The book Willpower shares the
research in the study of self control by the pioneering research psychologist
Roy F. Baumeister.
The book is based on scientific
study and discovers that willpower has a “physical basis and operates like a
muscle.” Baumeister, based on his research writes-Effort
to control our emotional reactions
,or faking these, depletes our willpower. Stress depletes our willpower. When
we resist a temptation , we exercise willpower, and it gets depleted. This
reduces our ability to control a new temptation .We give in more readily
if we have already fended off earlier temptations , particularly if the
new temptation comes soon after a pervious one.
Through various experiments , researchers have demonstrated
two lessons:
1. We have finite willpower that becomes depleted as we use it.
2. We use the same stock of willpower for all manner of tasks.
Therefore, we should focus on one project at a time. In stead of
making a list of resolutions , a better
plan is to make one resolution and stick to it . Heatherton's research provided confirmation that
glucose is a vital part of willpower. We should avoid any meeting or test
that will strain our self control. Similarly , sleep deprivation has been shown to impair
the processing of glucose, which produces immediate consequences for
self-control and decision-making. Eating less also impacts the willpower. Since
dieters are short of glucose levels, they find temptations hard to resist.
The Zeigarnik Effect says that uncompleted tasks and
unmet goals tend to pop into one's mind. They tend to reduce willpower. If we
make and write down a plan for uncompleted tasks ,then the minds
are cleared and Zigarnik Effect is eliminated and concentration is
enhanced.
Decision fatigue:
Making too many decisions also depletes our willpower and makes us vulnerable
to temptation. When we shop till we drop, our willpower drops too. It takes
willpower to make decisions , and so the depleted state makes people look
for ways to postpone or evade decisions. In a court, the prisoners who happened
to appear just before the food break had only 15% chances of
getting parole while those who came right after the food break
had around a 65% chance of getting parole. Once decision fatigue
sets in , people including Judges tend
to settle for the recommended option .
Monthly planning leads to much higher improvements in
grades than the daily planning. It is good to set a variety of short-term and
long-term goals. The goals need to be monitored. Recording is not enough. It is
crucial to analyze as well.
Willpower is a muscle that
can be strengthened .Self-control turns out to be most effective when people
use it to establish good habits and break the bad ones. We should use our
self-control to form a daily habit, and we will produce more with less effort
in the long run. For example, a writer must write everyday to form a good
writing habit.
Instead of squandering our willpower on a strict diet, we should
eat enough glucose to conserve willpower , and use our self-control for
more promising long-term strategies. The more carefully and frequently we
monitor our -self , the better we
control our -self. In one study , those who kept a food diary lost twice as
much weight as those who used other techniques. So for losing weight we can
weigh our-self daily. People who weighed themselves every day were much more
successful at keeping their weight from creeping back up. For making
better decisions healthy food is required into our body.
A rested will is a strong will. Changing our routines makes it
easier to break bad habits. Setting aside time to do one and only one thing at a time helps improve our will power.
The book is
based on evidence and research , and throws a new light on how to use and
strengthen our will .I recommend you to read it.
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