Do you feel that willpower is a muscle?

CM24

I don't have time right now to read books on the subject. I've just done a bit of googling but haven't found a clear answer.

The reason it's on my mind is, recently my mother has taken to buying loads of protein bars and leaving them in the kitchen. I should be grateful, but the problem is I find it really difficult to not scoff 3 or 4 of them in a day.

I've politely asked her to stop buying them several times, and she just says ''But why don't you just not eat them, or just have 1 a day?''

So, let's say there's a box of the bars in the cupboard. If I continue to resist eating them, day by day, will my willpower eventually strengthen to the point that it's no longer a challenge for me? Or, will they just continually be draining my willpower until I eventually crack and eat the whole box?

Can things like meditation or some other methods be used to increase your willpower?

Mellor

Willpower is a mental ability, not a muscle. But mental abilities are possibly trainable.
You also have to consider there's a lot of relative perception involved. I would be easier to avoid the bars on a small cut verses on a massive cut. Your will power isn't any weaker, its just that the urge is stronger. Making small changes to your diet lessens the impact and those urges, making it feel easier. It wouldn't necessarily make your will power stronger, but you'd probably have greater success

Speedwell

Willpower is a muscle only for muscleheads. No, I quite agree that if protein bars are your stumbling block, you need to keep them away from you. Keeping them around is only making things hard for you. And some protein bars are truly yummy, as I discovered to my dismay when I tried using them as quick meals during a bastard of an IT implementation project.

Sleep increases willpower overall, and meditation for specific things, until you get to be a really experienced meditator who can "turn on" your willpower whenever you want. Willpower is a skill used to hack your mind, not a muscle that is always there to be used and that you can develop to do any job. It does work, but not by itself. You also have to change your circumstances. Your mother needs to take your objections seriously.

I can say that keeping the source of temptation around is overwhelmingly unlikely to be a good strategy for increasing willpower, meditation or no. One tactic might be to keep the protein bars in the freezer (assuming they freeze well), and take out only the few you allow yourself each day to thaw.

I was reading a while back about it being like a limited resource per day and that's why you shouldn't give up two things at once like e.g. smoking and drinking
I think for something like this though if you keep them in the cupboard and try forget them it should help

ThinkProgress

I think you can develop your willpower, definitely.

But a lot depends on your personality too. We all mess up from time to time... but are you inclined to hold yourself accountable, or feed the delusions and excuses in your head? You need to strike a balance between being a bit harsh on yourself, but also keeping some perspective too.

Like in your situation, for example, you should acknowledge that you slipped up a bit and try to be a bit stronger the next time. But equally tell yourself something like this: "I didn't scoff down a big chocolate cake... I ate a few too many protein bars... not the end of the world. Could be better, could be a lot worse!" (that would be my internal dialog with myself in your scenario anyway)

Also, how much of these things come down to habit? Bad habits are hard to break, partly simply because you are used to doing them. But equally good habits - once they actually become a genuine habit - can also be difficult to break.

I was never a breakfast person for years for example. Then I decided to "become" a breakfast person... I still don't think the idea of eating breakfast is hugely appealing to my brain, BUT it's now a very strong habit in my life. I know the importance of it... just like I know it's important to brush my teeth or wash my hands before eating etc etc... lol

The last time I was forced to skip breakfast, my day didn't turn out too productive either. So that would act as a positive re-enforcement of a habit. (a useful trick we can learn to help make a habit stick more quickly)

These things can start to become somewhat autopilot after a while. I'm sure there is still some willpower at work behind the scenes... but how much? Certainly not to the same degree as in the beginning imo.

Zillah

Willpower is overrated. Circumstances are much more important.

Having trouble making yourself go to the gym? It's probably not a question of willpower, it's probably more likely that you're not sleeping well, or eating well, or the gym is too far, or you're trying to fit it into the wrong part of the day.

Having trouble eating well? Maybe you're starving yourself too much, which then causes you to binge on sugar later. Maybe you're buying the wrong things and then leaving them sitting in front of your face with a constant siren song.

I quit smoking, and I think by far the most important thing early on at least is avoiding temptation. Don't be anywhere near people who smoke, don't go to the pub, etc.

Willpower is great and all, but you'd be much smarter arranging your life so that you can just do what you planned without having to slave-drive yourself into it.

Make your Mom stop buying the bars if you find them too tempting.

More useful a term than willpower I think is discipline. I think one can cultivate a sense of discipline, but it still doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's about long term goals and trying to focus on the reasons for your decisions, to keep the source of your motivation forefront in your mind. A bowl of ice cream would be very enjoyable, but having a sexy body that earns glances and compliments is a lot more fun.

CM24

Some interesting food for thought there. Thanks everyone. It's probably hard to give a definite answer. I always thought I lacked willpower, because I could never motivate myself to study until the night before a test, but when it comes to things I care about, like fitness or sports, then I have a lot more willpower than most of my friends.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this app that gives you 15 minute summaries of popular non-fiction books, so I've downloaded a couple of ones about willpower, so I'll educate myself.