Stress weakens self-control - Deepstash
The Psychology of Willpower

Learn more about personaldevelopment with this collection

How to strengthen your willpower

How to overcome temptation and distractions

The role of motivation in willpower

The Psychology of Willpower

Discover 57 similar ideas in

It takes just

8 mins to read

Stress weakens self-control

When you're stressed, the sympathetic nervous system takes over - also referred to as the "fight or flight system." It enables your body to respond quickly to perceived threats or stress. When this happens, your heart rate goes up and stays high, leading to feelings of anxiety and anger.

People with high levels of stress are more prone to poor self-control and focus. Stress will also shift your brain to a reward-seeking state: Whatever will make you happy at the moment will become a fixation. That is why people who are stressed are more likely to smoke, gamble, play video games, surf the internet or watch TV. The most effective stress-relief strategies include exercising, reading, listening to music, and spending time with loved ones.

3.46K

6.59K reads

MORE IDEAS ON THIS

Physical exercise can be a great tool to enhance self-control

One study found that participants who focused on consistent exercise for two months ate less junk food and more healthy foods; they watched less television; they studied more; they saved more money; they procrastinated less.

Instead of considering how much exercise you need for re...

3.42K

7.56K reads

What willpower is

What willpower is

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, determination, drive. Willpower consists of three things:

  • "I won't" power - Sayin...

4.39K

20.9K reads

The impulsive system and the cognitive system

The impulsive system and the cognitive system

  • The hot system is the impulsive, emotional part, and manage your responses to certain triggers.
  • The cool system is the cognitive, thinking system that reminds you to tame your impulses and focus on your long-term goals.

A willpower ch...

3.25K

9.1K reads

Weakening your willpower

Weakening your willpower

Two other major hindrances to self-control are:

  • Self-criticism: Feeling bad makes it harder to resist temptation because we want to cover our shame and guilt with instant gratification. Instead, be compassionate with yourself, especially when confron...

3.41K

8.29K reads

Meditation increases self-control

Meditation increases self-control

Meditation can train your brain for better self-control. Meditation increases your attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self-awareness.

When we practice a certain behavior, we strengthen the neural connections for that behavior, making it more accessib...

3.59K

8.13K reads

Improve your self-awareness by tracking your daily choices

Once we understand the root cause of our behaviors, it is easier to work towards our goals. One way is to improve our self-awareness. How many food choices do you make a day? While most people would guess around 14, studies reveal the average number is 227.

Self-awarenes...

3.42K

8.13K reads

The neuroanatomy of willpower

The neuroanatomy of willpower

  • 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 p...

3.39K

10.3K reads

What happens to a damaged prefrontal cortex (PFC)

When the PFC gets damaged, it can alter your personality and interfere with your willpower. One recorded case of damage to the PFC was in 1848, when an iron went straight into the skull of Phineas Gage, blowing away his PFC. He survived, but had a complete personality change, became irreveren...

3.21K

9.4K reads

Glucose levels and willpower

Glucose levels and willpower

Our brain's normal functions, such as thinking, learning, and memory, relies on glucose. Exerting our willpower uses a considerable amount of this fuel, leaving our brains in a state of alert trying to attain normal blood sugar levels. The drop in blood sugar will generally leave us more and pron...

3.27K

7.13K reads

Benefits of willpower

  • 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 relationship...

3.45K

13.7K reads

CURATED FROM

CURATED BY

gianrad

Allergic to Brazil nuts. And BS.

Related collections

More like this

Stress is getting the best of you

Stress is getting the best of you

With chronically elevated stress, your elevated cortisol levels lead to a surge of glucose in order to facilitate the perceived β€œfight-or-flight” situation you’re living in.Β Spiking glucose inherently leads to crashes.

Simple breathing exercises can switch off your sympathetic (fi...

Breathing: stress vs relaxation

The way we breathe can set off a cascade of physical changes in the body that promote either stress or relaxation.

Breathing impacts the sympathetic (β€œfight or flight”) and parasympathetic (β€œrest and digest”) branches of our nervous system, and certain techniques can p...

The Science Behind Stress

The Science Behind Stress

Your central nervous system (CNS) is in charge of your β€œfight or flight” response. In your brain, the hypothalamus gets the ball rolling, telling your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol . These hormo...

stash-superman-illustration

Explore the World’s

Best Ideas

200,000+ ideas on pretty much any topic. Created by the smartest people around & well-organized so you can explore at will.

An Idea for Everything

Explore the biggest library of insights. And we've infused it with powerful filtering tools so you can easily find what you need.

Knowledge Library

Powerful Saving & Organizational Tools

Save ideas for later reading, for personalized stashes, or for remembering it later.

# Personal Growth

Take Your Ideas

Anywhere

Organize your ideas & listen on the go. And with Pro, there are no limits.

Listen on the go

Just press play and we take care of the words.

Never worry about spotty connections

No Internet access? No problem. Within the mobile app, all your ideas are available, even when offline.

Get Organized with Stashes

Ideas for your next work project? Quotes that inspire you? Put them in the right place so you never lose them.

Join

2 Million Stashers

4.8

5,740 Reviews

App Store

4.7

72,690 Reviews

Google Play

Sean Green

Great interesting short snippets of informative articles. Highly recommended to anyone who loves information and lacks patience.

β€œ

Ashley Anthony

This app is LOADED with RELEVANT, HELPFUL, AND EDUCATIONAL material. It is creatively intellectual, yet minimal enough to not overstimulate and create a learning block. I am exceptionally impressed with this app!

β€œ

Shankul Varada

Best app ever! You heard it right. This app has helped me get back on my quest to get things done while equipping myself with knowledge everyday.

β€œ

samz905

Don’t look further if you love learning new things. A refreshing concept that provides quick ideas for busy thought leaders.

β€œ

Laetitia Berton

I have only been using it for a few days now, but I have found answers to questions I had never consciously formulated, or to problems I face everyday at work or at home. I wish I had found this earlier, highly recommended!

β€œ

Ghazala Begum

Even five minutes a day will improve your thinking. I've come across new ideas and learnt to improve existing ways to become more motivated, confident and happier.

β€œ

Giovanna Scalzone

Brilliant. It feels fresh and encouraging. So many interesting pieces of information that are just enough to absorb and apply. So happy I found this.

β€œ

Jamyson Haug

Great for quick bits of information and interesting ideas around whatever topics you are interested in. Visually, it looks great as well.

β€œ

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

β€”

Access to the mobile app

β€”

Unlimited idea saving & library

β€”

β€”

Unlimited history

β€”

β€”

Unlimited listening to ideas

β€”

β€”

Downloading & offline access

β€”

β€”

Personalized recommendations

β€”

β€”

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates