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Willpower is not a muscle that can get stronger anytime it's "worked out". Willpower is an exhaustible resource that has to be saved for key moment when it can do the most good. | |
Let me start with a story:
In the second half of the 19th century, as railways started to snake their way across western Canada, there was a problem: sometimes fires would start in small communities near the railway tracks, causing loss of life and property.
Sparks would fly from the trains' exhaust or from metal-wheel-on-metal-rail friction, ignite dry brush near the tracks, and then the fire would race unchecked towards the nearest village.
Everybody knew what to do! The time-honoured solution was obvious: setup a water-bucket relay and toss buckets of water onto the buildings that were on fire until, at a cursory glance, there were no more visible flames.
Problem solved!
(Sounds of me dusting off my hands as I walk away.)
Quite a story huh?
In this story, the buckets of water are "willpower". And the fire is whatever it is you want to use willpower to fix.
And so, do buckets of water put out the fire? Yes.
Are buckets of water the best thing possible to deal with the fire? No
Are there dozens of OTHER things we could do to:
- reduce the risk of fire?
- prevent the fire from taking hold?
- suppress the fire automatically?
- fight the fire better if it starts?
Yes, yes, yes and yes!
If you agree with the yes responses, then please read-on to explore ALL the other "powers" that we can use other than Willpower to reduce, prevent, suppress and fight whatever our personal "fires" may be.
First, a bit of information about Willpower
One definition of willpower is 'determination required to do something difficult'.
The American Psychological Association (APP) has many definitions, including:
an ability to resist immediate temptations in order to meet stated longer term goals
conscious self-regulation
governing ones actions using cognitive processes instead of emotional ones
Plus one other key definition the APP had that I wish to highlight:
- a limited and deplete-able resource
That's right! It is a resource, and as we have all experienced, it is depletable.
And just like the resource of water, everything should be done to ensure you don't need to even use willpower, or if you do use this resource, how do we ensure it's used only briefly as a temporary measure until other resources can be brought to bear on the problem?
Willpower is not strictly like a muscle.
You've probably heard that willpower is like a muscle. This is only partially true.
Like a muscle, it can be depleted and exhausted.
At some point, you've probably felt at the end of your willpower? You're not alone; several studies that have shown there is a notable decrease in willpower reserves the more and the longer we depend on willpower. For example, three different studies showed that participating in willpower intensive tasks led to less desirable results later on, such as:
drinking more beer before a driving test (Muraven, Collins, Neinhaus)
giving up sooner on tough physical challenges (Muraven, Tice, Baumeister)
giving up sooner on tough mental challenges (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, Tice)
Thus even if you are able to get through a situation using your willpower, you'll have depleted your reserves and thus be more susceptible to temptations the next time.
When asked if it's possible to "strengthen" willpower (like building up a muscle), the experts are divided with some saying yes and no. (We'll cover a few ways to strengthen your willpower later in this writing.)
However, where experts DO agree is that there are ways to avoid depleting willpower reserves so that you have plenty of it left in your bucket for when the sparks do start to fly!
