Willpower And Self-control Can Change Your Life

Developing your willpower and self-control can change many areas of your life . Adopting and sticking to a healthy diet, reading more books, exercising or working towards a long-term goal, for example. In fact, the benefits seem to extend throughout life.

To this end, Terrie Moffitt of Duke University and a group of colleagues studied self-control in a group of 1,000 individuals. The researchers followed them from birth to 32 years of age. They were part of a long-term health study from Dunedin, New Zealand. Together with his colleagues, Moffitt discovered that individuals with well-developed self-control during childhood became healthier adults, both physically and mentally.

With these results, it is obvious that willpower and self-control are crucial for a good life. New studies suggest that there are ways to strengthen one’s willpower and self-control. All you have to do is train them.

Facts about willpower and self-control

Researchers who study self-control often describe it as a muscle. This is because the ability is exhausted as it is forced to continuously perform heavy tasks. But they also say that there is another side to the muscle analogy. Namely, that although your muscles may be a little sore after training, they also become stronger in the long run.

Apply consistent willpower and self-control in one area and the rest will improve

Australian researchers Megan Oaten and Ken Cheng from Macquarie University in Sydney assigned a group of volunteers to a training program (or to another activity that required willpower) for two months.

Participants who performed better on self-control tests reported that they smoked and drank less. In addition, they ate healthier, controlled their expenses, and even improved their study habits.

By consistently applying willpower in physical training, each participant generalized and seemed to strengthen themselves in other important areas as well.

Deferred need satisfaction

Over 40 years ago, Columbia University psychologist Walter Mischel examined children’s self-control. He did it with a simple but effective test. They left a piece of candy in front of the participants in the study.

Before leaving the children alone with the candy, the researcher announced that they would go out for a moment, and that if the child did not eat the piece of candy while they were away, they would get another piece when they returned. If they ate the first piece of candy instead, they would not get any more.

This is a classic experiment. In fact, it has been replicated many times. The researchers mainly analyze the influence of different variables.

Overall, children who could not resist eating the candy were also less successful in self-control tests as adults. An individual’s sensitivity to immediate stimuli seems to be present throughout human life.

Willpower, self-control and glucose

Eating often to maintain blood sugar levels in the brain can also help recharge your reserves of willpower. However, do not let the word “sugar” fool you.

According to dietitians, healthy foods that do not contain refined sugars are better than industrially produced foods. They can actually balance your sugar levels.

Goals are better achieved one at a time

The results from the studies on an exhausted willpower also indicate that New Year’s resolutions are not a particularly good idea. At least if you really want to accomplish everything you describe in them. Exhaustion in one area of ​​your life can reduce your willpower in other areas as well. Thus, it makes more sense to pursue one goal at a time.

If you think about it, it’s all very logical. In fact, according to Baumeister, it is no longer necessary to exercise willpower to maintain certain behaviors once you have established the first good habit. Over time, healthy habits become the norm and continuing with them then requires only little effort.

Do not give in

This is an effective strategy for maintaining self-control. In the aforementioned candy study, by Walter Mischel, children who focused their attention on the candy either gave up earlier or chose not to resist the temptation at all. Those who closed their eyes, looked the other way or distracted themselves in some way could much better resist the urge to eat the treat.

Intentional implementation

Another useful strategy for improving your self-control is the “intention to implement” technology. For example, someone trying to reduce their alcohol consumption may decide to ask for mineral water every time someone offers them a drink.

Deliberate implementation increases self-control. Thus, the planning itself allows you to make immediate decisions that do not require willpower.

Motivation is the key

Mark Muraven found that individuals whose willpower had been exhausted could still exercise self-control during certain tasks, especially when someone promised some form of compensation for their efforts. Either monetary compensation, or just the satisfaction of helping another person.

High motivation, he concludes, can help overcome weakened willpower, at least to some degree.

Neurological findings

Researchers have found that the prefrontal cortex (an area of ​​the brain that controls executive functions, such as decision-making) shows greater activity in people with greater self-control. Likewise, the striatum (an area that is believed to handle the processes of desire and reward) shows an increased activity in people with less self-control.

Finally, there are many questions that have not yet been answered regarding the nature of self-control. But it seems that with clear goals, vigilance and a little practice, you can train your willpower to remain strong when it comes to resisting certain temptations and following the paths that have fewer demands and obstacles.