“Is there a way to strengthen someone’s willpower?”
Imagine you are a participant in a study on willpower. You arrive to the laboratory having fasted for the last 12 hours, so your body is in dire need of some nourishment.
Before you are two different milkshakes:
The first milkshake is a chocolaty, creamy, old-fashioned milkshake that people have been enjoying for decades.
The second milkshake has the exact same amount of calories and nutrients as a regular milkshake, but is just a gloppy milk product that is as tasteless as a glass of water.
Because both milkshakes contain the same nutrients, you will be adequately nourished regardless of the one that you choose.
We know from the cookies and radishes experiment that resisting temptations can deplete your willpower and ability to persevere through challenging tasks. So it would make sense that if we are given the chocolate milkshake, rather than the tasteless one, we will be much better at taking on a challenging task immediately after drinking it. Right?
WHAT FUELS WILLPOWER?
Researchers conducted this same experiment with participants to see what it was that really fueled our willpower muscle [1]. They believed that those who indulged in the real milkshake would be able to persevere far longer than those who drank the tasteless glop of milk product.
However, when they conducted tests of perseverance after each group drank the milkshakes, there was no difference in the participants’ results! Both the milkshake drinkers and the glop drinkers spent about twice as much time on challenging tasks than those in a control group which didn’t have either shake.
What researchers found was that it was not the indulgence that fueled our willpower, it was the calories! [1]
GLUCOSE – THE WILLPOWER FUEL
When the body takes in food, it creates a chemical known as glucose that travels through the blood stream. The brain uses glucose as its source of fuel to think, create, and exert willpower. Because both of the milkshakes in the experiment had the exact same nutrients, they produced the same amount of glucose in the body. Thus, the brains of the participants in each group had the same amount of “willpower fuel” to work with. [2]
GOOD GLUCOSE AND BAD GLUCOSE
Any food that contains calories will give your brain glucose to work with. But not all glucose is created equally. Sugary foods will cause a quick spike of glucose, giving you willpower fuel for the short-term, but will cause a subsequent crash that depletes your willpower just as fast.
The best thing you can do is keep the glucose level in your bloodstream steady. This will give your brain a consistent reserve of fuel to exert willpower for the long-term. To accomplish this, researchers suggest a low-glycemic diet. [3]
Here are some low-glycemic foods that will give you long-term willpower fuel:
1. LEAN PROTEINS
Nothing fancy is required – just lean cuts of beef, poultry, pork and fish.
2. NUTS
Specifically those nuts that are high in omega-3 fatty acids like walnuts, pecans and cashews. (Note: this does not include legumes like peanuts).
3. FRESH FRUIT
Fresh fruit is preferred over dried fruit because dried fruits have a high concentration of sugar in them. This will result in the glucose spike for the short term and lead to a subsequent crash. Some good choices are bananas, blueberries, apples and cherries.
4. VEGETABLES
All vegetables will help build your long-term willpower, but specific veggies that pack a willpower punch are root-based. These include sweet potatoes, carrots, squash and onions which will all give you some serious willpower fuel!
CONCLUSION
Our willpower is like a muscle. And like all muscles in the human body, it requires fuel to be at its best. The fuel that it uses is a chemical found in our blood stream known as glucose. If your goal isn’t about dieting, you can eat or drink something sugary to get a quick willpower boost (this is especially good if you’re craving a cigarette, for example). However, for a long-term, sustainable, reservoir of willpower fuel, eat plenty of lean protein, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables. If you can develop the habit of eating these foods, there are not limits to what you can do with that extra willpower fuel!
That was the question on researchers’ minds as they learned more about how this virtue was used in practical ways. Through many tests, they had discovered that willpower is like a muscle – it gets tired from overuse and requires food to replenish. But can it also be strengthened?
After several studies, we have our answer! With the right practice, willpower can be strengthened just like any other muscle in the body.
Fair warning: like all practice, these workouts can be challenging. After all, you will be exerting your willpower in the same way that you would exert your legs on a run. Butthey are scientifically proven to get you results.
So although it will be difficult in the short-term, eventually it will be easier to say no to temptations, make it to the gym and stick with your long-term goals!
How to achieve it…
1. 10 MINUTES OF MEDITATION
Meditation will give you the fastest results of all of the willpower workouts listed. Bymeditating you are training the brain to focus and resist the urge to wander. Research shows that after just 2-3 days of practicing meditation for 10 minutes, your brain will be able to focus better, you will have more energy, and you will be less stressed. [1]
To get started with 10 minutes of meditation, download the free Headspace app. It will provide you with guided meditation practices that are designed for beginners.
2. WORK ON YOUR POSTURE
When testing if willpower could be strengthened, researchers asked a group of participants to work on their posture for a 2-week period. Every time they caught themselves slouching, they were to correct themselves by sitting up straight. This simple practice vastly improved their perseverance on various willpower tests like this one. [2]
To get started, simply correct your posture every time you catch yourself slouching at work or at home. It sounds extremely simple, but it takes willpower to sit up straight, and every time you do, you’re essentially doing “one rep” with your willpower muscle.
