Willpower (Summary)

The following is a summary of Willpower: Rediscovering our greatest strength

by Roy F. Baumeister & John Tierney. Further info is given in the linked posts.
Willpower
We use our willpower, also known as self-control and self-regulation, to control our
thoughts, our emotions, our impulsive actions and to control our performance.
Willpower is important for getting along with other people and achiving long-term
goals. Is posited that willpower, more precicely self-control, evolved to enable us to
live in social groups.
[] self control is not selfish. Willpower enables us to get along with others and
override impulses that are based on personal short-term interests. [p.163]
Willpower (Ego) Depletion
When you use your willpower, for example to control your emotions, it becomes
depleted. You have less avalible to control subsequent thoughts, emotions, impulive
actions or to control your performance. It is only by by resting and by having
something to eat that your willpower is restored.
Willpower is like a muscle that gets fatigued through use. This fatiguing,
Baumeister turmed ego depletion.
Other depleters of willpower
Physical pain
[] experiments have shown that chronic physical pain leaves people with a
perpetual shortage of willpower because their minds are so depleated by the struggle
to ignore the pain. [p.36]
Decision fatigue
Decision making depletes your willpower, and once your willpower is depleted,
youre less able to make decisions. [] Youll lock for excuses to avoid or postpone
decisions. Youll for the easiest and safest option, which often is to stick with the
status quo [p.98]
The ability to compromise is [] one fo the fist abilities to decline when our
willpower is depleted [p.102-103]
Conflicting goals

Having conflicting goals, like conflicts between work and family, consumes
willpower. Worrying that you are doing the right thing, that you have made the right
choice, depletes your willpower.
Signs of Depleted Willpower
When your ego is depleted, the intensity of your feelings increase and it becomes
harder to make decisions.
If you find yourself especially bothered by frustrating events, or saddened by
unpleasant thoughts, or even happier about some good newsthen maybe its
because your [willpower is depleted]. [p.30-31]
Do things seem to bother you more than they should? Has the volume somehow
been turned up on your life os that things are felt more strongly than usual? Is it
suddenly hard to make up your mind about even simple things? Are you more than
usually reluctant to make a decison or exert yourself mentally or physcially? If you
notice such feelings, then reflect on the last few hours and see if it seems likely that
you have depleted your willpower.
Willpower & Blood Levels
Using willpower to control your thoughts, emotions, impulsive actions or to control
your performance, consumes glucose. When your glucose is low, your brain stops
doing some things and starts doing others. That may help explain why [willpower]
depleted people feel things more intensely than normal: Certain parts of the brain go
into high gear just as others taper off. [p.50-51]
As the body uses glucose during self-control, it starts to crave sweet things to eat
[p.50-51] to replenish their glucose levels.
If you have no glucose, you will have no willpower.
Ways of Preventing Low Glucose
Self-control will be most effective if you take good basic care of your body, starting
with diet and sleep. [] be sure to get enough healthy food on a regular basis so
that your mind has adequate energy. Sleep is probably even more important than
food [p.251-252]
Feed the beast [] The old advice about eating a good breakfast applies all day
long, particularly on days when youre physically or mentally stressed. .
Sugar works in the lab, not in your diet. There might be times when you could use
sugar to boost your self-control right before a brief challenge, like a math test or a

