Do you remember the New Year's resolutions, or the things you thought you would do "from today on, I'm going to stop doing this"? Maybe you thought you would lose weight, stop eating sugar , or learn something new. To achieve any of these goals, we need 'willpower'. We call this willpower in English. Most of the time, we think that we can overcome things only if we have this willpower. But are some of the things we think about this willpower really like that? Today, we will talk about some important facts that will surprise you.
First of all, what is willpower?
Simply put, Willpower is our mental ability to resist temptations, impulses, and bad habits that get in the way of achieving our long-term goals.
But for a long time, this thing called Willpower has been given a moral label. That is, there is a perception in society that a person who lacks willpower is 'bad' and 'weak'. But that is a completely wrong and not at all helpful idea.
As experts point out, Willpower is not something that is good or bad, right or wrong. To be precise, it is just a practical ability in our brain. Having it or not cannot be considered good or bad.
1. Just like your Willpower, how you think about it is also very important!
There are two main views when studying willpower.
- Limited Theory: This theory states that your mental strength is limited, like the battery on your phone. When you work hard all day, make decisions, and control your mind, at the end of the day, that 'battery' runs down. Then you don't have the strength to face the temptations that come your way. Imagine, after working hard all day and dieting, when you see a piece of cake at night, you feel like eating it.
- Non-limited Theory: This theory says that willpower is like a muscle that you build at the gym. That is, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. As you resist small temptations throughout the day, your willpower grows.
But the most surprising thing is that the latest research suggests that which of these two you believe affects your outcome more than your actual willpower.
If you think your Willpower is limited, it will be very difficult for you to go to your goals after a challenging day. You are likely to give up easily. But if you believe that using it will make you stronger, you will be able to go to your goals easily even after a difficult day. That means that the belief in your head about it is stronger than the strength of your mind.
2. How you use Willpower also affects the outcome
The way you think about willpower is just as important as the way you use it. This can be done in two main ways.
- Effortful Willpower: This is when you try to suppress bad impulses by force . Like when you want to eat a piece of cake, you force yourself to say, "No, no, I won't eat it, I won't even look at it." This takes a lot of mental energy.
- Effortless Willpower: This is different. Here, you motivate yourself to achieve your goal. Instead of forcing yourself to do something, you remind yourself of the reasons why you shouldn't do it. For example, you give yourself small rewards, you anticipate potential temptations, and you adjust your plans accordingly.
The best part is, the more deeply connected your goal is to your values in life, the easier it is to use this effortless willpower. It's very difficult to make up your mind for something that you don't truly believe in and isn't important to you.
3. Willpower alone is not enough to overcome drug addiction!
This is a very important point that we all need to understand. You may have heard that drug addiction is a lack of self-control, that you can control it with your mind. That is completely wrong and dangerous.
Addiction is a long-term brain disease . In addiction, your brain's neurotransmitters and brain structures are physically altered. Proper medical treatment and rehabilitation are essential to restore it. No matter how strong your mind is, you cannot overcome addiction on your own.
Research has even shown that while many people trying to recover from addiction describe themselves as "willpowerful," there is no correlation between that willpower and sustained recovery. That is, you can still have the disease of addiction even if you have great willpower.
Instead, strategies such as completely changing your environment, friends, and daily routine are much more important than willpower to overcome addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with this problem, it is essential to seek immediate advice from a doctor or qualified counselor.
4. How you think about willpower directly affects your health
Yes, this is true. Your opinion of willpower directly affects your physical and mental well-being.
- Diabetes : In a study of patients with diabetes, those who perceived their willpower as limited felt less able to control their health. This led to increased complications from diabetes and poorer mental health.
- Student life: In another study, university students who believed they had limited willpower were found to eat more junk food, procrastinate, and score lower on exams when under high stress.
So, what should you do instead of increasing your willpower?
Considering all of this, according to the latest ideas, rather than thinking, 'How can I increase my mental strength?', it is much more effective to use various strategies to motivate yourself to go towards your goals. Rather than forcefully controlling your mind, it is important to create an environment that makes it easier to do so.
Here are some such practical methods.
| Strategy | Simply put... |
|---|---|
| Find your 'why' | Why are you trying to achieve this goal? Understand how it relates to your life and values. That will be a great motivation for you. |
| Identify temptations early. | What obstacles might come your way? (For example, if you want to stop eating biscuits with tea in the afternoon, stop bringing biscuits home.) Be prepared for them in advance. |
| Change the environment | Stay away from things, places, and people that encourage you to engage in bad habits. Create an environment that supports you. |
| Give yourself small gifts (Reward Yourself) | When you achieve small milestones towards your goal, do something small that makes you happy. This will motivate you to keep doing it. |
Take-Home Message
- Willpower is not a measure of whether you are "good" or "bad." It is simply a mental ability.
- Whether you believe your willpower is limited or unlimited has a huge impact on your success. It's more helpful to think of it as unlimited, something that grows with use.
- Rather than forcefully suppressing temptations, it is more effective to use strategies that motivate you to achieve your goals.
- Drug addiction is a brain disease. Willpower alone is not the cure. It requires medical and professional help.
- If you're having trouble reaching your goals, are experiencing high levels of stress, or have an addiction problem, don't hesitate to talk to your doctor or a qualified counselor about it.
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