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The mental hacks that level up your self-control
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Self-control
It's the ability to do something that helps you in the long-term, instead of something that might satisfy your immediate desires.
But for most of the people, immediate desires are irresistible, and so we end up sacrificing the well-being of our future selves easily.
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What tempts us
We vary widely in terms of what tempts us.
If you take the time to look into your habits and biases, you can recognize the problems that you need to work on. Once you understand the sources of your self-control issues, you can begin directing the right resources toward fixing them.
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Improve self-control at work
Take a future-oriented approach to your day, such as planning breaks and the time slots for checking emails in advance.
If you can refrain from resigning to your urges before the time you’ve assigned for yourself, you may achieve a greater hold on your overall self-control.
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The foundation of self-control
By practicing healthier living away from the workplace, you can gather the strength and stamina to help you control your worst urges when it matters most.
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Self-Control Failures
Self-control is basically restraining yourself from doing something that may feel good in the short run, but may not be in your best interests in the long run. This includes not gorging on cookies ...
Willpower: Discovering the Strength Muscle Of the Mind
Self-control is a kind of mind muscle that if used continuously, tires out just like the physical counterpart.
Difficult days that rob our energy also sap us out of our willpower, make us psychologically weak and unable to resist the temptation to give up on our plan. We are more likely to skip the evening gym session if we were occupied the whole day, mentally and physically exhausted.
The Four Stages That Lead To Giving Up To Temptation
- Situation Stage: The overall situation where we are at the mercy of giving in to temptation.
- Attentional Stage: When our attention is towards the ‘sinful’ activity that is the main temptation, like gorging on cookies.
- Appraisal Stage: When we imagine how good the forbidden activity would feel.
- Response Stage: When we finally give in to the temptation.
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Self-Control
... is the ability to regulate and alter responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviors, increase desirable ones, and achieve long-term goals.
Research on Self-Control
- A 2011 survey found that 27 % of respondents identified a lack of willpower as the primary factor keeping them from reaching their goals.
- One study found that students who exhibited greater self-discipline had better grades, higher test scores, and were more likely to be admitted to a competitive academic program.
- The study also found that when it came to academic success, self-control was a more important factor than IQ scores.
- A health study found that people who were rated as having high levels of self-control during childhood continued to have high levels of physical and mental health in adulthood.
- Research has found that self-control is a limited resource. In the long-term, exercising self-control tends to strengthen it.
Motivation and Monitoring
A lack of willpower is not the only factor that affects goal attainment.
- There needs to be a clear goal and the motivation to change. Having an unclear or overly general goal and insufficient motivation can lead to failure.
- You need to monitor your actions daily towards the achievement of the goal.
- You need to have willpower.
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Brute willpower doesn't work
So we should stop worshiping self-control and start thinking about diluting the power of temptation. Because resisting temptation either only has short-term gains or can be an outright failu...
Willpower is not the lucky ticket to success
Studies have shown that people that are really good at achieving their goals are not the ones that put more effort into exerting self-control in the face of temptations, but the ones that experience fewer temptations to start with.
People who are good at self-control
- They actually enjoy the activities some of us resist (eating healthy, studying, exercising)
- They have better decision-making habits
- Some people just experience fewer temptations
- It’s easier to have self-control when you’re wealthy - when you’re poor, the future is less certain.