Is it possible to get more willpower?   

The 10 million dollar question, contemplated at some point in life by virtually everyone on earth...  

We have all been born with the capacity for willpower... but some of us use it more than others. Those of us who have better control of our attention, our emotions, and actions seem to be better off in almost every area of life we examine.  These folks are happier and healthier. Their relationships are more satisfying and last longer. They make more money and go further in their careers. They are better able to manage stress, deal with conflict, and overcome adversity. They even live longer.  It has even been proven that self control is a better predictor of academic success than intelligence. Makes sense now that you think about it, right?!   

Historically, one of the most replicated findings in academic psychology and willpower research suggests that people who use their willpower, seem to run out of it.  So, activities like choosing the salad over the cookie, controlling one's temper or making ourselves study instead of watching a movie... all of these tap the same source of strength, therefore leaving us with less of this power left over for completely unrelated challenges.  Serious bummer.  What has also been reflected in the studies, is that our willpower seems to decrease over the course of the day.  So, these findings would have us believe that this "muscle" becomes exhausted from effort, and that basically... there's a finite amount of this power and once we use it up... it's curtains!  Even more serious bummer!   But stay with me...

What if we look at this muscle just like any other muscle in the body?  Through exercise, we make our muscles stronger...  So, can we train this "willpower muscle"  too?! 

Good news.  YES!  Research also shows that as we use our self control over time, this "workout" increases our willpower's strength and endurance.  Yeah!  As we make these new choices, the new behaviors become habitual and then the old temptations become less compelling and overwhelming.

So... uh, how the heck do we get more of it?
 
Let's reframe the Willpower topic into a three part model that we can work with.  Will power, won't power and want power!

1. Won't Power - When you think of something that requires willpower, the first thing that probably comes to mind is some version of saying NO to something right?  Resisting the temptation to eat the doughnut, the temptation to watch the next 3 episodes of reality tv instead of go to the gym, or to keep from spending your remaining paycheck on your favorite shopping website.  So, this ability to say no... we'll call this Won't power. 

2. Will Power - At some point, all those things you've been putting off?  They've gotta get done.  When you finally push past all the procrastination and anxiety... and access your Will power...  This is the ability to do the thing you need to do, even when part of you really doesn't want to.

3. Want Power - So in order to say no when we need to say no, and yes when we need to say yes, we also need this last element... the ability to remember what it is that we really want so that we can choose in alignment with it.  Example - even though we think in the moment that what we want is the expensive sweater we've been eyeing online... it will be important for us to know what we really want... which is maybe that end of the year trip we've been saving for ALL winter.  We'll call this our Want power.
   
Very simply put... willpower is about harnessing these three powers... I will, I won’t, and I want.  When we can see our own individual life's examples in one of these three categories, we can start to see more clearly and objectively, what momentary choices are in or out of alignment with the ultimate goal that we say we want.

By spending more time in conscious thought around these ideas, you are already increasing self awareness, which leads to more empowered decision making.  It's also important to acknowledge that our decisions and choices are largely impacted by our sleep, our stress and our nutrition.  When any of these areas is off kilter, we can expect to have lessened access to our willpower!  

So, when those willpower challenges seem insurmountable, just remember that willpower is not an innate trait that you’re either born with or without - it's a mind-body connection and process that will respond positively to your conditioning.  This means that we can most certainly take an active role in increasing our willpower! 

xo!
​Margaret

So, it's about time!  I have been fighting this blogging thing for long enough!  What the heck has kept me from doing this?  I could now cite a huge list of time-related reasons that all support my inability to blog until now... and while there are some legitimate schedule considerations... if I'm totally honest here, the reasons below are the real deal...

1. Do people actually want to hear other people's random rants?  The answer is yes.  It may not be my personality to throw it all out there all will nilly like, but the proof is in the pudding here.  There are millions, if not billions of blogs out there.  Everything from the latest green smoothie recipe, to how to be an excel spreadsheet wizard, to how build a home out of a shipping container, to the top smartphone apps that promise to make you smarter... truth be told, I'm skeptical of that last one, but who am I to judge?

2. There is a "RIGHT" way to blog... and I don't know what that right way is!  I'm going to do it wrong.  So this one might actually be true, lol.  There are tons of people blogging, and I'm quite sure that the ones that have been doing it for a long time have discovered some angles and tricks that make their blogs more successful, or more interesting, and more "discoverable"...  

What I've concluded though, is that I must heed my own advice.  Interesting concept, eh?  Yeah.  So, one of the concepts that comes up a lot in my coaching with other people, is the idea that fear is the only thing that keeps us from doing anything... and I really do believe that.  Whether it be old family conditioning from when we were young, or an event that happened in our lives that we created a story around... our lives are a product of the stories that exist in our consciousness.  If these stories and beliefs limit us, then we have to take a look at where they came from and be willing to accept that they may not be serving us.  Is it possible that I might be the world's next most famous blogger?  It's possible... Is it possible that I might screw it up and not be interesting?  It's possible... but more importantly I will never know what's possible, nor what this experience might have to teach me, if I stay on the side lines.  What I do know, is that at any time, we can create a new story for ourselves and just...do the thing.  

So.  Today I choose to get in the game and not let my fear of "blog perfection" stand in my way of connecting through this vehicle!

A little intro... my background is in healthy eating education, eating psychology, mind/body nutrition and the science of willpower.  Human behavior and health habits are fascinating to me, and I love helping people figure out why they might be doing something, helping them create the shifts necessary do something different and the practical implementation necessary to cement those thoughts into new actions and habits in everyday life.  Wellness is something we have to claim for ourselves and I love helping people remember that!  

So, in this space I promise:

1. I will always be honest.
2. I will always approach this blog with genuine interest in supporting you and your health.
3. I will always honor your comments and feedback as long as you are kind. 
3. I will never post anything titled "How to lose 10 inches in 10 days" or similar.
4. Lastly, I promise that I will 'try' not to bombard you with pictures of my adorable Bernese Mtn Dog, Charlie. (this first one below is just a warm up... c'mon... everybody loves a giant fluffy dog!!!)

Thanks for reading!  I am very open to your thoughts and comments and I really look forward to connecting!

xoxo!
Margaret

Geez.  This guy.  For those of you that haven't seen this photo...  We like to call this one The Superman... for obvious reasons.