When you are playing tug-of-war against a giant. The harder you pull on the rope (your “will power”), the harder the giant (your “imagination”) pulls back! To win, you don’t need to pull harder; you just need to drop the rope and go play a different game instead. Okay Sometimes things get on the way but it is not impossible as long as you start somewhere.

Why This Happens: This is the “Law of Reversed Effect”. When your conscious “will” (I must stop!) fights your subconscious “imagination” (I really want it!), the imagination always wins. Your body’s “engine” is designed to reduce effort, so it chooses the familiar habit-path because it’s “energy efficient,” even if it’s bad for you.

How to Fix It: Stop using “will power” and start using “Word Pictures.” Instead of telling yourself “Don’t smoke” or “Don’t eat,” create a vivid mental image of yourself feeling “proud, healthy, and full of energy”. Your subconscious follows the strongest mental image, not the strongest command.

Context Research: French pharmacist Emile Coué discovered that the “will” and “imagination” are often in conflict, and when they are, the imagination is “multiplied” by the square of the will. Aligning them creates a “Durable Self” that doesn’t need to struggle to succeed.