Willpower is defined as the “control exerted to do something or restrain impulses.” This concept may sound good in theory but may actually be the ideology holding you back from achieving your goals. Here is why:
Biological pathways: Our bodies were designed to function off and be energized by the consumption of multiple meals and snacks every day. Each macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein, or fat) plays a crucial role in our body’s functional capacities and overall health status. When we try to deprive our body of a dietary component it is needing, it does not know or care what “willpower” states you should do; our body only cares about what it is missing and needs at that moment in time. For example, it is extremely difficult not to overeat after a long day with minimal intake or after waiting until a certain time to eat even though you were hungry beforehand due to your body’s biological need for energy, not your lack of willpower.
Psychological pathways: It is a part of being human to want what we tell ourselves we cannot have. By placing so much pressure on ourselves to behave a certain way, we are innately going to constantly think about that specific behavior, making it even harder to refrain from. The idea of knowing you should or should not partake in a particular action, such as the consumption of a certain food, pushes the psyche into a place we are unlikely to succeed in. Therefore, we are not only battling ourselves when it comes to willpower but also human nature.
Genetic complexity: Willpower falsely promises us specific outcomes; it states that if you (insert action) long enough, you will achieve (insert desired goal). That is all; there is nothing else to the notion. But think about it… our bodies are simply too complex to all respond the same way to food, exercise, and mental stimuli. If no two people even have the same thumbprint, it is foolish to think our genetic makeups are similar enough to all have the same physical and mental outcomes when eating the same foods, performing the same types of exercises, and experiencing similar circumstances in life.
Need for variety: Wouldn’t you agree that the concept of willpower is often correlated to rigidity, which is often correlated to the repetition of certain behaviors? The problem with that is we were created to crave variety… a variety of foods, activities, experiences, etc. Our bodies tell us we need a variety of foods by changing its preferences often and our minds tell us so by that feeling of mundaneness. This is why we get excited to try new restaurants, do out of the ordinary things, and travel to new destinations. We also have a natural tendency to eventually give in to what we crave, which is exactly why willpower works until it doesn’t.
Behaviors only change if beliefs do: Unless someone is being forced to do something, the sum of their actions typically reflects their beliefs and core values. The idea of willpower primarily focuses on a behavior shift opposed to a belief shift. While willpower may appear to provide you that initial push in the onset of pursuing a new goal, its supply is only limited. Without discovering what value lies underneath the behavior you are trying to change, no long-lasting change will occur.
Written by Hayley Smith - Dietetic Intern