Get out from your bubble ❊

6 ways to improve your willpower today ❊

"The willpower response is a reaction to an internal conflict. You want to do one thing, such as smoke a cigarette or supersize your lunch, but know you shouldn’t. Or you know you should do something, like file your taxes or go to the gym, but you’d rather do nothing." ― Kelly McGonigal, PhD

The prefontal cortex is the part that helps us with things like decision-making and regulating our behavior. Self-control, or willpower, falls under this heading, and thus is taken care of in this part of the brain. To be effective at controlling our urges and making sound decisions, the prefontal cortex needs to be looked after. That means feeding it with good-quality food so it has enough energy to do its job and getting enough sleep.

One of the most replicated findings about willpower is that it seems to be finite, we only have so much and it runs out as we use it. We can look at willpower like a muscle; it can get exhausted by overuse, but just like our physical muscles, there are some researchers who believe we might be able to strengthen our willpower by training it.

"Trying to control your temper, ignore distractions or refuse seconds all tap the same source of strength." ― Kelly McGonigal, PhD

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WILLPOWER: Okay, we know that we only have so much willpower and as we go about our day, stress and normal self-control depletes our resource.

• 1. Increase your capacity for pressure: Learn how to manage stress

To start with, we need to manage our stress levelS. Being under high levels of stress means that our body’s energy is used up in acting instinctively and making decisions based on short-term outcomes. Our prefrontal cortex loses out in the battle for our energy when high-stress is involved. Stopping to take a few deep breaths when we feel overwhelmed or tempted can be a great start in managing our stress levels and improving our willpower.

• 2. Encourage yourself to stick to your plan

To make it even easier, it appears that self-affirmation can even help you to have more self-control when you’re running out. A good example of this is the difference between telling yourself “I can’t” and “I don’t.” Taking back control of the situation using the phrase “I don’t” has been shown to be more effective at helping you to stick to your plan and break bad habits: Every time you tell yourself “I can’t”, you’re creating a feedback loop that is a reminder of your limitations. This terminology indicates that you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. So try telling yourself that you don’t do that bad habit, rather than punishing yourself by saying “I can’t.”

• 3. Get more sleep to help your brain manage energy better

getting enough sleep makes a big difference to how efficiently our prefrontal cortex works: Sleep deprivation is a kind of chronic stress that impairs how the body and brain use energy. The prefrontal cortex is especially hard hit and it loses control over the regions of the brain that create cravings and the stress response. When the sleep-deprived catch a better night’s sleep, their brain scans no longer show signs of prefrontal cortex impairment. People who sleep between 6.5 hours and 7.5 hours a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive.

• 4. Meditate (for as little as 8 weeks)

Meditation has also been linked to increasing the reserve of willpower we have available, as well as improving attention, focus, stress management and self-awareness. And it doesn’t take a lifetime of practice; brain changes have been observed after eight weeks of brief daily meditation training.

• 5. Better exercise and nutrition

Both relaxing, mindful exercise like yoga and intense physical training can provide good benefits. As I mentioned earlier, what you feed your body affects how much energy the prefrontal cortex has to work with. Something as simple as eating a more plant-based, less-processed diet makes energy more available to brain and can improve every aspect of willpower. Not only will exercise and good nutrition improve your willpower, but they’ll make you feel better as well. Exercise in particular is known for making us happy by releasing endorphins that tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise, block the feeling of pain and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria.

• 6. Postpone things for later to gain focus on what’s important now

Postponing something you really shouldn’t have can be effective if you’re trying to break a bad habit. People who tell themselves “not now, but later” are generally less tormented by the temptation of something they are trying to avoid (his example is eating chocolate cake).

What happens is a child is left alone in a room with one marshmallow for an undefined period of time? If they resist eating the marshmallow, they’re rewarded with a second marshmallow at the end of the experiment. If they eat the marshmallow before time is up, they only get that one.