We usually have a situation when we know something is bad but we still do it. That is the symptom of low willpower or at least, your level of willpower is lower than the temptation of those harmful activities.
What is willpower?
Willpower is defined as the ability to control your thoughts and how you behave.
In a research study published by the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists examined the factors that impact whether or not a judge approves a criminal for parole.
The researchers examined 1,112 judicial rulings over a 10-month period. All of the rulings were made by a parole board judge, who was determining whether or not to allow the criminal to be released from prison on parole. (In some cases, the criminal was asking not for a release, but rather for a change in parole terms.)
Now, you might assume that the judges were influenced by factors like the type of crime committed or the particular laws that were broken.
But the researchers found exactly the opposite. The choices made by judges are impacted by all types of things that shouldn’t have an effect in the courtroom. Most notably, the time of day.
What the researchers found was that at the beginning of the day, a judge was likely to give a favorable ruling about 65 percent of the time. However, as the morning wore on and the judge became drained from making more and more decisions, the likelihood of a criminal getting a favorable ruling steadily dropped to zero.
After taking a lunch break, however, the judge would return to the courtroom refreshed and the likelihood of a favorable ruling would immediately jump back up to 65 percent. And then, as the hours moved on, the percentage of favorable rulings would fall back down to zero by the end of the day.
This trend held true for more than 1,100 cases. It didn’t matter what the crime was — murder, rape, theft, embezzlement — a criminal was much more likely to get a favorable response if their parole hearing was scheduled in the morning (or immediately after a food break) than if it was scheduled near the end of a long session.
The figure below depicts the odds that a judge will make a favorable ruling based on the time of the day. The dotted lines signify food breaks taken throughout the day.
What willpower help us
For example, when we are on a diet, willpower plays a massive role. It keeps us away from unhealthy food. So for other important decision-making things. Will power helps us make decisions reasonable.
Willpower comes with some obvious benefits:
- the ability to resist short-term temptations to meet long-term goals
- capacity to overwrite unwanted thoughts, feeling
- The ability to employ a “cool” cognitive system of behavior rather than a “hot” emotional system
- Conscious, effortful regulation of the self by the self
- A limited resource capable of being depleted
How to maintain and recharge it
Eat. Do you remember the judges’ favorable ruling would immediately jump back up to 65 percent after having a food break? The same can apply to us, when we eat, provide energy for our brain. But not every food is good for recharging willpower, it’s recommended to consume low glycemic food.
Take a break for our brain. Will power is much like muscles. They both need to take a rest after a long run to perform well again. And also, as the muscles can be practiced to be better so as to willpower. Your willpower is better through time with good habits for the brain. You can meditate or walk, it’s best to walk under trees with fresh air.
Automate our thinking process. Every decision costs an amount of willpower. We can maintain our willpower by turning multiple choices into one choice, making a set of rules, or simply just turning what we have to make the decision daily into one choice and making a habit.
Sleep. Last but not least, sleep is super super super important for ourselves. Sleep fully recharge our willpower and help our brain perform perfectly. Remember to sleep enough!
Summary
Four actions you can do to maintain and recharge willpower:
- eat
- take a break for your brain
- automation our thinking process
- Sleep
Thank you!
“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.”
―C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
