Now we've heard that self-discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Studies show that willpower is actually like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more you use it, the stronger you get it.

They've also found in unique studies that when you use it back to back, just like an exercise, once you work out your muscles become weaker for a little while, your willpower used to back to back actually becomes weaker. Let me give you a study. This study was done with college students. They put them in front of a table with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of chocolate. Half the students were told to restrain from eating the chocolate and to eat the radishes and the other half were able to eat the chocolates. Then they are asked to complete a puzzle. Now this puzzle was impossible to solve but they wanted to see how long they would work at it before they gave up. Now the ones that used their self-control and their willpower and their self-disciple not to eat the chocolate and eat the radishes, gave up much sooner. Those that were able to each the chocolate and not exercise their will power, worked at it much longer.

What have we learned from this? Well, as I mentioned before, will power is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. But if you are faced with two or three situations in a row where you need your willpower and your self-discipline, you need to be aware that your self-control, your will power could be low and avoid those situations. Because one of the aspects of exponential success of course is delayed gratification, which is an aspect of will power. It is important to understand that just because you are disciplined or have will power in one aspect of your life; it affects every aspect of your life. If you are weak in one area, it will start creeping in the other areas. So the bottom line is either you are going to be disciplined or you'll have disappointment. You can increase your willpower through practice, through inspiration doing a little bit at a time.

Again, it is a muscle, exercise it everyday and you will see great strength and success in your future. Sure you can spend time procrastinating and putting things off, but the time to do it is now. Successful people make decisions and act now. They don't wait. Sometimes we procrastinate because we are tired or we don't have the energy, our target or goals aren't big enough, or overwhelmed, so learn to act now. Procrastination is an excuse not to perform. You can't procrastinate when you decide to take decisive action with a vision of the future and an action plan with smart persistence. There is no reason to postpone an important activity. As President Theodore Roosevelt said, "In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Many times when you feel indecision and procrastination, it comes from our need as human beings to categorize things into right and wrong categories, black and white, big and tall, whatever it is we want to categorize. Every decision you make is not right or wrong. There could be three or four or five right things you can do right now. Our school systems teach that there is only a right or wrong answer for everything, not true; there are many ways to do different things. So get it out of your mind that there is black and white and that there is only one way to do things, that there is only one right answer. That will help explode your action plan. When you are faced with a decision and you feel like procrastinating the first thing to do is realize that you are doing it. Ask yourself, why you are doing it.

So when you are ready to make a choice there are three "R's" that you need to think about. Reflect about the issue, obstacle or challenge that you are having. Research your options, ask other people, and then React. Go out there and do it, change your life and reach exponential success. Because as you look as procrastination and the things you are avoiding and the habits in your life, you have to realize that your life right now is an accumulation of the choices, habits and decisions that you've made. Your habits will determine your future and your success. Many times when we look at our eating habits, our exercise habits, or failure to save money, the challenge is many times we don't see the results or the consequences of those actions until twenty thirty years down the road.

So it is time to take a look at your habit, acknowledge any bad habit you have and understand that most of our behavior, over 90 percent of our behavior is based on our habits. The routines we get stuck in, we've talk about becoming a creature of habit. Where do you learn them? From society, from yourself, from your parents, or from osmosis. Many of you have heard this story about the lady that was cooking the ham for thanksgiving and she cut off both ends, but it in the pan and then put it in the oven. Her husband says why do you do that, why do you waste so much ham. She says, I don't know, my mother did it. She calls her mother and her mother says, I don't know, my mother did it and she called her mother and she says, the only reason I did it was because the only pan we had was too small. Many of your habits are the exact same way. You've just picked them up and and you're not even sure why you do them. But realize that your success is directly determined by your habits. So constantly refine your habits.

Here is the key; you can't change your habits you need to replace your habits. If you have a bad habit of watching too much TV, replace it with reading and listening to motivation tapes. If you have a bad habit of eating, you can replace it with exercise or something more productive. So take a look at your habits and create an action plan to replace those habits with more productive habits. I'm excited for you as you go down this path of exponential success. What I want you to do is give yourself permission to win. You can with this game, you can become what you want to become but give yourself permission, program your mind, look at your habits and find your purpose in life. Many of you already know your passion, your purpose in life. What you need to do change yourself and to change the world. If you don't know don't panic. It is like sculpting, a little bit at a time. You'll get there. Find your purpose and align that with your natural ability. Another question you can ask yourself is "What do you want it to say in your Eulogy?" Or you can write a statement of purpose, but figure it out. Live your life with purpose. When you find that purpose it will increase your confidence.

Conclusion
Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you