I’m in the middle of a number of personal development experiments. I’m on my 13th day of my no alcohol 21-Day Makeover. I’m on my 6th day of both a week of no complaining and a month of no shopping. I’m on my 5th day of two 21-Day Makeovers that have me getting up every day at 5:00am and meditating.(I always do this–I get really excited about projects and start a million of them! Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires. We’ll see…) As you might imagine, all these experiments require a great amount of willpower on my part.

I’ve been doing a great job with all of them, too. I’ve had zero alcohol. I’ve learned to catch myself mid-complaint. I’ve only shopped for permissible items. I’ve gotten up insanely early every day and meditated for at least 10 minutes. I’m pretty impressed with myself. But I’ve noticed that as I’ve been doing so well with my experiments, I’ve lost control in another area–my diet. I’ve been choosing healthy food for the most part, but my portion control has been pretty much nonexistent.

What??? Why??? It just doesn’t seem fair!

It turns out that science can actually explain this phenomenon. According to this article, “The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others.” Aha! That certainly explains it. Listen to the scientists…

The brain’s store of willpower is depleted when people control their thoughts, feelings or impulses, or when they modify their behavior in pursuit of goals. Psychologist Roy Baumeister and others have found that people who successfully accomplish one task requiring self-control are less persistent on a second, seemingly unrelated task… What limits willpower? Some have suggested that it is blood sugar, which brain cells use as their main energy source and cannot do without for even a few minutes. Most cognitive functions are unaffected by minor blood sugar fluctuations over the course of a day, but planning and self-control are sensitive to such small changes. Exerting self-control lowers blood sugar, which reduces the capacity for further self-control.

Bummer! So what’s a self-improvement-minded girl to do? Eat a steady diet of chocolate to keep the old blood sugar up?

The scientists have some suggestions. In the short term, they recommend that if you know you’re going to have to use willpower (e.g., you’re going to a party and don’t want to overindulge in food and alcohol), you shouldn’t use up your limited stores of self-control before the main event (e.g., don’t force yourself to spend hours cleaning the house or studying right before the party).

In the longer term, the experts tell us that we can actually increase the strength of our willpower. We need to send ourselves to Willpower Boot Camp! By engaging in personal improvement challenges (like our 21-Day Makeovers!!), we can improve our self-control in all aspects of our lives. So if I stick with it, my no-alcohol challenge will eventually make me stronger when it comes to portion control.

We can also engage in exercise expressly for the purpose of building willpower. “In psychological studies, even something as simple as using your nondominant hand to brush your teeth for two weeks can increase willpower capacity.” Sounds simple enough! Some other self-control builders might be:

• Forcing yourself not to look at the clock for the duration of two entire songs while you’re exercising.
• Reading an entire newspaper article every day on a topic you’re not particularly interested in.
• Standing on one leg for a certain period of time (seriously!).
• Creating and implementing a budget.

What will you do to build your willpower biceps?

Tags: willpower

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