The Trouble with Willpower

From so many different perspectives, I’m completely confident that willpower is not an effective approach to personal change. Spiritually, I’d rather rely on my higher power than my own power. Motivationally, I’d rather rely on WHY power than willpower. And behaviorally, I’d rather outsource my willpower to a goal-enriching environment.

But when we rely solely on willpower to make a project happen, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Willpower is a vanishingly scarce resource, and we have to use it for all kinds of things, all day. As we use it, it is depleted. Why waste your willpower when you can create routines that avoid forcing you to face decisions that will be hard to m

success depends not on having strong willpower, but in developing mental and emotional tools to help you experience the world differently.

When researchers tease “persistence” apart, they find three psychological traits: willpower, mindset, and passion.

This is what happens when you try to change your life with willpower: You say, “I’ll force myself to eat less … exercise more … quit being disorganized and late.” Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually you giv

Next time you try to diet, think of Nathan and remember that willpower is not just a thing you have or don’t have. Willpower needs help.

If you do not desire something in the depth of your bones, you will have an endless tolerance for failure. If you do desire something in the depth of your bones, you will have little tolerance for failure. As Buddha had. And once the prescriptions fail, as they always do, you will be forced to find your own way. S: So the only people who continue t