Stop depending on willpower. Shape your path instead.

I’ll try harder.

I’ll do more.

Magiging masipag na ako.

Kaunting tiyaga lang yan.

Basta, kailangan ko lang ng disiplina.

Just do it!

Ever said these things to yourself? And, more importantly, ever failed to follow through on your goals even AFTER you’ve said these things?

Maybe you honestly thought if you were a bit stronger you could stick to that diet, or if you were more disciplined, you’d stop impulsive spending. With just a little bit more willpower, you could achieve your goals, get more done, and become superhuman.

Right?

Photo by Flickr user jdhancock

 Maybe. But your willpower is not enough.

Many studies show that willpower has its limits as a motivational tool. First, it depletes physical resources in our body. Here’s a discussion of various studies on the subject (emphasis mine):

The mind-body response of exerting willpower literally fatigues us (Tice et al. 2007). It depletes physical power, as shown in one study that looked at the effects of mental self-control on physical stamina (Bray et al. 2008). In this study, trying to control one’s thoughts decreased muscular endurance, as measured by performance and EMG activity.

In one recent set of studies (Gailliot et al. 2007), participants were required to control their thoughts, emotions or behavior. Immediately following each act of self-control, participants’ blood glucose levels dropped. Levels did not drop dur­ing similar tasks in which participants were not exerting self-control.

Source: “The Science of Willpower” by Kelly McGonigal, PhD

This is why dieting is so hard. You try to curb your cravings but, by by exerting self-control, you deplete the blood sugar in your body so you end up craving more. It’s tricky and ironic, isn’t it?

Also, willpower is finite. It doesn’t come from the power of your “soul” or your “mind”, no matter what motivational speakers tell you. It’s very limited.

Our supply of self-control is limited. Studies show that our self-control is actually sapped each time we use it (Baumeister & Vohs, 2003). It’s also sapped, predictably, by alcohol, lack of sleep and stress.

Source: “Money and Self-Control: The Battle Between Thoughts and Emotions” from PsyBlog

 

Psychologists have discovered that self-control is an exhaustible resource. And I don’t mean self-control only in the sense of turning down cookies or alcohol, I mean a broader sense of self-supervision—any time you’re paying close attention to your actions, like when you’re having a tough conversation or trying to stay focused on a paper you’re writing. This helps to explain why, after a long hard day at the office, we’re more likely to snap at our spouses or have one drink too many—we’ve depleted our self-control.

Source: “Why Change is So Hard: Self-Control is Exhaustible” by Dan Heath

Since willpower is limited, you can’t depend on it alone to make drastic changes in your life.

You need to “Shape the Path”. This means: change your environment and situation to make it easier to reach your goals. So that when it’s time to call on your willpower, you don’t have to exert so much effort in walking the right path.

Photo by Flickr user dolmansaxlil

How do you do that?

We can break it down to two approaches:

# 1 – Make it easier to make good micro-decisions.

How exactly can you make life changes easier? Change your environment so that you don’t have to make a hard decision every single time. Most of us think that changing our lives requires ONE BIG DECISION (“From now on, I will avoid all artificial sugar treats!”), when the change actually happens in several micro-decisions over time (“Isang slice lang naman ng cake today…”, “I’ll just buy one can of coke this afternoon…”, and “Well I had that cake yesterday, but there’s no harm in having an ice cream today because I’m feeling sad…”)

So, ask yourself “What small changes can you make in your environment/situation that can make it easier to exert willpower when the micro-decisions come up?” 

Here are some examples:

Instead of saying “I’ll try harder to save more each month”, set up an automatic savings plan that automatically deducts a set amount from your paycheck account each month. It’s easy because you do not have to actively think about saving. It just happens.

Instead of saying “Just do it! Exercise regularly!” why not get all the extra barriers out of the way and prepare your gym bag the day before (just as Arvin said he did in the comments from last week’s post).

Key Takeaway:

Make it smoother and easier for you to make good decisions when you’re low on willpower.

# 2 – Make it harder to make bad micro-decisions.

This time, ask yourself, “What changes in my environment/situation can stop me from giving in to my bad habits/impulses?”

Again, some examples:

Instead of saying “I’ll exert more self-control and spend less money on going out,” only take a set amount of cash with you when you leave the house. No credit cards or debit cards – just enough cash for the basics and a little “wiggle room” for emergencies. (After all, for a REAL emergency, you can always text a friend or relative to help you out.) You may WANT to buy that gadget impulsively, but you can’t cause you don’t have enough cash.

Instead of saying “Basta here’s a list of food that’s allowed in my diet, and here’s a list of what’s not allowed. I’ll do my best to stick to it”, then just don’t buy the wrong food in the first place and stock up on healthy food! This means that when you’re hungry, all you have is healthy food. You may WANT to eat cake, but there’s no cake in the house so you snack up on fruits instead.

If you’re worried about impulsively spending your hard-earned emergency fund, then don’t put your emergency fund in an ATM account. Keep it in a passbook account, so it’s more of a hassle to go to the bank and get your money during non-emergencies.

Key Takeaway: 

Set up barriers to prevent yourself from doing the wrong thing when you’re low on willpower.

This Week’s Action Task:

Think of your #1 goal for the year and ask yourself these questions:

• How can I change my environment/situation, so that I can make reaching this goal easier – even when I’m low on willpower?
• What barriers can I set up so that I don’t abandon or forget this goal even when I’m low on willpower?