track meet. [] But a sugar spike is promptly followed by a crash that leaves you
feeling more depleted, so its not a good long-term strategy. []
When you eat, go for the slow burn. To maintain steady self-control, youre better
off eating foods with a low glycemic index: most vegetables, nuts (like peanuts and
cashews), many raw fruits (like apples, blueberries, and pears), cheese, fish, meat,
olive oil []
When youre sick, save your glucose for your immune system. [Dont go to work
when youre sick.]
When youre tired, sleep. [] By resting, we reduce the
bodys depends for glucose, and we also improve its overall ability to make use of
the glucose in the bloodstream. [p.57-59]
Strengthening & Conserving Willpower
Conserving Willpower
[] the best strategy is not to rely on [willpower]. Save it for emergencies. [p.150]
Distraction
[] in the classical marshmallow experiment [] Those who kept looking at the
marshmallow quickly depleted their willpower and gave in to the temptation to eat
it right away; those who distracted themselves by looking around the room (or
sometimes just covering their eyes) managed to hold out. [p.161]
Pre-commitment
[Make] it impossible in advance to fail through weakness of will. [p.152]
[] If you want to be sure you dont gamble at a casino, youre better off staying
out of it rather than strolling past the table and counting on your friends to stop you
from placing a bet. Better yet is to put your name on the list of people [] who are
not allowed to collect any money if they place winning bets. [p.151]
Use willpower to establish good habits and break bad ones
Habits are automatic mental process that dont require decisions. Once established
they require little or no further willpower.
Self-control turned out to be most effective when people used it to establish
good habits and break bad ones. [p.157-158]

[] people with strong self-control [] develop effective habits and routines in

school and work. [] They give themselves enough time to finish a project; they
take the car to the shop before it breaks down; they stay away from all-you-can-eat
buffets. [p.239]
Strengthening Willpower
Improving stamina
By exercising your willpower, you improve its staying power, so it takes longer for
you willpower to become depleted.
You could try the two-week posture experiment to improve you own willpower, or
you could try other exercises. Theres nothing magical about sitting up straight []
The key is to concentrate on changing a habitual behaviour.
[ use] a different hand for routine tasks. [] change your speech habits [] for
instance, try speaking only in complete sentences. Break the adolescent habit of
peppering your discourse with like and you know constantly. []
Any of these techniques should improve your willpower and could be a good warmup for tackling a bigger challenge, like quitting smoking or sticking to a budget.
[p.131-133]
Like a muscle, your willpower needs to be continually exercised or else it weakens.
[] the biggest self-control challenge of all: maintaining the discipline not just for
days or weeks but for years and years. [p.141]
Thus, a better exercise is to use willpower to establish good habits and change bad
ones.
External order = Inner self-discipline
Having a clean house, for example, encourages internal-disciple
Using Willpower to Achieving Goals
Willpower & Self-awareness
Self-awareness evolved because it helps self-regulation. [p.112]
Our ancestors lived in groups that rewarded members for living up to the common
values, norms and ideals. Therefore, people who could adjust their actions to meet
those standards fared better than the ones who were oblivious to their own social
faux pas. Changing personal behaviour to meet standards requires willpower, but

willpower without self-awareness is as useless as c cannon commanded by a blind

man. Thats why self-awareness evolved as an innate trait among our early
ancestors on the savannah and why it has keep developing recently in more
treacherous social environs. [p.114]
Monitoring performance
Monitoring is crucial for any kind of plan you makeand it can even work if you
dont make a plan at all. Weighting yourself every day or keeping a food diary can
help you lose weight, just as tracking your purchases will help you spend less. []
The mere knowledge that youll have to put down a number will discourage
procrastination [] The more carefully you keep track, the better. Weighing
yourself every week is good. Weighing yourself every day is better. Weighing
yourself and recording it is even better.
[]
Besides offering immediate encouragement, monitoring lets you improve your longterm planning. If you keep records, you can periodically check how far youve
come so that you can set more realistic goals for the future. [p.256]
For contentment, apparently, it pays to look at how far youve come. To stoke
motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead. [p.120]
There are many apps available that aid in monitoring
(e.g. mint.com; RescueTime; Quantified Self movement; Moodscope)
Public Commitment & Monitoring
A failure, a slipup, a lapse in self-control can be swept under the carpet pretty easily
if youre the only one who know about it. You can rationalize it or just plain ignore
it. But if other people know about it, its harder to dismiss. []
By going public, youre not just exposing yourself to potential shame. Youre also
outsourcing the job of monitoring. which can ease the burden on yourself. An
outsider can often encourage you by pointing out signs of progress that youre taken
for granted. And when things are going badly, sometimes the best solution is to look
elsewhere for help. [p.112]
Setting goals
The hot-cold empathy gap
Dont set goals that you wont be able to follow in the heat of the heat of passion
and temptation.

