Imagine you have been sent back thousands of years to pre-civilized society. All of your modern-day comforts are gone. Your goals of losing weight, becoming more productive and learning a new language have now been replaced by securing food, finding a mate and keeping safe from predators.

All of your thoughts, all of your focus, all of your creativity are now simply on securing these 3 things in order to survive. This was the case for us over millions and millions of years of evolution, and it explains our modern day problems with willpower. 

When Charles Duhigg wrote his best-selling book, The Power of Habit, he made a bold claim.

“There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you get the habits right.” [1]

Few of us would argue with the statement. After all, most of our lives are merely the accumulation of habits that we have built over the years. Some are positive, some are negative. But whether it’s lacing up your running shoes first thing in the morning, or keeping a fully stocked bowl of M&Ms by your desk, these habits have shaped who we are. 

But what if we want to make a change to this daily behavior?

The painting above is the earliest published work of a teenaged Leonardo da Vinci. His mentor painted most of the work, but instructed Leonardo to paint the angel that is gesturing toward the Virgin Mary. When Leonardo was told of his assignment, he spent the next several weeks at work, but did not paint a thing

Imagine you have just won the lottery. You have two options about when you will get your cash payout. If you wait 3 years, you’ll get $50 million dollars, but if you wait 6 years, you’ll get $100 million dollars. If you’re like most people, you’ll wait the full 6 years for double the money. After all, you’ll be getting paid over $16 million dollars a year for each extra year that you wait! 

But what if I were to offer you $50 million dollars today or $100 million dollars 3 years from now? It's not so easy to turn down the quick reward this time! Despite the fact that it’s the same amount of time spent waiting, now the majority of people will take the $50 million dollars today.

Imagine you are a participant in a study on willpower. You arrive to the laboratory having fasted for the last 12 hours, so your body is in dire need of some nourishment.

Before you are two different milkshakes: 

The first milkshake is a chocolaty, creamy, old-fashioned milkshake that people have been enjoying for decades.

The second milkshake has the exact same amount of calories and nutrients as a regular milkshake, but is just a gloppy milk product that is as tasteless as a glass of water.

Because both milkshakes contain the same nutrients, you will be adequately nourished regardless of the one that you choose.

The students arrived in the laboratory in a nutrition-depleted state (they were hungry!). Each one of them was instructed to fast prior to the experiment in which they were about to participate.

Then, the social psychologists unleashed their cruelty upon the participants. They invited them into a room with the aroma of freshly baked cookies. The students sat down around a table that had two plates on it. One was the plate of the warm, tempting cookies. The other was a plate of cold, raw, radishes.

It’s Sunday night. You’ve just had a fun, relaxing weekend and you’re planning the week ahead. You have a cool, focused vision of how the week will pan out. You’re going to eat better, get up earlier, and tackle that big project.

Fast forward to mid-week. It’s the end of a long, stressful day of work and all of the sudden that cool, calm, decision-making process is gone. It’s replaced by a sense of panic as you go over your dinner options. You feel like there’s no way you can summon the willpower to cook a healthy dinner, and that takeout menu is looking extra tempting….

“You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”

Few would argue with the fact that we are like our friends. After all, it’s hard to spend time with someone who has a completely different schedule, interests and stomping grounds than you do. 

But is it actually possible that the people you spend time with have a major influence over your willpower?

Fake it ‘till you make it.

You’ve heard that saying before. Whether from a blog, a mentor, or a friend offering advice. The saying means well. After all, when we’re going into a high pressure situation like a job interview, we may as well act like we deserve the job before we actually have it.

But does this actually work? Will faking it in an interview actually help you get the job? Or will it throw you off from your normal rhythm and just end up hurting you in the end?

There is a scientific answer to this question and it’s found by what takes place in your body when you begin to “fake it”. 

What is willpower, really? We talk about the concept a lot in passing, always wishing that somehow we could have more of it to summon in certain situations. Recently, researchers have begun to define willpower as a muscle. One that can be weakened from overuse, but also one that can be strengthened with practice.