In my original willpower article, I described how certain willpower-using behaviors provide a return on investment greater than the initial input. In other words, there are things you can do that cost willpower but which give you back more willpower than you put in. Today, I want to dig deeper into that topic and explain how you can choose to spend willpower in ways that maximize your return on investment.
This is yet another way you can choose your willpower battles wisely. In that article, I talked about choosing to fight easy battles rather than hard ones and, whenever possible, choosing to fight once rather than repeatedly. Well, another way you can be smart about which willpower battles you choose to fight is to select struggles that kickstart a willpower virtuous cycle that gives you willpower momentum.
For example, if you exercise in the morning, you’ll get the following benefits for the rest of the day: a better mood,1 a sharper mind,1 and greater cognitive endurance.2 These short-term benefits will make it easier to use willpower to make good choices for the rest of the day. You might, for instance, make better choices about what to eat, which gives you even more willpower momentum because healthy food increases your brainpower – including your capacity for willpower. Also, because you’ve been making healthy choices today, you’ll be more likely to think of yourself as the kind of person who makes healthy choices, which makes it easier still to continue to do so. Lastly, people who exercise in the morning tend to sleep better at night,3 which will lead you to have more willpower tomorrow – willpower that you might use to exercise in the morning!
And that’s just what happens in the short run. In the long run, exercise is really good for your brain,2 and healthier brains tend to have greater willpower. Plus, the more days you spend making good choices, the more and more you self-identify as someone with strong willpower. Finally, the more you use your willpower, the stronger it gets: The part of your brain that is in charge of self-discipline, self-control, determination, and resilience will actually become more powerful.
Indeed, researchers have found “that committing to any small, consistent act of self-control can increase overall willpower,”4 and “exercising self-control in one area seemed to improve all areas of life.”5 Let’s explain why.
The Three Willpower Virtuous Cycles
There are actually three feedback loops operating here, all in support of each other:
1. Because the brain is like a bunch of muscles, when you use your willpower, you strengthen your willpower. This makes it easier to use your willpower in the future.
It’s like lifting weights: Because using willpower is difficult, your mind has to struggle to do it, and struggle makes you stronger.
“If you want more self-control, you can get more. And you get more self-control the same way you get bigger muscles—you’ve got to give it regular workouts.” –Heidi Grant Halvorson6
2. Using willpower is also the most straightforward path to an improved willpower identity. As you observe yourself being self-disciplined, you increasingly self-identify as someone who is self-disciplined. As using willpower starts to feel more natural, it becomes easier and easier to make good choices.
3. Making healthy choices improves your brain health, which increases your overall brainpower, including your capacities for self-control, pushing yourself, and resilience.
So the result of using willpower is a stronger, healthier brain, and an improved sense of self-efficacy around your ability to use willpower. Combined, these make the future use of willpower easier, and thus, positive momentum is built. This is another way small choices can lead to big changes.
You have to start it.
All this talk of virtuous cycles and building positive momentum is the good news of today’s post. Now, here’s the less appetizing message: You’ll have to kick-start these feedback loops with your own determination, and this will be very hard.
Your mind will automatically generate all kinds of excuses to prevent you from doing what’s best for you. You’ll feel tired and lazy and unmotivated. And you’ll have to “start before you feel ready.”7 The beginning probably won’t be very fun. It might even hurt. Sorry. As with many things in life, pain is the price of admission.
I know it can be hard to imagine what you’ll be capable of in the future. My hope is that you will find it easier to muster the initial willpower – the strength to start – if you know that it will get easier. Begin the hard work of self-improvement faithful in the knowledge that you will get to a point where doing the work is easier. Your future selves will thank you for it.
1 Ratey, John J., M.D. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown & Company, 2008.
2 Medina, John. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Pear Press, 2008.
3 “Exercising for Better Sleep.” Johns Hopkins Medicine.
4 McGonigal, Kelly, Ph.D. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It. Avery, 2011.
5 Baumeister, Roy F. and John Tierney. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin Group, 2011.
6 Halvorson, Heidi Grant. Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals. Hudson Street Press, 2010.
7 Clear, James. “Successful People Start Before They Feel Ready.”