Today, I wanted to talk about WILLPOWER.
I’ve been recommending a book for years that can change lives. It has the not-so-creative title of “Willpower” by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney. They take the time to go through study after study on willpower. They cover how you can best use your willpower to achieve the things you want and how to make it stronger like a muscle.
But the one big take away for me was that…
the people who seem like they have the greatest willpower DON’T use willpower at all.
This is a huge life-changing takeaway, so read it slowly.
Willpower is not your tool. Willpower is your absolute last line of defense. One problem we humans have is a basic misunderstanding here. We have it backwards. We like to start with willpower.
We’ve talked about ego depletion, wiping out your willpower as the day goes on. In case you missed it, ego depletion is better known as decision fatigue.
It’s easy to say, “No, thank you,” the first time the cheese and crackers come by, but, when your host sets it down next to you, it becomes almost impossible to resist because you have to say no 100% of the time. Not 100 times, you say no every single second. That takes a lot of mental energy.
This applies to studying as well as cheese (mmmmm….cheese).
Being the smart student that you are, you know that answering a call or even checking a text can pull you out of deep focus and significantly slow down your progress.
The problem is that not checking text takes significant willpower. And then you know that that message is sitting there waiting. Then, that little voice that ruins all of your best plans and all of your progress starts trying to convince you that if you check the text then you’ll stop having to think about it.
Once that voice gets involved you’re probably toast.
So, here’s what you do instead of using willpower to resist:
Use pre-commitment.
Pre-commitment is when you commit to certain behaviors before you get there. You decide what you’re going to do when you’re in the best frame of mind to decide – not when you’re being tempted.
Decide before the moment, not in the moment
You decide, “I will not check my phone from 5-6 tonight because I’m studying.” And you commit to that.
It’s easier than having to decide every time you look up from your books, and your brain says, “Just a quick peek.”
“No, No, NO,” you say the first time, but the 50th time it gets harder. And the 50th time is probably only about 5 minutes in.
A stronger pre-commitment is to leave your phone in your bag and refuse to take it out for that hour. Even better, turn it off. The world won’t end.
You can do the same thing with behaviors you’d like to stick with.
I recently tested a new one out. If I’m having a good time and I have a few drinks, I can easily lose track of how many I’ve had. “Was that two or three? Oh well, one more would be fine.” It’s not a big deal except it’s something I don’t want to do. That one last drink means a terrible night’s sleep and a slow, useless next day.
The last time I was out with friends, I decided to make a pre-commitment with myself. Only have one drink for every two hours with a max of 3. Keep 3 marbles in my right pocket, and each time I have a drink, shift one from right to left. Then, I’ll know where I’m at. When I hit 3, I’m done. No decision. No arguing with myself. The decisions were made in the morning when I didn’t need any willpower to make it.(It worked great by the way)
Do you remember the story of Odysseus and the Sirens?
Instead of trying to use willpower to resist the Sirens’ song, he had his men tie him to the mast. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to resist their call.He wanted to hear them, but didn’t want to do die. So, this ancient Greek hero had his men tie him to the mast of his ship and told them not to untie him no matter what he did or said.
The crew plugged their ears with wax so they couldn’t hear the Sirens’ song (another form of pre-commitment), and they steered the ship near where the Sirens lived.
Odysseus begged to be released from his bonds, but his crew tied him tighter.
All of the men survived the trip to the island of the Sirens because of Odysseus’s powerful pre-commitment strategy. He made the best decision for himself BEFORE he was in the moment and then LOCKED himself into it.
How many times do you check your phone in a 10-minute period while you’re studying? Just leave a paper and a pen and make little tick marks at the top of the paper every time you pick it up.
Leave your phone in your car. Tell your friends not to let you go out with them tonight. Make the decision ahead of time and lock yourself into.
Hang on. There’s more.
This stuff is so hard AND so important, and by important, I mean it changes everything.
You wonder why you’re not as smart as Amy who sits two rows in front of you in every class. Amy isn’t smarter than you. You’re super smart. Amy’s just doing it better. Is the guy using the backhoe a better hole-digger than the guy using the shovel? No, of course not. He’s just using a better set of tools. I want you to use a better set of tools.
I’ve put together two amazing courses that I’ve included as part of the PA Week Package, Maximize Your Time and Efficiency, and my latest creation to combat this ongoing catastrophe, Get It all Done Without Losing Your Mind.
These two courses fit together like peas in a pod and if you follow along and implement the structure you might just find shocking improvements. Hard to say. Everyone is a bit different, but I think the odds are pretty darn good you’ll wind up with enough free time to start a knitting club.
Check it out here
www.physicianassistantexamreview.com/paweek
Brian Wallace