triggers started to disappear now just keep in
mind that willpower depletion can happen if you're testing yourself too often it helps to think about
willpower like any other muscle in your body regular exercise is healthy but don't overdo it
number eight vivid imagination your imagination is an incredibly useful tool for resisting temptation
you can actually trick your mind into satisfying a craving using only your imagination yeah there are
a few different ways to do this but let's just focus on one for now in this study researchers
measured the impact of imagination on cravings for junk food specifically cookies they asked
three groups of people to imagine three different scenarios and the first one you're craving cookies
right now in the second you don't care when you eat cookies you just know you want them and in
the third you don't want any cookies now but you do want them later sounds pretty simple right well
surprisingly this small change had a huge impact on the number of cookies that each participant ate
when offered as many cookies as they wanted the first two groups ate significantly more than the
third all because they stifled their craving using their imagination so if you have an especially
creative mind your vivid imagination might be boosting your willpower number 9 persevering
attitude willpower comes naturally to people who regularly practice perseverance when you refuse
to give up on something you're training your brain to push through negativity that's essentially what
self-control is you need to experience negativity now to reap the rewards later so by maintaining of
persevering attitude you've been unconsciously exercising your willpower to number 10 advanced
decision-making even the most insignificant choices can drain your willpower that's why
people with great self-control often plan their decisions ahead of time for example you might
orchestrate your meals clothing or budget the night before not only are you saving yourself
some time you're also doing your willpower a huge favor now normally when temptation comes
knocking you have to make a choice right then and there resist or give in but planning ahead takes
the pressure off your brain you've already made this decision you've already organized how this
interaction is going to play out you've already done the hard work so that in the present you
can just stick to the plan so if you're the kind of person that can't resist mapping out
your life chances are willpower is one of your strong suits number 11 the emotional clarity
bad moods are a universal scapegoat when you cheat on your diet or skip the gym it's true
that stress and anxiety temporarily decrease self-control but your mood is not the reason
why you lack willpower many people blame their mistakes on their mood when in reality they've
never practiced any kind of cell discipline that's why if you have strong willpower you're likely an
emotionally intelligent person you know how to manage your own emotions if something's wrong
well you try to get to the root of the problem instead of passing the blame by addressing your
negative emotions you're building self discipline and willpower you're training yourself to find
long-term solutions to your problems rather than suppressing them with short-term rewards number
12 perfection control perfection and willpower are natural enemies in fact perfectionism often
stems from a basic lack of self-control you overwork and you overthink because you can't
control that urge to keep tinkering most people don't realize that work can be a trigger just like
junk food or watching TV that's why people who have overcome perfectionism tend to have strong
willpower they've learned when to keep working and when to take a step back hey thank you for
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