What goes on in our head plays a much bigger role in regards to our levels of willpower, and that's what we're gonna discuss in this article, i.e., five psychological factors that will make you more motivated and increase your levels of willpower and keep you out of a state of ego depletion.
1. CHUNKING
One of the best examples of chunking comes from one of the world's greatest magicians David Blaine; Blaine is well known for his stunts of endurance. He once spent over 63 hours encased in a block of ice, and you can only imagine how much willpower that required. Blaine managed to pull this off by using chunking to create a constant supply of willpower. Chunking is when you take a large task and break it down into tiny pieces instead of focusing on the total amount of hours Blaine wanted to spend in this block of ice, which was at least 60 hours. He broke it down to the hour. He would tell himself, okay, I need to make it through the next hour Repeatedly; the reason this works is that our brain is designed to be as efficient with our willpower as possible to conserve energy. We actually have an almost unlimited amount of willpower, But we all have a point in time where our brain says, nope, you've used.
Enough. That's all you're getting for today, so when presented with a momentous task, your brain says, Nope, we can't do this task. It's way too big. We don't have enough willpower to do it, But when you're using chunking, and you focus your attention on one small piece at a time, then your brain says, hey, You know we could do this. Here's some extra willpower, and that's why we need to set a low bar when creating our routines by setting a low bar which is the minimum. Amount of work. We're allowing ourselves to do. We're basically using chunking to get a little bit of extra willpower, Just enough to force ourselves to stick to our habits, So how can we use this in our day-to-day lives? Well, instead of telling yourself that you're going to finish that five-page paper right now, you're actually going to get more willpower to feel more motivated and get more done if you tell yourself you're going to finish a single paragraph at a time. On top of that, chunking also increases the amount of confidence we have.
2. CONFIDENCE
It is the second Psychological factor that influences our levels of willpower , the more confident you are about a task the less willpower it will require. Let's say that you want to lose 20 pounds. If I asked random strangers on the street how Confident they were about this, most people would say that they weren't confident at all; however, if we use Chunking and we cut this down to just one pound, most people would say,,, yeah I could do it. Confidence is all about the small wins. By paying attention to small milestones, you actually become more and more Confident towards your end goal. You start believing that you can actually do it, a great way to build confidence. Using small wins is by tracking your growth .
3. Changing how we view willpower itself
A study conducted in 2010 by professor Job V found that how we view willpower can severely affect Our levels. For example, if you believe that willpower is limit, you actually lose willpower faster than someone who believes willpower is unlimited so what can we do about this . Well let's establish the truth about willpower once and for all , the truth of the matter is our levels of willpower Far exceed the amount we use throughout the day; our brain likes to set a limit on it . However, if you've been studying the same course, you've gained some knowledge about how it all works. Knowledge is the power that means you have more control over your willpower, so I like to believe that by studying willpower, I actually know how to tap into my Unlimited willpower more than the average person. By adopting this very belief, you'll find yourself more willpower in the long run .
4. By changing our Identity
When you have an identity that aligns with your goals and the habits you're trying to build, this decreases the amount of low power required to stick to it now. This is easier said than done. How can we change our identity? Well, the best way to do so is by being very careful with our language. The way we phrase things will affect how we view ourselves. For example, if an urge arises to smoke instead of thinking, I can't smoke. I told myself. I was gonna quit. We should be thinking I am NOT a smoker the person. The first example still Identifies as someone who smokes who's trying to quit, while the person in the second example Identifies himself as someone who doesn't smoke to begin with. Over time you'll start believing this new identity which in turn will reduce the amount of willpower.
5. High-level thinking
A study conducted in 2006 by Professor Fujita found that people who spent more time thinking High-level thoughts would have a significantly higher. Level of willpower throughout the day than those who had low-level thoughts now What's the difference between the two well low level thinking is when you think about the short term and you think about? Specifics, for example, you think about how you're gonna get to the gym you think about how you're gonna lose weight you think about What foods you're gonna eat high-level thinking, on the other hand, is when you think about more general and long-term ideas, So it's when you think about why you're going to the gym when you think about why you're trying to lose weight when you're thinking About why you're changing your diet now? There's nothing wrong with thinking low-level thoughts because they are needed to plan.
You can't make dinner unless you think about what you're gonna cook, But it's best to spend more time thinking high-level thoughts. High-level thoughts create a sense of purpose and meaning if you think about why you're changing your diet enough, you start to truly believe that Changing your diet is what's best for you a great exercise that I recommend all of you to try is to take the keys don't Have it then you're trying to build in this course and fill out an entire page with why you want to stick to this habit.
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