On Willpower

It's day 285 of documenting 2025.

80 days to 2026!

It's another Sunday in October!

Happy New Week, my friend 😊 

I'm grateful for how last week went, and hopeful that this week is going to be even better.

It's actually a few minutes after 11am right now...not much has happened yet.

I'm at home with my family....not in a church like many people would think.

It's not that we don't like worshipping with others on Sunday.

It's complicated 😏

Well, the atmosphere is cold here in Lagos because of a windy rainfall hours ago.

And in other news, I visited my old Instagram page last night.

Yeah....I could talk about that 🙂

Now I can't actually remember why I decided to check out that page....

Okay, okay! 

I was actually helping someone out to create a new Instagram page and it wasn't working.

He later decided that he would create it himself.

Then I was like, 

"Where's my old page at?"

By the way, the Instagram interface has really changed since the last time I used it.

I was able to log in using saved login info from my Google account.

Then I saw it.

The same face I used then...back in 2024.

I still saw the old messages, especially the one where the owner of a marketing agency contacted me for my first online gig. Then I noticed another message.

It was from a "client" I had helped last year, with her Substack newsletter.

I was actually helping her out, so I could get a testimonial that would serve as "social proof".

She messaged me since June! 😳 

She messaged me that she needed help with her newsletter and asked if she could send the content I was to work with.

Silly ME had already deactivated the account before getting the message.

I was even thinking of deleting the account until I saw her message.

I replied and explained what happened to her.

Then I waited for her response.

This morning, she responded and gave me her number.

I already messaged her on Whatsapp and I'll wait for her response.

Somebody shout "Grace!"

It's only by God's grace that I was able to reconnect with an old opportunity.

I'm ready to serve 🙂

Can I share something personal?

Somehow, I feel like God is showing me several opportunities to serve other people through my skill.

I can't explain it, but I sense something HUGE coming.

I'm walking with His pace and I can see the prayer that I constantly pray coming to pass.

The prayer is:

"God, give me the wisdom to do what you have called me to do in a way that pleases you and serves the people you have called me to serve."

Amen 😌 

Okay, let's highlight today's note now...and then I can share more thoughts,

As the Spirit leads.

By the way, the book were looking at is written by Martin Meadows.

And this has been the accountability partner for my writing challenge.

Why?

Because it takes discipline to write for 365 days straight.

Now you know 🙂

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On Small Efforts at Self-Control

"Committing to any small, consistent act of self-control — improving your posture, squeezing a handgrip every day to exhaustion, cutting back on sweets, and keeping track of your spending — can increase overall willpower."

Quote by Kelly McGonigal

Don’t discount the power of small efforts. They count, too. 

Little challenges that you can do throughout the day (with a small time investment) can help you improve your overall self-discipline.

In fact, some of those small things (such as reminding yourself to have a good posture or avoid cursing), when done repeatedly, can deliver immense personal changes because they force you to be more mindful of your everyday actions.

By pausing yourself intermittently throughout the day to control your small behaviors, you develop more mindfulness, and consequently, more self-control.

Here are some little exercises you can consider adding to your everyday routine to improve your self-discipline, even when you’re strapped for time:

- keep your back straight when working;

- every hour, stand up and do five bodyweight squats;

- pause for five seconds before you start cursing;

- keep a notebook with you and, each day, write down three new ideas to improve yourself ;

- every day put one dollar into a savings jar — if you don’t have money to spare, this means resisting a temptation to buy something you consume daily, like coffee or a bagel.

My take on willpower:

There's only so much you can do by yourself.

You can probably exercise self-control to a certain point, but without God helping you out...it's often not effective.

I learned this lesson several times when I struggled with bad habits.

I tried to stop doing certain things by my own willpower, and it would work.

For a few weeks.

I would find myself going back to it again, and I would hate myself.

It was a vicious cycle, until Jesus stepped in. 😊

He showed me that I needed Him.

And I finally admitted it and accepted Him as my savior.

I still fell a few more times, but He was always there to pick me up.

That's exactly why I cried the other day, that I didn't want to go back.

These days, the thought of me going back to my old ways just makes me dewy-eyed.

For me to stop being loved by Christ is torment. (Just saying...)

Well, that was a lot, wasn't it?

I said it that I would go "behind-the-scenes" this time around.

So, if you see me on your screen one day, doing great things or "living the life".....just know that the moments I'm sharing now are the moments that made me.

I'm still in the root stage, you know?

Still studying, still learning, still building...

And when it all starts to manifest, you'll hear about it, somehow...

But all glory will be given to God, who has helped me through all my dark days and brought me into the light that transforms.

Speaking of light, I'm going to pick up my Scripture memorization again.

I stopped earlier because of the letters I had to write.

And now, since it's 80 days left till the new year... I'm going to enrich myself with God's Word daily till then.

I encourage you to do so as well.

It's a wonderful way to fortify your mind and get guidance from God.

Start with one verse per day.

And something just came to mind now...something that I'll post later.

"A Bible verse a day, keeps the devil away" 

You see what I did there? 😄

That would be all for today's post.

I wish you a wonderful week ahead and I pray that this week will favor you, in Jesus name. Amen

Thanks for reading 🎀 

You can always read more of my former posts and see my author profile on the main website, Documenting 2025.

If you're new here, welcome 🤗 

I've been writing since January...and there are a lot of stories.

Some I don't even remember!

See you in the next post 💜