1 min. 30 sec. read
Willpower has been shown to be more important than IQ for academics and success.
“Dozens of studies show that willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success.” (p.131)
Can willpower be developed and made stronger? Yes, willpower is like a muscle. You can strengthen it. But also like a muscle, if you use it too much, it will get tired. The best thing to do, is make willpower a habit. When willpower is a habit, you no longer have to use too much energy.
1, Some people look like they have incredible willpower, but they are not using their willpower. They are using their trained habits. You can turn willpower into a habit.
Example:
At Starbucks, customer service is a priority. Most of the time, employees have good willpower and provide good service to their customers. Occasionally employees lose their cool and breakdown. This happens when customers are rude or yell at them. Starbucks decided they needed to retrain their employees where they could rely on trained habits, instead of willpower.
Starbucks developed a training program which teaches employees how to react to all situations. “Managers drilled employees, role-playing with them until the responses became automatic.”(p. 145). The next time an employee encounters a rude customer, they simply used their trained habits. They no longer needed to rely on willpower.
2. Willpower is like a muscle. If you use it too much, it will get tired.
“Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.”(p. 137)
Example:
In a study, people were divided into 2 groups. One group was given cookies and told not to eat it. This group had to use willpower not to eat the cookies. The other group was given cookies and told to eat it. This group didn’t have to use any willpower.
Now both groups were given a puzzle (an impossible puzzle). The group that didn’t eat the cookies, gave up on the puzzle much faster than the group that ate the cookies. This is because they already used up most of their willpower!
3. Willpower is like a muscle. You can strengthen it.
“As people strengthened their willpower muscles in one part of their lives—in the gym, or a money management program—that strength spilled over into what they ate or how hard they worked. Once willpower became stronger, it touched everything.” (p. 139)
Examples:
Researchers forced people to exercise. As time passed, researchers noticed not only did people’s willpower for exercise got stronger, but their willpower for their overall life got stronger. They ended up watching less TV, drinking less alcohol, caffeine, and eating less junk food.
When people were told to budget their money, give up luxuries, and write down every thing they bought, their willpower got stronger. They smoked less, drank less alcohol, caffeine, ate less junk food, and was more productive at work and school.