How to Boost Your Willpower

By Jacqueline Nelson / Source: Canadian Business

The first daily test of one’s willpower begins with the loathsome tone of the alarm clock: to resist pressing the snooze button. Then, on the way to work the mind fights giving reckless commuters the finger or stopping for a sugary latte. Before any real work begins, the tank of self-control that was full at the beginning of the day has already been partially depleted.

Unfortunately, the human ability to self-regulate is limited. The more tired the mind becomes by resisting its impulses throughout the day, the stronger the likelihood of caving to feelings of temptation, which trigger pleasure centres in the brain.

In Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength (Penguin), co-authors Roy F. Baumeister and John Marion Tierney offer both practical tips on beating the most common daily tests of self-control, as well as scientific insight into why humans react to impulses the way they do.

Our willpower is rooted in our desire to “avoid public disgrace rather than by any zeal to achieve human perfection,” the authors say. They trace the history of self-control through the past century, pausing to reflect on the strong-willed Victorians and the impulsive hippies.

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