Via Glenn Reynolds, Randall Parker takes note of some research suggesting that each of us has a finite supply of will power. From the original article:
HAMILTON, Ont. September 24, 2009—Have you ever sat down to work on a crossword puzzle only to find that afterwards you haven’t the energy to exercise? Or have you come home from a rough day at the office with no energy to go for a run?
A new study, published today in Psychology and Health, reveals that if you use your willpower to do one task, it depletes you of the willpower to do an entirely different task.
“Cognitive tasks, as well as emotional tasks such as regulating your emotions, can deplete your self-regulatory capacity to exercise,” says Kathleen Martin Ginis, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, and lead author of the study.
Randall asks:
Do some people not experience this depletion of willpower?
Not only do some people experience the observed depletion to a lesser degree but the article that Randall cites points the way to the reason that this might be:
She says that by constantly challenging yourself to resist a piece of chocolate cake, or to force yourself to study an extra half-hour each night, then you can actually increase your self-regulatory capacity.
“Willpower is like a muscle: it needs to be challenged to build itself,” she says.
Contrary to Randall’s suggestion of avoiding depleting your willpower, we need to exercise our capacities for willpower so that we have more of it. This is something that’s observed in the military, in the martial arts, and in any sports activity. They aren’t merely physical activities and, indeed, after you’ve reached a certain level of training developing your willpower is more important than additional physical conditioning.
I noticed that when I did a diet-and-exercise regimen for a while. As long as I did it regularly, then the longer I was able to resist binging and other stuff like that, the easier it got to do so. I ultimately failed (simply increasing your willpower doesn’t prevent occasional lapses, and lapses weaken it considerably), but it was a good sign.
The methodology of the underlying study is somewhat dubious. Willpower was measured by saying the written color rather than the color of the background?
I’m sending this to the next person who whines that I’m not fat enough to be on a diet. The fact is I will never stop being on a diet, because the moment I do, I WILL be fat.