You don’t need willpower
WebMD had an interesting article a couple days ago, Why Willpower Often Fails.
The gist of the article is this, we often over-estimate the strength of our willpower. And those who are the most confident of their ability to resist temptation are the ones who fail the most, and the worst.
If you’ve ever been on a diet, no one has to tell you that temptation often wins out over willpower. If it didn’t you wouldn’t need to keep dieting, would you? There are some things you can do to give yourself a better chance of succeeding.
- Admit that there will be temptation, and accept that it may be hard to resist. Those who were most humble about their willpower were the ones most likely to succeed in resisting, according to the article.
- Avoid situations where you’ll be tempted, as much as possible. Think of times when you usually “blow it” and try to do something different to help you resist. Television time is a tough one for me, so I try to keep busy knitting, writing, cleaning house, etc. If I just sit and watch television, I can eat hundreds of calories before I even realize it.
- Build good habits. We’re creatures of habit. Often we do things without thinking, so it’s only smart to take advantage of that. When was the last time you ate a whole tub of popcorn at the movies before you realized it? Or maybe you ordered dessert before you remembered you were on a diet? Work on replacing those bad habits with good ones, and you’ll find yourself doing healthy things automatically instead.
So, the next time you’re faced with a situation that might cause you to fall off the wagon, take some time to build up your defenses before-hand.
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2 Responses to “You don’t need willpower”
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An insightful post.Will definitely help.
Thanks,
Steve
Very nice article that you have written. But without will power you cant take even a single step.