Transform Your Life
When Willpower
Isn’t Enough

The first step is not to fix it or solve it or manage it or minimize it or claim victory over it. It’s to name it—write it down even.

Preview lesson 1

Take a moment to reflect on an area of life where you have been living in the defeat of “but I . . .” Name that area concretely now.

Preview lesson 2

Willingness implies a surrendering of one’s self-separateness, an entering-into, an immersion in the deepest processes of life itself.

First, gauge your willingness. Ask yourself: Am I willing to do whatever is needed to know the truth about myself as best I can, with God’s help?

Coming to the point of being willing to confess is difficult. Begin with prayer.

Naming our resistance brings great change. Take a few moments to allow your go-to excuses to come to the surface.

Humility may be harder for us than ever, but humility is necessary to approach God and ask him to remove our character defects.

Make a list of the people you’ve hurt. If in doubt, put them on the list.

Think of one specific way you have hurt one specific person. Ask, How would I feel if I were that person?

Begin Crafting for Yourself a Daily Review. Ask for God’s help. Inventory your blessings. Pray about significant feelings that emerge as you review the day.

Ask God to help you become more aware of what you’re thinking through the day. What am I thinking right now? What am I feeling? What am I doing?

The strange truth is that the story of our weakness, failure, and pain often becomes a gift we can offer that brings hope to others.