Why Willpower Doesn't Work(get.minimumviablefitness.com) Have you ever approached fitness resolutions with a “just do it” attitude? Were you disappointed that you summoned up all of the willpower that you could muster in January only to find yourself back to your old ways by March? |
I thought the notion of willpower being a finite resource was debunked (http://lifehacker.com/5967249/your-willpower-is-only-a-finit...). If you believe your willpower is finite, then it is finite; if you believe it is infinite and powerful, then it is infinite and powerful. This "finite resource" notion is a feel-good easy path out, a way to comfort yourself that it is okay that your will failed you because, after all, you only had so much.
I see this article confuses willpower with motivation. Willpower is what you use when your motivation has waned. Willpower is a tool to help you rekindle the fires of motivation or to press forward regardless because of an oath you made to yourself.
It comes down to what you believe, what mental constructs you have put into place, to inhibit or strengthen your willpower. You have the power to choose, every moment.
I agree that willpower and motivation are separate issues but I'd be curious to see further references on the issue.
or http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/11/1686.short
A theory I call demands theory is a little more nuanced. Willpower is a limited resource that gets exercised whenever we are overcoming psychological resistance to fulfill demands. What Carol Dweck demonstrated in my view is that its quite easy to frame context differently so that there is less psychological resistance toward doing a task. This means you won't have to exert your limited willpower resources.
To give an example, if you believe something will be fun, you will have less mental resistance toward the activities, so you will last longer. If you feel like something will be hard and unpleasurable, most people won't last as long as they use up more willpower to continue. The trick then is how can people adjust their mental orientation toward their day to day activities in such a way that their will power is maximized.
Or in 3 words: work as play.
However, the top skills they mention are spot-on. Verse yourself in them (especially self-compassion) and you will see results and feel better.
Quoting a comment found in the post you linked that led me to Wired : http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/mf-willpower/
"Some of his further studies have suggested that willpower is fueled by glucose—which helps explain why our determination crumbles when we try to lose weight. When we don’t eat, our glucose drops, and our willpower along with it. “We call it the dieter’s catch-22: In order to not eat, you need willpower. But in order to have willpower you need to eat,” says John Tierney, coauthor with Baumeister of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength."