15 Science-Based Tips to Help You Master Willpower

From the work of pioneering social psychologist Roy Baumeister, Ph.D

Would you like to have more willpower?

You’re not alone. Almost everyone feels they lack self-control. Feelings of hopelessness when it comes to personal resolve have only intensified because temptations have multiplied in modern times and dog us at every turn.

In their New York Times bestseller, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, pioneering social psychologist Roy Baumeister, Ph.D., and New York Times science writer John Tierney reveal that one-fourth of our waking hours are spent resisting urges.

That puts our personal struggle with self-control into perspective, doesn’t it?

But let’s not give up because there’s a very good reason to focus on willpower: happiness.

According to Baumeister and Tierney, there are two personal qualities that predict positive outcomes in life: intelligence and willpower. Intelligence is inborn but willpower can be developed.

“Self-control is one of the most powerful keys to success in life and also a vital key to understanding human selfhood. Self-control is about changing yourself: regulating your thoughts, your emotions, your impulses and desires, and your task performance.” — Roy Baumeister, Ph.D.

What Does Science Tell Us About Willpower?

In Willpower, authors Baumeister and Tierney combine the best of scientific research and practical wisdom with captivating historical and current-day stories about self-control based on real-life examples of people who accomplished challenging feats.

You can develop greater self-command too if you understand the science behind self-control, and thus learn the best ways to manage and optimize willpower.

What does science tell us about willpower? Here are 15 things:

1. Willpower is finite. There is not an endless supply; it must be replenished.
2. You use the same reservoir of willpower for different things.
3. Self-control is like a muscle. It can become fatigued by overuse, but it can also be strengthened on the long term through exercise.
4. Strengthening your self-control in one area has a spillover effect on other areas of your life.
5. When you exercise willpower, it becomes stronger so it is less easily depleted.
6. The first step in self-control is to set a goal.
7. Orderly habits like neatness can improve overall self-control. This is likely why, according to Dean Grazier, you’re 206% more likely to be a millionaire if you make your bed every morning.
8. Glucose is the fuel behind willpower.
9. Mental work uses glucose, the crucial compound of willpower.
10. Decision making depletes your willpower.
11. When your willpower is depleted, you are less able to make decisions, experiencing what is called “decision fatigue.”
12. Decision fatigue leaves us more vulnerable to marketers.
13. People with strong self-control spend less time resisting desires than others.
14. Developing good habits and routines enhances self-control.
15. People with good self-control use their willpower not to get through emergencies but to avoid them.

From these facts, we can surmise that self-discipline isn’t about force. Rather it’s about using self-control with intelligence, pacing, and replenishment.

So, how do we put this information into action?

10 Essential Tips for Developing Willpower

Baumeister and Tierney translate the science of willpower into ten tips to help us increase self-control:

1. Know your limits
2. Watch for symptoms of depletion of your willpower
3. Pick your battles
4. Make a to-do list
5. Beware of underestimating the time needed for a task
6. Don’t forget the basics like a good diet and sleep
7. Use positive procrastination, which means to schedule a time to complete a task at another date rather than just put it off
8. Focus on one thing and one thing only, nothing else
9. Keep track, monitor your progress
10. Reward yourself often

Most of us are incredibly hard on ourselves when we fail at new habits or fall short of our goals. But it doesn’t help to reprimand ourselves, does it? It doesn’t motivate us. It just makes us feel bad.

Instead, use these tips to manage your willpower and craft your own program for better self-control.

“Ultimately, self-control lets you relax because it removes stress and enables you to conserve willpower for the most important challenges.” — Baumeister and Tierney in Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

How to Put These Willpower Tips Into Action

Start by using these ten tips to assess your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to willpower.

Once you know what you do well and where you need to improve, start small by practicing one of the above tips. Once that tip is accomplished, build from there by adding another.

Don’t give up on yourself or your dreams just because you’ve lacked willpower in the past. Use these principles to increase your self-control, develop a relaxed rhythm of momentum, and make your goals happen. I’m rooting for you.

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Originally published on alwayswellwithin.com and here.

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