Three Ways to Build Your Willpower: Do a Willpower Workout

—

The muscles in our body can be made stronger through exercise – whether that be training for a marathon by running or building bigger biceps by curling barbells. What if self-control also functions like a muscle? It should, in theory, be possible to exercise our self-control muscle. As with any exercise, exerting your muscles can be tiring but through deliberate practice, the targeted muscle should become stronger.

Can Willpower be Strengthened?

Researchers have found a variety of ways to attempt to answer this question. The methods used aren’t anything crazy, like a seven-day water fast or ten-day silent meditation retreat. The study methods are simple: ask participants to exercise self-control in a way they are not used to.

One study asked participants to create and impose a plan for something they had been putting off. It could be a simple task – like cleaning out your closet (I’m sorry, Mama!”). They might say, make a plan that looked something like:

Week 1: Open closet and contemplate the meaning of life [and why you ever thought that shirt was a good idea]

Week 2: Actually begin moving things from the closet

Week 3: Finally throw that shirt away

Week 4: Donate clothes

Week 5: ??

Week 6: Profit

After two months of doing this, the tasks got completed but there was also an added bonus. Not only did the tasks the participants create a plan to find themselves being finished, but they also improved in other areas of their life as well. They improved their diets, exercised more regularly, smoked fewer cigarettes and consumed less alcohol and caffeine.

Other studies have found that exercising self-control in small but consistent ways – like sitting up straight if you notice yourself slouching or tracking spending – can improve willpower in all areas of your life. And despite the seemingly innocuous nature of some of these tasks (how could not cursing help you eat less?), people saw improvements in meaningful areas of their life like improved focus or taking better care of their health. Other studies have found that just two weeks of willpower training can improve the quality of relationships.

What these studies have found is that the challenge itself isn’t always what matters. As Stanford research Kelly McGonigal, author of The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters and What You Can Do To Get More Of It (audiobook), notes, “The important ‘muscle’ action being trained in all these studies isn’t the specific willpower challenge of meeting deadlines, using your left hand to open doors, or keeping the F-word to yourself. It’s the habit of noticing what you are about to do, and choosing to do the more difficult thing instead of the easiest.” The brain creates a space between thinking and action allowing us to choose to a different, and more difficult, action.

And, actually, the banality of the exercises may help. They’re challenging – opening a door with your left instead of your right hand is going to take conscious effort – but it’s not overwhelming – like trying to run a marathon if you can’t even walk up a flight of stairs. And, as McGonigal notes, while the “self-control restraints require careful attention, they’re unlikely to trigger strong feelings of deprivation.” Because using your left hand instead of your right to brush your teeth or open doors won’t (or at least shouldn’t) ruin your day.

So how can you use this to boost your willpower?

Give yourself a willpower workout.

Three Ways to Boost Your Willpower

Putting yourself through your own willpower workout can help you experience some of the benefits that the participants did. You can improve your willpower muscle by using one, or all three, of the exercises below.

Develop “I Won’t” Power. You can build your willpower by building your “I Won’t” power. For example, you can avoid cursing or using vocal fillers like um or uh [or any other vocal habits you have]. You may try using your non-dominant hand for common tasks like eating, opening doors or brushing your teeth.
Build Your “I Will” Power. Make a commitment to do something every day. This should be something you do not already do every day. This could be meditating for 3-5 minutes, reading and writing or connecting with a friend or loved one.
Practice Self-Monitoring. You can begin tracking something that you normally do not pay attention to. There are several examples of things you can begin measuring such as how much money you spend or how much time you spend watching television or on your phone every day. You can use pencil and paper or you can use the advanced technology you have at your disposal. For example, for iPhone users, iOS now allows you to track how much time you spend on social media. There is also the Quantified Self movement which has a wealth of information available and even allows users to create public logs for added layers of accountability.

While all of these willpower exercises are smaller in scale, you can use them as a way to support a larger goal that you have. For example, if you are trying to save money to buy a home or go on a vacation, you can begin tracking your day-to-day spending. If your goal is to improve your physical fitness, you can choose to do ten pull-ups or sit-ups every day.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to link one of these willpower exercises to one of your larger goals, you will benefit from implementing one or all of them in your life. Even if its something as seemingly insignificant as opening a door with your left hand, you can make significant changes in your life. Exercising your willpower every day, even in small ways, will make big changes in your willpower in every area of your life.

—

Previously published here and reprinted with the author’s permission.