What would have happened if we were taught how to develop willpower?
Willpower is the ability to master three skills: “I will,” “I won’t,” and “I want.” Have you ever asked yourself what would have happened if schools and universities taught us how to develop willpower? Kelly McGonigal’s book “The Willpower Instinct” has helped thousands of people to stop drinking or smoking, run a marathon, go in for sports, start their own businesses, improve family relationships, etc. Shescientifically shows how our thinking works, and why we avoid changes and do not fully use our own potential. It turns out that the brain can be trained like muscles.
This book is a must-read for everyone who describes themselves as lazy and unmotivated. People often confuse their own needs with the requirements of the environment or who knows what justified whims of others. Some are so accustomed to satisfying their vaguely formulated mental and bodily needs in this perverse way that they have lost hope of looking at the world with interest and pleasure.
Even if nature has endowed us with clearly visible volitional abilities, we should use this resource with respect and caution. A too diligent a search for tools for self-motivation may indicate invented or false goals, not quite our own. Let our volitional efforts be an extension of our values, feelings, and needs, and then the need for constant stimulation of the will is going to be less.
Too tired to resist: why self-control is like a muscle
During those final exam periods, students lose their ability to control everything but the learning process. They stuff their heads with facts and formulas, stay up all night and relentlessly try to make up for all those weeks wasted on partying and entertainment. However, research shows that these heroic efforts don’t come easy. People who constantly strain their willpower are able to completely exhaust it.
Willpower has its limits. Having exhausted its reserves, you become completely defenseless against temptation — or at least weaker.
Modern life constantly demands self-control from us, and it drains our willpower. Researchers have found that the level of self-control is highest in the morning and steadily decreases by the evening. At a time when you have to do something really important to you (for example, go to the gym after work, or start a big project), your willpower is already exhausted. And when you try to control or change too many things at once, you can completely exhaust yourself. Such failures have nothing to do with our personal virtues. It’s just the nature of willpower.
Muscle model of self-control
The first scientist who systematically investigated and tested the limits of willpower was Roy Baumeister, a psychologist from the University of Florida. Baumeister has been studying people’s willpower — subjects have had to give up sweets, deal with distractions, restrain anger and keep their hands in freezing water. With each new study, self-control gradually decreased, and it did not depend on the task. Constant concentration over time not only worsened the attention itself but also led to physical exhaustion. Continuous control of emotions not only caused emotional outbursts but also caused an uncontrollable desire to buy unnecessary things. The constant denial of sweets stimulated the craving for chocolate and at the same time made people postpone important things. It was as if each volitional act drew strength from the same source, and with each successful act of self-control, the subjects weakened.
These observations led Baumeister to an interesting hypothesis: self-control is like a muscle. It gets tired if it is used. If you don’t let the muscle rest, you can completely exhaust it, like an athlete after a workout. Dozens of studies have only confirmed that willpower is a finite resource. Emotions, expenses, or eating are controlled by a single source of power. Each act of willpower depletes it, so self-control can lead to a loss of control. If you forbid yourself to gossip at work, then you may not be able to resist a high-calorie dessert at the coffee shop. And if you refuse a tempting cake, you may find it harder to concentrate on your work.
We do not even suspect that some of our daily activities also require willpower, this limited source of energy — and, accordingly, depletes it. For example, when we try to impress someone on a date or adapt to a corporate culture that contradicts our own values. When we drive in rush hour or sit through another boring meeting.
We use willpower constantly when we have to fight impulsive desires, filter out distractions, set priorities, or force ourselves to do something difficult. Every time the body and brain have to stop and make a plan, the metaphorical self-control muscle tenses.
The muscle model gives hope and disappoints at the same time. It’s nice to know that not all our failures are due to personal flaws: sometimes they are evidence of how hard we work. And while we are comforted by the fact that no one is perfect, this study also reveals more serious problems. Does it mean that if willpower is limited, we are doomed to failure in the long run? And, given that modern society requires us to exercise almost continuous self-control, are we inevitably destined to become a nation of willless zombies roaming the world in search of satisfying our impulsive needs?
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the depletion of willpower and strengthen self-control. The muscle model allows us not only to understand the reasons for failure but also to strengthen self-control.
The muscle model of willpower suggests that self-control is depleted throughout the day. Throughout the week, try to understand at what hours your willpower is strongest and when you are most inclined to indulge your desires. Do you wake up full of energy, and by the evening you are gradually exhausted? Or do you feel cheerful and energetic in the afternoon or evening? You can use this knowledge to create an effective daily schedule and avoid temptations during the periods when you are most likely to succumb to them.
