I'm reading Willpower Instinct and really enjoying it! Well actually it's an audible book which I'm enjoying immensely as sometimes I tend to skim read when I actually read, to save time.
Some pointers so far ... Willpower is generated by our frontal cortex as appose to the mid brain which generates instincts. For example our body knows when cheat food is around, it recognizes it and remembers the sensations of eating it and views that as a reward. As a result our blood sugar drops a little when seeing said cheat food in anticipation of eating it which makes us crave it even more. This is the crucial point where instead of continuing in a fugue state to eating the food, we must allow our frontal cortex to step in with logical thought aka our free will, and remind ourselves what we are trying to achieve in the bigger picture to clue the brain in that meeting our goals gives a bigger reward than the other reward in the moment.
Exercise, especially outdoors, increases our ability to generate willpower. As does clean eating and a good nights sleep. This why you are less likely to make good choices when you are tired, and why cutting back on sugar and processed foods results in less cravings over time.
Alcohol comsumption also lowers our reserve which means we are more likely to stray after a couple drinks.
Another thing to do in the moment that helps kick willpower in is to slow breathing. At a rate of less than 12 breaths per minute you can radically increase your chances of not giving in. This can be accomplished by taking a micro break and looking at the clock for a minute and counting your breaths inhaling slowly and exhaling in a lengthy manner.
Sometimes willpower also has more to do with won't power. Meaning that if the problem is you get to bed after midnight, have too little sleep and as a result make poor choices, is the willpower challenge that you will get to bed earlier? Well what is keeping you awake? Perhaps the challenge is that you will shut the tv and all electronics down by 10pm and by virtue of that get to bed sooner. Things always tend to play off each other and sometimes some root cause investigation is needed to figure out what is really going on!
Happy Sunday all!