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Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
21–30 of 241 posts
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#22It’s just like decision fatigue: your capacity for it diminishes the more you use it (within a given time range). Instead, carefully curate your identity . This is described well in Atomic Habits. Train yourself to think “I am just not the kind of person who does x.”
> This is described well in Atomic Habits. Train yourself to think “I am just not the kind of person who does x.” Is this just basically willpower? Or perhaps I should read the book to find out.
It's more like discipline. You don't do something because you decide to become a person who just doesn't do that thing. It becomes part of your identity, rather than a decision you have to continuously make.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#23It’s just like decision fatigue: your capacity for it diminishes the more you use it (within a given time range). Instead, carefully curate your identity . This is described well in Atomic Habits. Train yourself to think “I am just not the kind of person who does x.”
The way I like to think of it is that it's possible to have willpower when I'm feeling strong and only have to make a big decision once - what's really hard is having to use that willpower over and over. Thus, I've always felt it's better to change your environment than trying to improve your willpower. For example, I got a ton of exercise when I lived in a city when the most convenient thing to do was walk everywher…
Environment change >>> willpower
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is described well in Atomic Habits. Train yourself to think “I am just not the kind of person who does x.” Is this just basically willpower? Or perhaps I should read the book to find out.
People who consider themselves "gym rats" go to the gym because it is what they do. People who are mountain bikers don't ride to keep in shape, they look forward to getting on their bike.
Those are easy to see, but there are few people who clean their dishes for fun/leisure.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#25This kind of study in this kind of magazine smells like they're pushing more 'dont even try' / 'no free will' propaganda... but I do with the premise. Relying on will power to execute is a set up for failure, better to rely on will power to create an environment that helps you succeed.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#26> Wood ends her book with advice for those of us who have become hostages to our smartphones. She offers a stepwise strategy. First, recognize your dependency, and acknowledge how the habit disrupts work, social interactions, and safe driving. Next, “control the context cues,” meaning identify what triggers you to grab the phone That still requires will power. It could probably be reduced to intention, and not so muc…
I think the problem becomes that most people use "willpower", especially when talking about bad habits, in a sense of "just stop doing The Thing". Without deep examination about WHY you do The Thing, that is a very hard thing to do because all the triggers and incentives for you to do The Thing continue to be present and push you back towards doing The Thing. Saying someone lacks Willpower is often a fancy substitution for judging them for a moral failing.
This is largely why the "war on drugs" has failed to make any meaningful headway into stopping drug problems (and how despite more money than ever being poured into the war on drugs, the "opioid epidemic" still happened). This is why the "calories in Incentives matter a lot, and immediate incentives matter much more than long term incentives. Finding things that change the immediate incentives and changing those will go a lot further than just "willing" your way into change.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is described well in Atomic Habits. Train yourself to think “I am just not the kind of person who does x.” Is this just basically willpower? Or perhaps I should read the book to find out.
No. Changing your identity is much more powerful and sort of operates in a background process whereas willpower is more of a conscious foreground one and very difficult to sustain long term. Read the book. It goes into some detail. I’ve worked with thousands of people personally over the years to help them with supposedly difficult to treat addictions for instance. Willpower is fine to start, but completely fails in…
I'll look into it. I think I acquired frugality from reading a few books that made me frugal.
I'd like other traits too.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#28I am not a smoker, but I recently read through Allan Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking Without Willpower" book. (There is a similar book out there called the Easy Peasy Way to Quit Porn, for those who are struggling with that.)
The tl;dr is that it's much harder to quit an addiction with the mindset, "This thing is great, but I'm going to deprive myself of it." Instead, you need to realize that you've been deceived and maybe even brainwashed into thinking that this vice has any redeeming value. Lots of people who've never become addicted are walking around enjoying life without it. So you kind of have to do your own reverse brainwashing to get your brain back to that state.
I used these techniques to break a bad habit. Every time my mind so much as wanders in that direction, I have a mini speech I give myself. "Boy, I am so glad that I have escaped the slavery of that dopamine cycle, where I wasn't getting joy from the habit itself, but just satisfying the craving of the addiction. I'm in such a better place now."
In the moment, I might not always fully believe the words I'm saying, but it does help.
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#29I am not a smoker, but I recently read through Allan Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking Without Willpower" book. (There is a similar book out there called the Easy Peasy Way to Quit Porn, for those who are struggling with that.) The tl;dr is that it's much harder to quit an addiction with the mindset, "This thing is great, but I'm going to deprive myself of it." Instead, you need to realize that you've been deceived an…
This American Life had an episode that challenges the premise of this book:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/806/transcript
Re: Studies suggest that relying on will power to break habits is hopeless (2019)
#30Once you realise you are more of a sheep than you think you can do things like adapt your environment to encourage giving up the habit. Or replace the havit with a new more powerful one. Or use a star chart!
Yes! If you eat too much, take up smoking instead. That's one old habit gone, and a new one added!