Ego depletion happens when people use up their available willpower on one task.
We all have natural urges, desires, and tendencies that demand attention. When we curb those urges, it requires willpower. Even small decisions to delay gratification require huge mental, emotional, and cognitive effort. As willpower is a limited resource, when it is used up, we experience mental exhaustion and fatigue.
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 has shown that possessing self-control can be important for health and well-being. Common goals such as losing weight, exercising regularly, eating healthy, not procrastinating, giving up bad habits, and saving money are just a few worthwhile ambitions that people believe require 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.
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...
Self-control appears to be a better predictor of academic achievement, a determining factor of effective leadership, and essential for marital satisfaction.
People who harness their willpower more effectively are happier, healthier, have better relationships, are further ahead in their careers, are more able to manage stress and deal with conflict.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the part of our brains situated right behind our forehead. It is responsible for abstract thinking, analyzing thoughts, and regulating behavior.
The PFC controls what we think about, what we pay attention to, how we feel. Studies point out that this part of the brain is only fully developed around age 25.
The "I will power" is controlled by the region near the upper left side of the brain and helps you start and continue with not so fun tasks.
The right side handles the "I won't power," preventing you from acting out on every impulse.
The "I want power" sits in the middle of the PFC and keeps track of your goals and desires.