 Rules: Bright lines vs Fuzzy lines

Use blight lines: clear, simple, unambiguous rules.
Pick your battles
Start an exercise program. Learn a new skill. Quit smoking, reduce drinking, make
one or two lasting changes toward a healthy diet. These are all best done during
times of relatively low demand, when you can allocate much of your willpower to
the task. []
Aiming for huge and quick transformations will backfire if they seem
impossible. If you cant bring yourself to quit smoking altogether, try cutting down
to two or three cigarettes a day. [p.247-248]
Focus on one project at a time. [] People who are trying to quit smoking, for
example, will have their best shot at succeeding if they arent changing other
behaviours at the same time.[p.38]
Beware the Planning Fallacy
Make a realistic estimate of how long it will take.
Prioritize goals
Do the most important goal first
Reward Often
When you set a goal, set a reward for reaching itand then dont stiff
yourself. If you just use willpower to deny yourself things, it becomes a grim,
thankless form of defence. But when you use it to gain something, you can
wring pleasure out of the dreariest task.
[] Achieving a big goal, like quitting smoking for a year, deserves a big reward
[] its just as important to have lots of little rewards for little feats. [p.257258]

Willpower as a Key to Goal Attainment

September 30, 2012 by Ann Holm Leave a Comment

Willpower actually has three faces, according to Kelly Mc Gonigal,

author of the Willpower Instinct. There is I Will Power, I Wont Power and I Want
Power. Every willpower challenge requires doing something difficult, or taking a path
that is opposite what we usually do, or what might be most tempting. Meeting goals
require a significant amount of willpower and it requires that the prefrontal cortex of the
brain is very active.
The 3 regions of the PFC corresponding to each type of will power are:
1. The upper left side of the PFC specializes in I Will. It helps you move forward with
or stick to difficult, boring, or stressful tasks.
2. The right side of the PFC specializes in I Wont. It helps you resist temptations and
cravings.
3. The I Want region is in the middle and it keeps track of goals and desires.
The prefrontal cortex is the most sophisticated and energy consuming part of the brain. In
order or the prefrontal cortex to serve us well, it needs adequate glucose through the foods
we eat, sleep, and training via meditation and other mindful practices. In addition, it needs
external support by way of removing external distractions, clear definition of goals, and
encouragement from others including family, friends, and coaches.
Here are a few ways you can boost your willpower when it is being tested:
1. Immediately boost willpower by slowing breath to 4-6 breaths per minute. That is
approximately 10-15 seconds per breath.
2. Increase willpower by stepping outside for fresh air and a green break.
3. Take a refreshing power nap. Even 10-20 minutes can restore and re-energize the PFC.
4. Use imagery to address a craving. Temptation is like a wave on the ocean. Rather than
battle it the temptation, allow it to crest like a wave and dissolve gently into the shoreline.

5. Remove distractions and temptation. Nothing can drain the PFC more than expending
its energy trying to resist temptations that are in your immediate environment! Think of it
as running in place but not moving anywhere!
There are many other ways understanding the nature of willpower can help you reach your
goals. Stay tuned to future blogs where you will learn more about this topic and how it can
help you uncover personal potential.

Willpower

Summary written by: Herbert Lui

There has always been a certain mystique that surrounds willpower. We are in awe of the
athletes who seem to have it in bulk, and we are constantly trying to get more of it for
ourselves. We can always use more willpower: for our diets, for our families, for our
careers, etc.
Two traits correlate to positive outcomes in these areas of life: intelligence and self-control.
While we havent yet figured out how to permanently increase intelligence, we have
discovered how to improve self-control. This is through the science of willpower.
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy Baumeister and John
Tierney, explores the principles and driving mechanics behind self-control and discipline.

