Harness your willpower
In life-change projects we often decide in one go to start exercising, give up smoking and alcohol, start eating healthily and perhaps take up some nice, challenging new hobby as well. When you set off for change with that thinking, success can be hard to come by. It isn’t worth trying everything at once. Willpower has been described as a limited resource: according to the model of the psychologist Roy Baumeister, every act that takes effort uses it up. Researchers have, however, argued about how well this model holds up, so treat it as a way of thinking, not as established fact. In practice, many people find that small changes made one at a time last better than everything at once.
Why eating matters
There is a link between eating and staying energised: when you are hungry and tired, making decisions and controlling impulses can feel harder. It has been suggested in the past that a drop in blood glucose weakens willpower, but this explanation is disputed in research and shouldn’t be taken as established fact. As a practical tip, eating regularly and enough helps many people keep going, and it is best to avoid making important decisions when you are really hungry.
What is willpower worth spending on?
It is worth spending willpower every day on forming good habits and on dropping or reshaping the bad habits you have learned. When you can use willpower to form good habits, they can over time become part of your automatic behaviour. Once a habit has been learned, at its best it doesn’t need any willpower at all. Do you still remember learning to tie your shoelaces into a bow as a child? It took an enormous amount of willpower, and sometimes you gave up halfway and the frustration set in. I suspect that today you didn’t have to force yourself much to tie your laces.
All good ideas, but how do I begin?
Don’t start the way described at the beginning, because then you will last a few weeks and slip back into your old patterns one thing at a time. But how would it sound if a year from now you could actually do all of these? This list is one example of how good habits can be built gradually. The pace and the order are individual, so adapt the list to your own life situation. Observe yourself and recognise when your willpower has run out, prepare for those moments and don’t be at the mercy of impulses. A good plan made in advance often helps, however depleted your willpower is.
Today: You go to bed 8.5 hours before your alarm goes off. At the weekend you set the same alarm and get up at the same time as on weekdays. Every day, 8.5 hours before the alarm, you get into bed and try to sleep: no phone, no TV, just sleep.
After a month: You start exercising. Choose a sport or activity that feels natural to you. The main thing is that you get moving twice a week. Best of all would be a very regular rhythm.
After two months: You review your diet. Fix one bad thing, for example a poor breakfast, sugary drinks, sweets, pastries.
After four months: You increase your exercise. Your body needs both strength and endurance training. Aim to get both in, with three workouts a week.
After half a year: Now we are at a difficult point. By now you have built up willpower and got the basics of life in order. Time to put the willpower you have built up to the test: give up some vice, for example smoking, alcohol, gambling, TV or games. You know well enough which ones are yours.
After seven months: You review your diet again: where else could there be room for improvement? Are you getting enough protein, are you eating regularly?
After eight months: More exercise. For many people, two strength workouts and two endurance workouts a week is quite enough to support their energy in daily life.
After ten months: It is time to tackle the next vice. By now you surely know what it is.
After a year: Many of the things on the list may have turned into habits, and you are ready to add the next good habit to your list. Or, of course, to remove a nagging bad one. There are plenty of good habits to add, and one at a time you can make them part of your life without having to force yourself to do them every day.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with the project: after all, this is the most important project of your life! Nostelema’s personal trainers are happy to help and to keep you moving through it.
Start small and carry on at your own pace!
Joonas Korpela
Source: Willpower, written by Roy Baumeister
