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Category: An Iron Will

This is the online course, “An Iron Will,” based on the book by Orison Swett Marden. This course will help you build a strong will and self-confidence.

"Teach the world that there is some iron in you."
Published on Leave a comment on Conscious Power (Lesson 3)

This is lesson 3 of "An Iron Will." (I know the YouTube versions says Lesson 2, but I'm giving you a few extra bonuses in the BicycleFreedom version. You can access the full course here.

 

This week you’re going to start building your will and your Reservoir of Power. Pick one of the exercises below and start doing it every day.
Published on Leave a comment on Build Your Reservoir of Power (Lesson 2)

This is lesson 2 for the online course, "An Iron Will." You can access the full course here.

This week you’re going to start building your will and your Reservoir of Power.

Pick one of the exercises below and start doing it every day. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. The benefit comes from doing something over and over again.

The exercises themselves will make your mind and body stronger, but your real goal here is to exercise your will. Every day that you repeat the exercise, you’re accomplishing several things:

  • You’re teaching yourself to be consistent. In the future, you’ll probably be in a situation where you want to practice something every day, study every day, workout, or maybe you’ll have to do a difficult job or chore. This will be easier for you, because you have already consistently done things every day.
  • You’re exercising your will. There will be days when you feel like you’re too busy or too tired to do the exercise, and days when you just don’t want to. But when you do it anyway, you are using your will. Remember, your will grows stronger with use.
  • You’re building your reservoir of power. This is hard to explain, until you’ve experienced it. But when you give yourself the discipline of doing something every day, you start to feel more self-confident. This carries over into every part of your life. When you’re under stress, your daily exercise will help you feel more grounded and secure.

Here are a few more pointers before you get started:

If you’re generally an active, athletic person, choose one of the more mental activities. If you’re more of a thinker, choose something physical.

Once you’ve picked out an exercise to cultivate your iron will, get a marker or a pen of your favorite color. Hang a calendar on the wall, somewhere you'll see it.

Every day that you successfully carry out your chosen activity, put a special mark on the calendar. Aim for 30 marks in a row without missing a day.

You can download the 30-day Challenge Calendar, and hang it up somewhere you'll see it every day. Or if you don't like using paper, try these apps:

Goal Tracker and Habit List

Strides: Goal & Habit Tracker

Momentum Habit Tracker

Disclaimer: I do not use any of these apps and I am not affiliated with them. Including these links does not imply an endorsement or recommendation of the apps listed.

When you do something 30 days in a row, your will grows stronger and you are ready to take on a new, harder activity. At this point you are ready to think about increasing the exercise or choosing a new one.

In your journal, write notes about how you feel when you do your chosen exercise, and how it’s affecting you.

Warning: Do not try any of the physical activities mentioned below without consulting a physician or other health professional.

  1. How many push-ups can you do in 5 minutes? Do this number of push-ups every day. When it starts to become easy, increase the number or decrease the time. Can you do the same number of push-ups in 4 minutes? If you don’t want to do push-ups, you can do this routine with burpees, pull-ups, or any other simple exercise. Challenge yourself.
  2. Write down 10 new ideas every day. They can be anything: new ideas for an article or a book, a new invention, business ideas, recipes to try, art projects, etc. They don't have to be good ideas but you need to come up with 10 of them, quickly. You are training your will to think creatively in a pinch. Do this for a few months and you'll surprise yourself.
  3. Talk a walk, run, skate, or bike on the same route every day. Each day, try to notice a new detail along the route.
  4. Find a spot in your home that is always cluttered. Not an entire room, but just a counter or a tabletop, for example. Clear it off now. Commit to keeping it clear. Do not go to bed at night until your spot is clear.
  5. Take a cold shower every day. See how cold you can get it and how long you can stand it. When that becomes easy, try laying in a bathtub of cold water. Eventually add some ice. Then more ice.
  6. See how long you can go without something. For example, coffee, sugar, your favorite video game, etc. How many days in a row? If you don’t make it through 30 days, give up something else for a while. But every day, give up something that isn’t good for you
  7. Instead of an exercise, choose a habit that will be good for you when you do it consistently (for example, call your mother, floss your teeth, etc.). Make a commitment to do it every day no matter what.

Congratulate yourself. Buy yourself a nice meal or some other treat to celebrate.

Here's the link to Lesson Three

Sometimes, all you need is a surge of mental strength. Sometimes that's the only thing that will work. That's why I created this online class a few years ago.
Published on Leave a comment on Training the Will (Lesson 1)

I want you to go out and have adventures!

But when you do, you're going to run into obstacles, especially the ones inside your own head. Sometimes, all you need is a surge of mental strength. Sometimes that's the only thing that will work.

That's why I created this online class a few years ago. It's based on an old book in the Public Domain, "An Iron Will" by Orison Swett Marden.

I hope the videos and the exercises I give you are easier than reading the book.

I hope this gives you the extra push you need, whatever you're trying to do.

This is Lesson One of "An Iron Will," an online course to help you build grit and self-confidence. You can access the full course here: https://bicyclefreedom.com/category/an-iron-will/

Here's the link to Lesson Two

If you don't have confidence or a grit, you won't do the hard work that needs to be done. The good news is that if you have at least one of these qualities, you can use it to build the other one.
Published on Leave a comment on 2 things you need for an adventure (Introduction)

This is non-negotiable.

You need to have at least one of these two things if you want to get anywhere in life: Self-esteem and a strong will.

Sooner or later, you're going to have to do something hard to reach your goal. If you don't have confidence or a grit, you won't do the hard work that needs to be done.

The good news is that if you have at least one of these qualities, you can use it to build the other one.

The better news is that you can develop both of them, just like building a muscle. In fact, someone wrote about this more than a century ago in a book called An Iron Will. You can download the book for free right here: http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/13160

Now I've got something even better for you. I took the information from An Iron Will and made it into an online class. Here's the introduction. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, you'll find links to watch the other lessons and download the worksheets and other handouts.

Here's the link to Lesson One

You can access all the lessons of the course here: https://bicyclefreedom.com/category/an-iron-will/