James Clear : Every action you take is a vote for the kind of person you want to become.
DON’T
:
Avoid these three self-control strategies:
•
suppressing thoughts about temptations
• if you suppress thoughts then they’ll come back stronger than before (in ironic rebound)
• resisting temptations
• this takes a lot of effort and it’s ineffective
•
training self-control as a muscle
• there’s little transfer between different self-control tasks
• you need to develop a complex skill set to master self-control
BELIEFS
:
Watch
out for the “limited” mindset:
· Your beliefs about how self-control works become a self-fulfilling prophecy
o if you
think your willpower is limited, you’ll feel depleted after exercising
self-control
o if you
believe your willpower is unlimited, you’ll feel energized by self-control
tasks
· you can gradually change your beliefs to become more unlimited (thus strengthen your actual willpower) by adopting effortless self-control strategies described in the rest of this guide
AVOID EXERCISING WILLPOWER
IF YOU CAN
• choose ‘want-to’ goals
(for which you have intrinsic motivations) rather than ‘have-to’ goals (for
which you have extrinsic motivations)
• if you can’t choose
want-to goals, increase your want-to motivation for the thing you have to do
• find activities that
promote your goals and which are enjoyable at the same time
• if you can’t find
enjoyable goal-promoting activities,
• look for aspects
within the activities you have to do which are immediately rewarding,
• use temptation
bundling (pairing an activity you have to do with an indulgence),
• or decrease the value
of indulgence with commitment contracts (agreeing to incur costs if you fail –
Eg. Donation to a group you dislike)
• be careful not to
self-reward with indulgence and don’t rely on temptation bundling and
commitment contracts onlyand team focused.
MANAGE SELF-CONTROL
CONFLICTS
• broad-bracketing
• think of your choice (whether to indulge or not) not as a one-shot decision, but as a sequence of habitual decisions;
• always ask yourself: what will be the consequences if I indulge every time?
• psychological
connectedness (use self-awareness to manage your sense of belonging – it helps!)
• realize that in the future you likely won’t change much – you’ll
be equally tempted to indulge as you’re now and you won’t have
more willpower or resources to deal with temptations than you
have now
• ask yourself – what would my older self ask me to do better now?
• adjusting your identity
• identify yourself with the self-image of a strong-willed person
• choose your identity based on your goals – if you want to become a runner, start thinking like one
Use Self-Affirmations!
DECISION MAKING
• whenever making an
important decision, get yourself into a high-level (=abstract) construal by
asking yourself a series of ‘why’ questions
• for instance, if you
want to lose weight, ask yourself: Why do I want to lose weight?
• if your answer is ‘to
be more attractive’, turn it into another ‘why’ question: Why do I want to be
attractive?
• Do this until you’ve
connected to your deepest values (because it gives me great joy, because I
deeply value my life, etc.)
• whenever you need to
plan how to achieve your goals, you need to get into a low-level (=concrete)
construal
• if you have a tendency for harsh self-criticism, practice mindful construal
Practice Mindfulness Regularly!
MANAGE CRAVINGS
• when you’re consuming
food, alcohol or cigarettes, remove all distractions
• don’t watch TV or
YouTube and don’t listen to music
• don’t check social
media
• don’t speak on the
phone or send messages
• use additional
techniques to strengthen your consumption memory:
• before eating,
drinking and smoking, remind yourself how much you’ve already consumed on that
day (with pictures taken of the previous meals/drinks/cigarettes)
• discard food wrappers
at the end of the day rather than straight after each meal, get rid of
cigarette packs and bottles at the end of the week or month
• when you’re not
consuming food, alcohol or cigarettes, distract yourself away from cravings by
• visualization
(=imagining pictures or scents)
• visual noise
• counting
• smelling pleasant
odors
LIFESTYLE
• for optimal
self-control, avoid foods with high sugar content
• instead, maintain a
stable level of glucose in your blood by eating foods with a low glycemic index
• take plenty of
exercise – this will improve glucose and oxygen supply to your brain and boost
the volume of your frontal lobes (which are responsible for self-control)
• to preserve and restore self-control, maintain regular sleep habits and take naps when you’re down on energy
