Today, more than ever, we’re bombarded with temptations. We can start to work on a project, but our attention can be diverted in an instant by our computers or smartphones. In a recent study, researchers found that people spend about four hours a day resisting desires—that’s about one-quarter of their waking hours. Common desires include the desire for leisure, to eat and to sleep.
But resisting desire can be the key to success in life.
Example: In the 1960s, Stanford University psychologist Walter Mischel, PhD, tested preschoolers’ ability to resist eating marshmallows. When Mischel and his colleagues tracked down those now-grown preschoolers decades later, they discovered that the kids who had the self-control to wait to eat their marshmallows grew into adults who earned higher salaries, had better relationships, were in better physical shape, had higher self-esteem and were less likely to be addicts than their peers who couldn’t wait to eat the treat.
Most people associate the word willpower with the Victorian notion of denying oneself pleasure. What it actually means is having the strength to persevere in the face of challenges. It is all about self-control, whether it is controlling emotions or resisting the many temptations that cross our paths every day.
But everyone’s willpower varies from day to day—and even over the course of a single day—often for reasons that are within our control. And despite the importance of willpower to our lives, few people understand how it works and how it can be increased…
We draw from a limited pool of willpower each time we force ourselves to resist temptation, control our emotions or focus our thoughts.
Example: A study by University of Toronto researchers found that test subjects who were instructed to control their emotions while viewing upsetting clips from documentaries had trouble controlling their reactions and making good decisions afterward. Test subjects who were not asked to control their emotions while watching the clips did not have this trouble.
It’s important not to overtax your willpower reserves. The more things we attempt that require significant willpower, the greater the odds that we will run short of willpower and fail at all of them.
Example: If you made New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking, lose weight and find another job, pick only one of these to pursue at a time.
Developing good habits is crucial to willpower. In 2011, Dutch researchers conducted an analysis of studies on people who had greater-than-normal self-control. They were surprised to discover that high-self-control individuals tended not to use large amounts of willpower to control their day-to-day behavior. Rather, these high-self-control individuals generally expended much of their willpower establishing positive habits. Once positive habits had become routine, they no longer needed to rely on their willpower to do the right thing—the habit essentially did the right thing for them.
Example: High-self-control employees generally excel at meeting deadlines because they have developed the habit of working productively even when deadline pressure is low.
Four strategies to create autopilot habits and reduce the demands on your day-to-day willpower supplies…
Break unloved tasks into small components, and make them part of your daily routine. Stop forcing yourself to spend hours at a time doing things you dislike, whether that’s cleaning your house or searching for a better job. Instead, spend just 30 minutes on such tasks—but do so every single day and at the same time every day. Establishing this routine will require significant willpower, but once it is in place, it will become like brushing your teeth—something you just do without thinking very much about it.
Keep temptations out of sight and out of reach. Every time we see a temptation, we must expend willpower to resist the urge to indulge. Conserve willpower by making a habit of positioning these temptations—or yourself—where you will see them less.
Example: If you’re trying to drink less, find a new route home from the office that doesn’t take you past your favorite bar.
Make “precommitments.” Precommitments are steps taken now that reduce the need for willpower later.
Examples: Arrange to have a portion of your paycheck deposited directly into an investment account to avoid the temptation to spend that money. Sign a “commitment contract” with stickK (www.StickK.com), a free Web site founded by Yale economists. The Web site lets users set personal goals, name their own referees to monitor their progress, then choose the punishment they will incur if they fail—perhaps a financial contribution to a politician they dislike.
Create “implementation intention”—that is, form precise plans for how you will handle specific temptations that might come up before they come up. Psychologists have found that avoiding temptation requires significantly less willpower when such plans are in place.
Example: Before going to a party while on a diet, tell yourself, If there is food at this party, I will eat only vegetables.
Psychologists have found that when people’s blood sugar levels fall, their willpower falls, too. Similarly, people who have hypoglycemia—the predisposition to low blood sugar—are predisposed to have chronically low willpower.
Example: A Finnish study found that prisoners’ glucose (sugar) tolerance levels predicted with 80% accuracy whether the prisoners would commit violent crimes again after release.
Sugary foods provide a quick spike in blood sugar and willpower, but this soon wears off. To boost willpower over a longer term, regularly consume foods that are low on the Glycemic Index, such as vegetables, nuts, raw fruits, fish, lean meat and poultry. The Glycemic Index is available at www.GlycemicIndex.com.
Postpone difficult discussions and projects that require willpower until after a good meal. Avoid the temptation to skip meals when you’re busy. Any time that you save by not eating is likely to be more than offset by a reduced ability to make prudent decisions. Also…
Sleep or meditate. A good night’s sleep reduces the body’s demands for glucose and improves its ability to make use of the glucose already in the bloodstream. There is some evidence that meditation can provide similar benefits.
When you’re sick, postpone major decisions. When you’re sick, your immune system requires much of the glucose in your bloodstream. That leaves your brain deprived of glucose—and you with less willpower than usual.
