Willpower 101: How to Strengthen This Critical Success Muscle (Greatest Hits)

The Side Hustle Show

Nick Loper

How To, Entrepreneurship, Business, Education

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Willpower predicts academic and professional success better than IQ, charisma, or having rich parents. It’s not the only ingredient in our success recipe, but it’s a critical one — and one I certainly struggle with at times. So how do we get more of it? Derek Doepker of ExcuseProof.com is an expert when it comes to increasing willpower and strengthening this critical success muscle we all have. He is the author of 7 bestselling books in personal development, a speaker, consultant, trainer, and specializes in helping individuals create permanent change and achieve mind, body, and business success in as little as 5 minutes a day. In this episode, we walk through several powerful willpower strategies you can start with today. Big thanks to my brother Chris for the inspiration for this one. Check out his excellent willpower article at BecomingBetter.org. Full Show Notes: Willpower 101: How to Strengthen This Critical Success Muscle New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indeed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quo (formerly OpenPhone)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Get 20% off of your first 6 months! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shopify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Sign up for a $1 per month trial! About The Side Hustle Show This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply! The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠side hustle ideas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We share how to start a business and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠make money online⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more. Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠passive income⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle. Hosted by Nick Loper of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Side Hustle Nation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Here's an oldie but a goodie from the archives from the side hustle show Greatest Hits collection.
0:05.4	This is Willpower 101.
0:07.2	How to strengthen this critical success muscle.
0:11.3	What's up?
0:11.9	What's up, Nick?
0:12.5	Loper here.
0:13.1	Welcome to The Side Hustle Show, because where there's a will, there's a way.
0:16.7	Study after study has found that willpower, the ability to control yourself, predicts academic and professional success better than IQ or charisma or having rich parents.
0:26.0	And of course, it's not the only ingredient in our success recipe, but it's a critical one.
0:30.2	It would be like trying to make guacamole without an avocado.
0:32.9	And honestly, it's something that I struggle with.
0:35.2	I think we all do at times.
0:36.6	But the good news is that our willpower, our self-discipline, is something we can improve. It's not fixed or static. In this episode, we're going to explore several concrete ways. You can add more willpower to your days, or since more isn't always the answer, how to sprinkle it in just the right spot so it has the greatest impact. These are the little tweaks and hacks you can apply today to start making meaningful progress. In a lot of ways, this episode is
0:58.9	inspired by my brother, who has been strengthening his willpower muscle for several years, and
1:04.0	it's made a night and day difference in his demeanor, in his interactions with others,
1:09.0	and I think in his overall health and happiness. So I encourage you to
1:13.0	check out an article he put together on the topic on his blog. It's becoming better.org
1:17.5	slash willpower. I think you'll like it and will reference several of his points in this episode.
1:22.6	Again, Becomingbetter.org slash willpower. And most importantly, this stuff works. I've seen it
1:26.9	firsthand. Now, to help me dive into the willpower topic is another gentleman I consider quite disciplined, and that's Derek Depker from excuseproof.com. He's the author of Healthy Habit Revolution, a book I also encourage you to check out. Derek is a consultant, a speaker, a trainer, and he's really focused on helping people cultivate
1:44.5	positive changes in their mind, in their body, and in their business. And he's got some
1:48.6	awesome, actionable suggestions for us today. Notes and links for this one along with the full
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nick Loper, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Nick Loper and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.