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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 if you are trying to manage your weight, or even sticking to your exercise plan.
As almost all of us have experienced in our lives, self-control failure is common, as the urge for instant gratification, laziness or lack of willpower makes it hard to practice it consistently.
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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.
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Instead of trying to apply willpower when all the stages (situational, attentional, appraisal and response) have already taken place, one can strategize at the start of the stage and ensure that those do not happen at all.
For instance, the situational stage where we are faced with the temptation right in front of us could itself be avoided if we actively pursue not being in that situation. Example: Not buying the box of cookies, not placing it at home, and not going to the supermarket where one can easily find and buy it.
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... is the ability to regulate and alter responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviors, increase desirable ones, and achieve long-term goals.
A lack of willpower is not the only factor that affects goal attainment.
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Willpower is the ability to resist or delay short-term desires to achieve long-term goals. Other names for willpower are self-discipline, self-control, self-regulation, determinati...
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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...
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.