life's challenges can be separated into two piles:
1) things we can do something about
2) things we can't do anything about
Pick something out of the 1st pile and do something about it by exercising the inner strength.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to strengthen self control - will power - assertiveness enough to meet life's challenges head on ?

Yes.

#1 - Be in the now. What are real problems in the NOW...if we are honest? 99.9% the answer is not much. At most...it is our thoughts.

#2 - Be HONEST about where your level is at....no matter how small....and set smaller and smaller goals until you have psychic traction......and are achieving at least 1...or 2...or 3 of the goals YOU set every day.

#3 - Start believing that the goals you have are worthy....no matter how silly...even to yourself.

#4 - Accept the fact that everything you do is probably 'wrong' and move on the direction you think is most important.

#5 - Strengthen will-power by pitting all your intelligence and will into SOME/ANY volunteer service...and do the best job you can at it...as regularly as you can.

-Just some tips that have worked for me.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Beautifully put EZ rider and DZM.

Great advice from DZM, as usual! I would also add two things:

1.) Train yourself at ascetism. When I started cooking school, my first instructor had everyone in the class in turn describe themselves, their goals, and anything about themselves they thought noteworthy. When I mentioned vegetarianism for the last point(I live in a very working class conservative county in Michigan--almost no one, statistically, is a vegetarian), the instructor asked me why I became a vegetarian, and I answered honestly that it was primarily to test my will. He laughed; he had once been veg himself and said he totally understood. From then, there was nothing I wasn't called upon to do; I was shown no deference[as the Buddhist students were], which further tested my will, and gradually led to my being well-respected and to consequently have more respect for myself and faith in my ability to achieve objectives. Any two-year-old can say "no" to others; true self-discipline, true mastery of will, comes in saying "no" to oneself. And meaning it.

2.) Visualize! I don't mean this in a New Age-y way, though that has its place. I mean really think about your goal as a thing you have already achieved. If you are convinced in your mind that no impediment exists, that removes most impediments, which are self-constructed, as I'm sure you know. I am finding that it helps to imagine myself in the near future, with the selected task completed or goal achieved, and doing something mundane. This puts it in the realm of the everyday for me, and diminishes its dauntingness. Young children have this sort of fearlessness about them. It's sad we lose it as we get older. By practicing this mode of seeing, rather, of planning, I think you can really foster the deepest sense of power over yourself, which parlays into strength.

My apologies, EZ, if this is stuff you already know.
Brave heart and good luck!

Tamukha --
Thanks for your post. It is very enlightening and helpful. I think you hit it right on about the ascetic aspect of exercising inner strength.

Make what you want more important than what you don't. Find something you are so passionate about that you will obtain by sticking with this goal, that it motivates you daily.

Affirmations-mentally and visually

Surround yourself with everything you need to assist you.

Have backup plans.

Have a support system or a way to connect with others if you don't.

Simple Raw Recipes & Health Tips

EZ rider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> life's challenges can be separated into two piles:
>
> 1) things we can do something about
> 2) things we can't do anything about
> Pick something out of the 1st pile and do
> something about it by exercising the inner
> strength.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas on how to strengthen
> self control - will power - assertiveness enough
> to meet life's challenges head on ?


What is your particularly challenge?

communitybuilder

Quote

What is your particularly challenge?

I was reading a thread tittled: "slipping backwards and in need of some words of wisdom" [www.rawfoodsupport.com]
and it got me to thinking about how important it is to possess inner strength to go raw and to stay raw, especially after a "slip". So I decided to start a thread about inner strength. I'm glad I did because there is some very useful info in this thread tittled "inner strength" and I learned some useful ideas. I had a "slip" last summer and I had to claw my way back up the slippery slope to get back on my raw journey. Two things I learned from my "slip" experience:
1) inner strength is VERY important to a raw food eater.
2) its easier to say NO to dead food temptations then it is to claw my way back up the slippery slope to raw once a "slip" has occurred.

Why is eating raw important and not slipping so important?

communitybuilder

Quote

Why is eating raw important

Everyone finds their own motivation for being raw. Being raw is very important to me as I do not ever want to go back to my pre-raw condition.

Quote

Why is not slipping so important?

I think it is so much, much easier to say NO and pass on the "slip" then the fight to get back to raw and taking the chance of not getting back.

EZ rider Wrote:

> Does anyone have any ideas on how to strengthen
> self control - will power - assertiveness enough
> to meet life's challenges head on ?


Be purposely selective with how to invest one's precious energies and with whom to interface with. I feel that doing so will allow for clearer focusing on the more important things not only when the going is relatively easy but also when there are bumps in the road that impact the journey since more effort is needed then to deal with the challenges.

Wishing you vibrant health