3. KEEP A FOOD DIARY
The same study also found that those who kept a food diary improved their willpower. Most of us don’t log all of the food we eat, so it takes willpower to remember and keep track of it all. Any similar logging of information will also work, but I recommend a food diary over other methods because of all of its benefits listed here. [2]
To get started, I recommend downloading the MyFitnessPal App. It’s a simple food diary app that has a huge database of foods and nutrition information. Just keep the diary for 2 weeks, and it will increase your ability to resist temptations!
4. USE YOUR OPPOSITE HAND
Using the same methodology as with posture, researchers conducted subsequent studies that tested other corrective actions. One that worked particularly well was to use your opposite hand. Your brain is wired to use your dominant hand, so it takes willpower to use the opposite. [3]
To get started, select a chunk of the day to use your opposite hand. It doesn’t need to be any more than an hour in order to get results. And from personal experience, if you aim for more than an hour, you will unnecessarily expend too much of your willpower muscle.
5. CORRECT YOUR SPEECH
Another test that the researchers conducted was to change subjects’ natural speech. For some this was resisting the urge to use swear words, for others it was to say “hello” instead of “hey”. Again, it works your willpower to consciously go against your instincts. It doesn’t matter how you correct your speech, as long as you change your natural speech habits. [3]
To get started, select a chunk of the day to practice and choose the words you will change. Personally, I tried not using contractions (using “do not” instead of “don’t”, etc.) during work hours and it worked very well. Like all exercises listed above, doing this for just 2 weeks can vastly improve your willpower!
6. CREATE AND MEET SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINES
Anyone who remembers their college days, remembers what it was like cramming for a test or doing a last minute paper. Your willpower gets taxed as you try to tune out distractions and become hyper-productive. Using this same principle, researchers found that by creating self-imposed deadlines you can work your willpower in the same way.
To get started, simply pick a task on your to-do list that you may have been putting off. Set a deadline for accomplishing it, and make sure you adhere to it. The participants who followed this process for 2 weeks not only got their old to-dos done, but also improved their diets, exercised more, and cut back on cigarettes and alcohol. [3]
7. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR SPENDING
In the same way most of us don’t track the food that we eat, many of us don’t track our spending either. Even if you don’t cut back on spending – which would also be a willpower workout – researchers found that simply keeping track of where your money went will improve your willpower. [4]
To get stated, try using a budgeting app like Mint. Mint can connect to your bank account, credit cards, etc. and automatically track your purchases. By simply reviewing this on a regular basis, you will see increases in your focus and ability to resist unrelated temptations like sweets.
8. SQUEEZE A HANDGRIP
For the truly determined who want to increase their perseverance, you can squeeze a handgrip until exhaustion. If you’ve ever squeezed one before, you know that it gives you a deep forearm burn. So it works your willpower to keep squeezing. [5]
To get started, simply get a handgrip like this one, and squeeze with each hand until you’re exhausted. Willing yourself to continue squeezing even when it hurts will increase your perseverance on other challenging tasks.
9. CARRY AROUND SOMETHING TEMPTING
Again, for the truly determined out there, you can increase your ability to say “no” by carrying around something tempting with you all day. Researchers tried this with participants by teaching them how to resist cravings, then giving them a Hershey’s Kiss to carry around with them. Those who resisted the Kiss were much more capable of resisting other temptations in their lives as well! [6]
To get started, first learn how to resist a craving. This will be hard, so your will want to know how to deal with the craving. Then carry something small but tempting with you.It doesn’t need to be for an entire day, but for long enough that you will be truly tempted. By consistently saying “no”, you will increase your ability to resist other temptations and ignore distractions!
10. BE MORE CONSCIOUS OF YOUR AUTOMATIC DECISIONS
A final exercise is to simply be more mindful of your decisions throughout the day. We are often so lost in thought, that our actions become automatic. Taking time to think about why you are doing your habitual actions will increase your ability to focus and resist temptations. [3]
To get started, try to catch yourself in an automatic behavior and ask yourself why you are doing it. This may be questioning why you are taking the elevator versus the stairs, or it may be questioning why exactly you put 2 sugars in your coffee. Any way you can think consciously about a typical automatic behavior will increase your focus and self-control.
CONCLUSION
Like all muscles in the body, willpower can be strengthened with the right practice. Above you will find 10 practical and effective ways to strengthen your self-control, focus and perseverance. Do not try to do all 10 at once.
Think about training your willpower muscle like training for a marathon. Your first training run wouldn’t be the full 26 miles or even close to that. You would start small and gradually build up as your muscles got stronger. So choose just 1 of these workouts to add to your daily routine.
Determine which workout seems practical and effective for the goal you want to achieve and get to work. By simply following the steps laid out, you will be well on your way to becoming more mentally strong!
Via Women’s Health & Colin Robertson
Bih Thanks !
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