How to Increase Willpower: 10 Secrets From Research

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Ideas
By Eric Barker
Barker is the author of Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Some insights about willpower from research, with links to the studies:

  • Practicing a little willpower every day increases self-control over time.

  • For immediate results: tighten your muscles, sit up straight or cross your arms. Or just think about money.

  • Get enough sleep and don’t miss meals. More shut-eye will stop you from wasting time on the internet. Skipping breakfast can lead to murder.

  • Context is key. Those around you exert more influence on your behavior than you think.

  • Don’t get cocky. Thinking you have great self-control leads to failure. Sometimes little temptations are harder to resist than bigger ones.

  • Saying “I’ll never do that again” makes you even more likely to do that again.

  • The key to resisting temptation is postponement.

  • Improve your posture and you’ll improve your willpower. Exercising self-control in one area of life tends to improve it in all areas of life.

  • Want something that can help you increase willpower? Buy a mirror.

  • Self-discipline better predicts success than IQ.

    • For more tips on how to increase willpower from the leading researcher in the field, click here.

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    This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

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