Is a lack of willpower stopping you from achieving what you want to achieve?

'Willpower - a very strong determination to do something'

Is a lack of willpower stopping you from achieving what you want to achieve? We’ve all got willpower (scientifically proven) but it’s how we manage it that’s important! Willpower is like a battery, use it and eventually it runs out of charge!

Thanks to a study by Roy Baumeister referred to as the Chocolate-and-Radish

Experiment (1998) we know that willpower is a limited commodity. In the experiment subjects were asked to arrive hungry. Half were persuaded to eat cookies and the other half encouraged to eat radishes. They were then given a 30-minute test. After only 8 minutes those who had eaten radishes gave up while those who ate the cookies persevered for nearly 20 minutes, showing that resisting temptation takes its toll on willpower.

Let’s consider ways that our willpower is challenged as we start our day. The alarm goes off and it takes quite a bit of self-control not to roll over and ignore it but to get up and get ready. As we progress through the day, we make decisions like what to wear to work, choosing a salad for lunch over a hot pastry or burger. We bite our tongues when we would like to make a remark etc etc all these things are depleting our willpower and eventually we will experience a willpower gap. In a willpower depleted state we then rationalise situations and justify alternative decisions, for example, I deserve the cream cake because…I worked out today. I will start my project tomorrow because…..I still 6 days before submission.

But worry not, there is a way of re-changing, or bridging the gap. If you drive, remember when you first started to learn? It felt almost impossible to steer, change gear and push the pedals all at the same time. Do you think about doing all these things now? I bet you don’t! Similarly, are you consistent with brushing your teeth in the morning and before you go to bed? We do these things automatically and without using any willpower.

The less spur of the moment decisions we have to make, the more willpower we will have in our store. Let’s look at these principals in relation someone who is trying to maintain a healthy diet or trying to lose weight.

1. Plan and prepare – reduce the number of choices that you make by planning in advance what you are going to eat. We make a large number of food-related decisions a day and these will deplete our willpower store. Write down the night before what you are going to eat the next day (after you have eaten). Make the right thing to eat the easiest thing to eat, make it automatic. Prepare in advance, make lunch and take with you; leave the cereal box out on the table the night before; know what you are having for dinner!

2. Change your behaviours into habits and rituals.

3. Get enough sleep.

4. Keep hydrated.

When you feel like your willpower is depleted and you find yourself in a challenging position here are some tips that are proven to replenish your self-control.

• Make a human connection – connect to someone who can offer you support.

• Be helpful – offer help to others, this will get you looking outwards instead of looking inward (cravings and temptations are inward looking)

• Take 3 mins and practise deep breathing

• Meditate

• Spend a couple of minutes and write down what you are grateful for.

• Do something that you enjoy as a distraction - take a bath, read a book, knit….