Willpower Does Not Always Solve Problems

Willpower is not the solution to all problems. Although they have sold us for a long time that we all have an internal engine capable of helping us achieve everything we want, the reality is different. A depressive disorder, for example, is not overcome by just “wanting to be okay.” For an addict, the simple act of “getting the hang of it” in their therapeutic process doesn’t work very well either.

Let’s face it, it would be wonderful to have that fireproof willpower that can and does anything. However, sadly, this rule of three doesn’t always work for us. We would love for this competition to ensure that we achieve success, stop smoking, reduce our mobile use a bit, overcome any problems or limitations and become happier people.

However, that energetic and prodigious attitude that we can all put in our favor at some point has a trap: it is easily exhausted. Yes, willpower is short-lived and it is not the deft hand that unties all knots. Therefore, it is decisive to deepen this aspect; clarify it and apply a series of approaches that can be much more useful.

Why is willpower not as useful as we think?

The label of willpower has been boasting more power than it has for years. They have made us believe that it is enough to combine desire, effort and motivation so that everything one hopes for, happens. With it, we managed to go to the gym twice a week, go for a run every day, study in good spirits every day to get rid of that opposition and why not, go climbing positions in our work.

There will, of course, be over and over with this dimension to achieve success. However, the reality is somewhat more gray; the truth is that inner resolution is not enough for us to achieve glory. Nor can we tell someone that to overcome their anxiety, phobia, depression or psychological trauma, what they need is willpower. There are important nuances that we must consider.

We analyze them.

Willpower: a limited resource

Dr. Roy Baumeister is Professor of Psychology at the University of California. One of his most interesting studies is that of self-control and willpower. He tells us that it is that “making him want” does not always work because people get exhausted easily. Willpower is like a muscle and you often tire.

Likewise, there is another fact and that is that this dimension is very sensitive to the emotional state. It is enough that one day something happens or we feel sadder or anguished for that internal force to collapse. In this case, the emotional component overrides the cognitive component and soon, we stop acting.

In other words, low spirits reduce our ability to think, decide, plan and soon, we are left with no desire to do anything …

Common enemies that keep you from maintaining your desire to “work hard” to achieve something

Willpower is that essential ingredient that should be present in many of the things we do. We cannot deny its usefulness, however, neither can we close our eyes to its limitations. They are as follows:

• Achieving something does not always depend on our attitude, there are multiple factors that are beyond our control.

• Sometimes we overestimate our resources. Sometimes, indeed, we think that certain goals are easy for us until we finally get to it.
• Willpower requires a high level of cognitive energy (attention, problem solving, planning, focus…). However , brain resources in this regard are limited. It is impossible to be 100% every day, variables such as stress, occasional discouragement, bad night’s rest or physical exhaustion usually affect you.
• Negative and automatic thoughts often sabotage us.
• A lot of will and little planning. That’s right, this is another recurring factor. One can have the desire aligned with good intentions, however, it lacks technique.

So what else do we need apart from our own willpower?

We already know that willpower is limited and that we cannot sustain all our goals on it. Let’s think that reaching a goal (whatever it is) is like making a recipe in which many ingredients are needed for something to be truly exquisite.

Thus, one aspect that we undoubtedly know is that the person with an addiction or a mental problem does not lack the desire to improve. The vast majority yearn to feel better and take control of their lives. However, it takes more than just willpower. So what are they?

Organizational psychologist Benjamin Hardy wrote a book called  Willpower Doesn’t Work that tells us about this very thing. The keys he proposed are the following:

• Change your environment. Organize your life so that everything around you drives you to achieve that goal. This sometimes implies leaving aside certain people who, due to their attitude, prevent you from focusing on your goal. Making changes at home, changing routines, and even spending time in different places, for example, is also appropriate. In this way, by changing our environment we avoid falling into old harmful patterns.

• Plan. If you want something, draw up a plan and that plan must, in turn, be adjusted as you go along.
• Discipline, act even if you have no desire or motivation. There will be days when the willpower is not available, let alone the spirits. In those moments, what should push us to continue is discipline. Sometimes, the simple act of acting and moving out of “simple obligation” generates a change in our brain and positive emotions appear again.

Last but not least, when motivation fails, it is good to remember our motives, that is, to visualize what we want to achieve or achieve. We are not machines with unlimited resources, we are people whose strength fails every two by three and that is normal. Let’s keep it in mind to accept ourselves, to treat ourselves much better and act accordingly.