Willpower is the ability to use self control against urges or emotions and to resist short-term temptations. It comes into play whenever we are faced with making decisions, ranging from simple to complicated ones.
A common misconception is that when we’re unable to stick to our plans it’s because we have less willpower than those around us who seem successful. The truth is, willpower comes and goes for all of us. It’s not that we have less of it – we just need to learn how to manage it and use it to our best advantage when pursuing goals.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Most of us have probably heard this old English proverb before, and may have even used it as motivation for us to get our butts in gear. On the surface it seems pretty straightforward- if we truly have the determination to do something we will find a way to make it happen, no matter what.
However, this implies that we can access our willpower whenever we want in order to get what we want and unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Willpower does play a role in our decisions, but it fluctuates, which is why we can’t always rely on it.
Researchers at Cornell University estimated that we make close to 35,000 decisions each day.
Considering each decision we make requires energy (even the ones that only take a few seconds out of our time), that’s a lot of energy exerted throughout the day! Think about all the decisions you have to make from the moment you wake up – what should you wear to work? What route should you take to get there? What song should you listen to in the car?
This same study found that around 200 of our daily decisions are around food alone!
Think of some decisions you make regarding food throughout the day – should you eat what you brought for lunch or eat out? Are you really hungry or just thirsty? Should you eat that slice of cake that your co-worker brought in?
Using that mental energy to make decisions over a long period of time will eventually tire us out, leading to what’s called “decision fatigue.” This is when our willpower is low and we tend to make impulsive decisions. Our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that guides behavior, becomes overloaded with too much information and the quality of our decisions deteriorates. We tend to rely on shortcuts because they require less energy, even though we subconsciously know they aren’t in our best interest.
So how can we manage our willpower?
Think of willpower as a battery – the lower it gets, the harder it is to use it for what we need. So we need to preserve this energy as much as we can.
You can accomplish this through several ways (here are just a few):
- Work on habit building – create habits that you’re able to repeat over and over until they become automatic. Once you master a habit, your brain will become trained enough that it will know what to do without applying conscious effort. This will conserve your energy.
- Have a plan – you’re more likely to follow through with your habits if you’re intentional about how to master them. Prep your meals for the week; pack your gym bag the night prior; keep protein on hand for the moments you’re hungry, etc.
- Prioritize your tasks – do what matters most to you early in the day when you have the highest willpower levels, before you’re overloaded with thousands of decisions.
- Manage your stress – get enough sleep, drink enough water, eat enough nutritious foods- all of these will help support cognitive function.
- Practice mindful self-discipline – a study published in the Journal of Psychological Science shows that 15 minutes of daily mindfulness meditation can help you make smarter choices by learning to make more rational decisions in the moment.
- Limit temptation as much as possible – remove things that distract you from your goals or drain your level of willpower. Whether that’s cleaning out your pantry or ___creating a more disciplined environment will allow you to preserve your energy for the things you need to do (meal prep/lower your cholesterol/get your butt to the gym) and less on things you have to restrain from (this is why I have to go to the gym some days – working out at home is full of distractions).
