Willpower

Many people assume that the key to improving their lives is strong willpower. If only we could find it in ourselves to exercise better self-control, we would surely be able to finally [insert your last New Year’s Resolution here].

Hold your horses on that one. The debate on willpower continues, and research has shown that people who are ‘good’ at doing life rely less on willpower than those who struggle, or whose lives have derailed in some way. Instead, it’s their ability to adopt healthier habits, thus reducing exposure to situations where self-control (aka willpower) is needed.

Let’s take obesity, as an example. Intuition alone tells us that the current epidemic is not due to some catastrophic decline in the average willpower in the population. Instead, what has changed dramatically is the food environment.

Think of it this way: Surrounding yourself with cookies and counting on your willpower to prevent you from indulging may not be your most workable strategy in the long term. Good planning (take a homemade snack for the road so you’re not yearning for cookies), good habits (take the route home that doesn’t pass by the cookie store) and arranging your environment in helpful ways (don’t keep a cookie jar on your kitchen counter) will beat straight-up willpower every time.

So, it’s not that you are weak in the willpower arena, it’s more likely that a reassessment of how you are setting yourself up for success may be more in order. Oh yeah and cut yourself some slack. We all need to take stock and reassess throughout our lives. You are not alone in this endeavor.