Just like your muscle tissue, power weakens from lack of use and grows stronger when exercised. The more you train your power, the more powerful you become.

Everyone has some power, but not everyone develops it to the same degree. Here are some methods to train yourself to become more powerful.

Progressive Training
A good way to build power and especially self-discipline is to progressively train yourself to tackle bigger challenges. When you train your muscles, you lift weights that are within your ability. You push your muscles until they fail, and then you rest. Similarly, you can develop your power by taking on challenges that you can successfully accomplish but that push you close to your limits. This doesn’t mean trying something that’s beyond your strength and failing at it repeatedly, nor does it mean playing it safe and staying within your comfort zone. You must tackle challenges that are within your current ability to handle but which are close to your limit.

Mary squirmed in her chair as she continued, “I just don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I just do it? I feel stressed all the time when I’m not writing. ‘I should be writing’, I say to myself, but I don’t. I think, if I just get the laundry done, then I’ll be free to sit down and write the next chapter. But then I don’t. Maybe I need to exercise first, and I go for a run. I get back home, fully intending to sit down at the computer. But I don’t. And all the while I’m feeling bad and stressed about not writing. What is wrong with me? Maybe I’m just lazy. Or maybe unconsciously I don’t really want to write. Or maybe it just means that I’m not really cut out to be a writer. ‘Writers write’, I tell myself.