We hang many hopes on claims made by marketing geniuses suggesting virtual miracles are possible simply by using their company's products. Of course, we all want to believe that looking younger, feeling great and maintaining an ideal body weight can be as easy as simply taking a pill or slathering on a fragrant lotion. But are there really shortcuts to being healthy? Why is it we would rather search endlessly for miracles than simply use our own willpower to do the work that's been proven time and again as being most effective in creating lasting positive changes in our lives?
Willpower is defined as the ability to delay gratification and resist short-term temptations, especially if they threaten long-term goals. It can also help us to override habits, impulses and thoughts that can have negative consequences on our physical or mental wellbeing. We often think of willpower as restraint from bad-for-us foods and vices, but it can also be an impetus in staying a positive course, finishing goals (like overdue articles) and training ourselves to adopt new, more positive habits.
A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that willpower—a process that occurs in the prefrontal cortex area of our brain where personality expression, decision-making and our ability to moderate our social behavior are also located—resembles a muscle. And like other muscular function, the more we attempt to use our willpower in the short-term, the faster it will weaken; and the more we use it intelligently over the long-term, the stronger and more controllable it becomes.
The study found that willpower can quickly dry up upon repeated exposure to a temptation. While we may resist that cigarette or piece of cake at first sight, the longer it sits there, the harder resisting it becomes. While we may clearly be one of the planet's weaker species, it's by design, not choice.
Duke University researchers tracked individuals from birth to age 32 in Dunedin, New Zealand, and found that children who displayed higher levels of self-control became adults with greater physical and mental health, developed fewer substance abuse issues and were less likely to resort to criminal behavior than those children who displayed less self-control and willpower. Yet in 2011, a Stress in America survey found that 27 percent of respondents noted lack of willpower as the biggest barrier preventing them from making desired changes in their lives.
Despite knowing that those so-called miracle pills or lotions we spend billions of dollars on year after year will provide essentially no notable miracles whatsoever, it turns out many of us are still more likely to throw money at products or concepts than take steps proven to make lasting positive changes in our lives–be they physical or mental.
William Hedgcock, Ph.D., who led the Journal of Consumer Research study, suggests that we can change our predisposition to search for ways to avoid using our own power of will. Hedgcock suggests that first we should take note of the fact that time will return strength to a quickly depleted willpower, just as it does a muscle. Likewise, the more we learn to use it effectively, the stronger it can become and more capable of easily resisting temptations. The trick may be in not actually trying to push through those tempting persuasions, but satisfy them with a modification. Craving a soda or ice cream sundae? Substitute a fruit juice or smoothie and see if the natural fruit sugars don't satisfy your sweet tooth and prevent you from opting for the unhealthy choice. Where else in your life can you make it easier for your willpower to do its work?
Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger
Resources:
www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.aspx
http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2012/07/22/12863276-we-have-a-limited-supply-of-willpower-study-suggests?lite
Image: Valentin.Ottone