Golden Egg

Where Does Willpower Come From?

Chips and circuit boards are useless without a source of energy. So is the brain.
Willpower, page 42
What is the fuel for willpower? Where do we find the strength or the energy to keep
ourselves in check?
As it turns out, the source of our willpower comes from food. The calories we intake are the
foundation of willpower. More specifically, the glucose that food produces is the crucial
element behind willpower. The link between glucose and self-control appeared in studies
of people with hypoglycemia, the tendency to have low blood sugar. Researchers noted that
hypoglycemics were more likely than the average person to have trouble concentrating and
controlling their negative emotions when provoked. Overall, they tended to be more
anxious and less happy than average.
What advice do Baumeister and Tierney have with regards to food? Above all, dont
skimp on calories when youre trying to deal with more serious problems than being
overweight.
When youre faced with a stressful meeting, a long day at a new job, or anything that may
require willpower, dont skimp out on food. Indulge yourself in a hearty breakfast and make
sure to stock up on the right types of food: To maintain steady self-control, youre better
off eating foods with a low glycemic index: most vegetables, nuts (like peanuts and
cashews), many raw fruits (like apples, blueberries, and pears), cheese, fish, meat, olive oil,
and other good fats.

Similarly, dont deprive yourself of rest and restoration: By resting, we reduce the bodys
demands for glucose, and we also improve its overall ability to make use of the glucose in
the bloodstream. Sleep deprivation has been shown to impair the processing of glucose,
which produces immediate consequences for self-control and, over the long term, a
higher risk for diabetes.

GEM #1

Limit Your Decisions

When asked whether making decisions would deplete their willpower and make them
vulnerable to temptation, most people say no. They dont realize that decision fatigue helps
explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at their colleagues and families, splurge
on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket, and cant resist the car dealers offer to
rustproof their new sedan.
Willpower, page 90
Baumeister and Tierney explore various self-control scenarios in Willpower. One example
they bring up is former-Governor Eliot Spitzers scandal with prostitution, which ended
with his resignation once his affairs were discovered. He knew the scrutiny he was under
as governor; he had seen firsthand the risks and legal dangers of prostitution. In his long
quest to become governor, hed built a reputation for political savvy, firm discipline, and
moral righteousness. Why, once he got his dream job, did he lose his bearings?
As it turns out, making decisions actually requires some of the same reserves of energy that
our brain uses to manage our willpower. Thats why marathon shopping can be exhausting,
and its where the stress from leading a company originates.
Making decisions is an inevitable part of life; sometimes, though, it may be a better move
to take a break and eat a small snack or catch forty winks before going back into series of
decisions you need to be making. One smart decision now could save on many in the
future.
Also, spend as little energy as possible on the trivial decisions that dont make a difference
in your satisfaction with life.

GEM #2

Outsmarting Yourself
Willpower introduces a fallacy that many of us may be thinking through, called the hotcold empathy gap: the inability, during a cool, rational, peaceful moment, to appreciate
how well behave during the heat of passion and temptation.

Willpower, page 148

How many of us have put a task off till tomorrow, only to repeat the same delay the next
day? (Who really wants to procrastinate?) How many of us recognize that we have to do
something that were not comfortable with in order to succeed at our goals?
We are not doomed to failure. Instead, all we need to do is outsmart our current selves and
take into account the hot-cold empathy gap. In other words, we make it inevitable for us to
succeed. You recognize that youll face terrible temptations to stray from the path, and that
your willpower will weaken. So you make it impossible or somehow unthinkably
disgraceful or sinful to leave the path.
There are tons of applications out there that will make it a lot more difficult for you to fail.
For example, theres stickK.com, which holds a certain amount of money for you and
actually donates it to a friend or a charity (or an anti-charity, an organization that you really
despise) if you fail to execute on your plan within a specified time.
Another way to outsmart ourselves would be to make use of our bodys adaptability to
habits. Explorer Henry Stanley used to shave every day when he woke up, even in some of
the harshest environments in the world. Why? orderly habits like that can actually
improve self-control in the long run by triggering automatic mental processes that dont
require much energy.

