If you are trying to achieve a new goal, it is better to rely on your willpower and ask for help. But there's something you don't know about willpower. “A lot of people think you're either born with a will or not. But really, it's like a muscle that can get stronger over time.'

What is willpower?

Willpower is the mental ability to resist temptations, also known as urges, urges, or bad habits, to achieve long-term goals.

Over the years, the will has become moralized, as if it is useless without a will. This idea is either useful or wrong.

Willpower is usually associated with practical skills rather than virtues or ethics, which experts consider neutral. Will or not is good or bad, right or wrong.

1. Believing in the will is as important as the will

There are two main theories of willpower research.

The fringetheory is that willpower is insufficient, and willpower runs out when the storehouse is empty. For example, after a hard day, you can no longer resist the temptation because you have used all your willpower.

The theory of infinity is that the will is like a muscle. The more you use, the more you get. Successfully overcoming temptations throughout the day will strengthen your willpower

But over the years, research has changed our understanding of how the will works. There is also evidence to suggest that it is your belief in willpower that influences how you respond to demands.

Accepting the idea of ​​limited willpower will help you reach your goals after a hard day. If you believe in willpower, you are more likely to bounce back from a tough day with a better ability to achieve your goals.

This means that willpower itself may not be as important as your personal beliefs about it.

2. What matters is how you use your will.

Just as your belief in your willpower is important, so is how you rely on your willpower. New ideas emerge as research changes the way we understand willpower. One of them is that there are two ways to use will: easy or hard.

Forced will is a form of will that involves oppression. This means you are actively blocking invitations and temptations.

Strong will is best understood as your determination. The ability to motivate yourself to stick to a plan by using rewards, anticipating temptations, and adapting.

The more your goals relate to your values ​​and yourself, the less willpower you will have and the more you will rely on active impulse blocking. It is believed to be harder to get yourself to complete a task or do something you don't care about.

3. Willpower is not the key to overcoming addiction

You may have heard that addiction is a matter of self-control. If you can control your impulses, you can overcome your addiction. not true

Addiction is a long-term brain disease. When poisoned, the brain physically changes and requires treatment and rehabilitation to return to normal. A lot of willpower does not help you overcome addiction. Research shows that addicts describe themselves as strong-willed or very strong-willed. At various stages of recovery, from no recovery to stone recovery to sustained recovery, most people described themselves as strong-willed.

However, there was no correlation between strong willpower and sustained recovery. You have a strong will, but you still have a disease of addiction.

Instead, strategies such as drastic changes in circumstances, friendships, and routines appear to be more important to addiction recovery than willpower.

4. Belief in willpower is linked to health and well-being.

Of course, willpower is related to well-being. One study looked at the willpower beliefs and well-being of people with diabetes. He found that people who believe they have limited willpower feel less in control of their health, leading to diabetes problems and poor emotional health.

This means that people who believe their willpower is too strong are unable to control their diabetes, high blood pressures and have a higher risk of complications.

In another study, students with low willpower ate more unhealthy foods, had trouble managing stress, procrastinated more in stressful situations, and scored lower.

Do you want to increase your willpower?

Don't focus on developing willpower. Based on new ideas and research on willpower, it's better to use self-motivation strategies to build willpower and resist temptation.