Got Willpower?

Each year, how many New Year’s Resolutions are broken before January is even over? People have a deep desire to make changes in their lives and lifestyles, but according to a recent online study by the American Psychological Association (APA) through Harris Interactive, the desire to make a change may not be enough to actually make it happen.

WillpowerAccording to the Harris Interactive survey of more than 500 adults, 93 percent of the respondents made goals or resolutions to make improvements in their personal lives. These goals or resolutions were directly related to personal improvement, either diet & health related or financial: almost two-thirds of the respondents wanted to lose weight while half wanted to eat a healthier diet.

More than two-thirds of the respondents set goals to start exercising regularly, and half of the respondents had set goals to save money or to get out of debt. The number one reason people failed to achieve their goals, as reported by the survey respondents themselves, was their own lack of willpower. Whether the goal was to exercise more, save money, pay off bills, lose weight, or make other changes to lifestyle habits, the lack of willpower interfered with their success at every turn.

A recently published APA report, “What You Need to Know about Willpower: The Psychological Science of Self-Control” that directly correlates a person’s ability to exert self-control with their ability to achieve better results in their personal achievements. Everything a person attempts to do in self-improvement, from weight loss to financial improvement to achieving personal goals, can be improved with better self-control. The APA’s executive director of the Science Directorate and social psychologist, Stephen J. Breckler, believes that self-control is a skill that can be learned and improved.

In fact, Breckler believes that exercises, such as avoiding a temptation for as long as possible and techniques like planning ahead, can help improve a person’s self control. However, being forced to use self-control can make it more difficult to have willpower immediately thereafter, so Breckler suggests focusing on one goal at a time. Norman Anderson, CEO of the APA, suggests that some tools can help those struggling with willpower to be more successful:

  1. Write down your goals.
  2. Track your progress.
  3. Enlist the help and support of those around you.

Anderson believes that even though people are struggling with willpower issues, the fact that they are willing to continue trying to improve their lives is a very good sign. People can learn the skills they need in order to make the changes they want to make in their lives and that by setting goals, tracking progress, and enlisting help, they’ll be more likely to be successful. The numbers back it up: in a follow-up survey, adults who believed they were doing a good job of setting goals were more motivated to achieve them, and those monitoring their goals also reported making better progress toward achieving them.

1 thought on “Got Willpower?”

  1. Tracking your progress is a really great tip because I know a lot of times I give up or let a goal fall by the wayside because I feel that I’m not seeing results quickly enough. But seeing progress (even if it’s small, is encouraging). On that note, it would be interesting to see if there is any correlation between patience and will-power; the two seem to go hand-in-hand to me.

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