We all have those things that we cringe when we see ourselves doing, yet often times were
unable to help ourselves. If youre interested in how to make discipline work naturally in
your life, you need to check out Roy Baumeister and John Tierneys Willpower.

WHAT INCREASES OR DIMINISHES YOUR WILLPOWER RESERVE?

USE THESE TO MANAGE THIS EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY

USETHISASAREFERENCECHART/SUMMARY
Usethissummarytohelpyounoticewhereyouareviolatingtherulesaboutwhatincreases
reservesorengaginginwhatreducesreserves.Ifyouletyourselfgo,withoutadjustingand
doingtherightthing,yourconfidence,andthusyourreserves,willgodown,inavicious
spiral.Itisessentialthatyoubeawareofyourreserve"balances"inyouraccountandthat
younotallowwidevariances.(SeeHomeostasis,insteadofbeing"offbalance".)
Noticewhichonesoftheseyoudoandwhatyou'dliketochangeto.Notethat,essentially,
willpowerreserveisthesameaspsychologicalenergyandpower.Thisisthechart
attachedtothepiececalled
WillpowerReservereadittogettheoverallcontextofhowthisworksandwhattodo
aboutit.
Formula(duh!):
Increaseincreasers+Reducereducers=Willpowerthatworks!
(Withinhumanlimits!)
Increases
Practicing (and doing in the moment):
Pause and breathe slowly (which reengages the PFC)
Physical energy/power
Diet: Eat plant-based, unprocessed foods, no junk
food, be in good air quality,
Exercise
Quick energy/power - 5 minutes of exercise or even 1
minute, preferably outdoors (instead of harmful or
temporary means)
Rest, being fresh: Adequate sleep, short naps;
accumulating extra sleep or catching up

Psychological energy
Quality time with friends and family
Participate in a religious or spiritual practice
Focus meditation (rewires brain for PFC to be in action
more)
Power questions, as if a coach (wake up, send energy to PFC) (on a
card?):
"How committed are you?" - set up so
you are (simple shift in focus - as with
other questions. "What is a good reason
to resist?" [What is you "why"?]
"Do I want the consequences of ...
Setting clearer rules, standards (do zero vs. "only a few'), clearer
definition - Takes energy to redecide all the time.
Avoid anything that increases stress!
Rejuvation times.
Reward, celebrate every little positive action.
Increasing your sense of certainty, in actuality
Self-care, self-compassion
Decision power
Don't let vague feelings dictate; "stop, what would I better choose?"
(See Life Dictated By Feelings)
Drains
Stress (even "slight" ones, waiting til last minute, criticizing self, trying
to control others) "Learning how to manage your sttess is one of the
most important things you can do to improve your willpower."
Physical

Pain, illness - Of course. You'll have more illness if you deplete your
psychological energy.
Physical imbalances: Blood sugar variation, incl. coffee effect, sleep
deprivation; low hydration. Dysfunctional operating = Body and mind
operating out of range of homeostasis, in dysfunction, chaos physically
and emotionally.
Impaired frontal lobe functioning, via affectors.
Disempowering conversation
"I can't", lack of optimism, lack of confidence in ability
I will do it later when I am more able or 'feel like it' - giving yourself
credit for the future, your "why" becomes less visible
Identifying, labeling yourself as being lazy, bad, - so fight self (Know:
the self I am is the one that wants the best for me; I am not any
"permanent condition"; laziness is temporary not fixed)
Self-criticism for lack of self control (should give self understanding and
compassion as being human, operating with human equipment which
cannot "win" all the time; punishment does not work, as it triggers
fear thinking, which lowers self-control). Punish yourself for falling
short.
Believing you are fatigued (instead of realizing you have more energy
and the ability to gin it up)
Psychological
Lack of self-confidence
Beliefs that there is danger where there isn't or believing all dangers are
'big'
(Proper, Proportionate Response)
Appropriate sizing
Too big of a chunk at once (can only "purchase" what you can afford, so
to speak)

