The Willpower Muscle

Throughout our day we make 1000’s of decisions both consciously and subconsciously. When it comes to understanding willpower we have things that we would like to be doing and things that we definitely want to stop doing. In terms of willpower we can divide these into ‘will’-power challenges and ‘won’t’-power challenges.   For example, if you want to limit eating junk food or stop watching so much TV, these would be termed won’t-power challenges.  On the other hand if you want to exercise or floss your teeth everyday these would be will-power challenges.  

So the first step in your willpower success is to divide these mentally into things that you want to be doing and things that you want to stop doing.  With this list divided appropriately, you can then start the process towards change.

Willpower is a muscle:  If you think of willpower as a muscle the more willpower press-ups you do the stronger the muscle gets.   Like any muscle, it takes time to build it but the more you work at it the bigger it gets.

Willpower fatigues:  Like a muscle, if you use your willpower too much during the day, it fatigues.  So with that in mind set your most difficult willpower challenges earlier in the day.  

Willpower replenishes:  Each day when you wake up you have a new replenished stock of willpower.

In summary if you want to manipulate willpower to your advantage work out whether you are trying to do more or do less of something.  Challenge yourself earlier in the day rather than later and remember the more you use it the better you get at it.

 Author: Dr Adam Greenfield, Co-founder of WorkLifeWell | Chiropractor | Wellness Specialist

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