Let me just say that change does not happen without willpower. The majority of guys on
these forums are trying to change themselves because they're unhappy with where they're
at. Good on ya guys I'm on that path as well. It shocks me how much people underestimate
the force that is going to drive them toward change. The most important thing you need to
learn about is will power.
Here's a very basic and straightforward rundown on how it works.
Willpower is the trait of resolutely controlling your own behaviour.
Willpower works like a MUSCLE.
It is a limited resource. You only have so much of it per day. It may be wise to consciously
allocate your willpower to certain areas of your life until you have enough for every area.
Your willpower needs time to rest and regenerate, just like your muscles.
When your willpower regenerates, it grows back stronger.
You should use and deplete your willpower every day for maximum growth (be sure to get
your rest, though).
Not sure how to use it? It really is the simplest thing.
DO THINGS THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO.
Don't want to go out tonight? Do it.
Don't want to approach that 10? Do it.
Don't want to eat a salad for lunch? Do it.
Obviously there is limits.
Don't want to jump off that cliff? Do it.
...
It is up to you to decide exactly WHAT you do in your life.
Having willpower is like being your own life coach. You think of something that will be
beneficial to you but you don't want to do it. Maybe you're feeling lazy and would rather
just chill and watch tv.
No.
DO that thing. USE your willpower.
Every time you do something you don't want to, you are growing your willpower.
Remember, the hardest part is starting.

Short answer: willpower is controlling your impulses to seek pleasure in the short-term, as
well as motivating yourself to take action despite not feeling like it
Tyler's video on the "right way and wrong way to do things" is good
willpower is a means to an end, you don't want to have willpower for the sake of having
willpower in other words--the whole point of having willpower is so you can take action.
Common opinion these days is that willpower is a limited resource, but a recent paper in
PNAS showed that one's beliefs about the nature of willpower actually influence how much
of it one can exert: http://www.pnas.org/content/110/37/14837.abstract
From a neuroscientific perspective, willpower is actually a rather complicated construct.
There is no brain area that "does" willpower. You have two pathways in your midbrain that
initiate and inhibit actions, respectively, based on reward incentive as well as control
signals originating from your prefrontal cortex. The control signals are based on 1) your
goals for the particular context, 2) your motivation based on the amount of reward at stake.
Most of your behaviors are "autopilot", which means that cognitive control is by default not
factored in. Controlling your actions instead of being on autopilot is not exactly the same as
willpower (closer to "intent" IMO), but it is something similar. When you change the
incentive for acting, your brain has to either turn up or turn down those autopilot behaviors,
and your motivation to engage in cognitive control in the first place changes depending on
the incentives. You have several time-scales of control though--contextual (immediateterm), episodic (medium-term) and probably long-term as well. So, when you prioritize
long-term motivation over short-term motivation, you're also doing something that's kinda
close to willpower. Ultimately, I think the term "willpower" is a psychological construct
that is useful in interpreting and motivating our own behaviors.
In conclusion:
IMO there are several independent factors involved in willpower
1) Having a clear goal independent of immediate incentives
2) Judging whether a recent or impending action is in alignment your longer-term goal
3) Acting on the basis of your judgments, indpendent of incentives
4) The relative strength (or salience) of short-term vs. long-term incentives
5) The efficiency of dopamine signaling in your PFC and midbrain (which is why
adderall/cocaine gives you willpower in the short term)