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How do you grow willpower?

scottberkun.com

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Re: How do you grow willpower?

#21

Post by LPTS »

euccastro wrote: post #18
LPTS wrote: post #6

They actually have a lot of the pieces out there but unconnected. I will answer the question. Willpower is an equilibrium between two distinct drives, one of which is a drive to act, and one of which is an inhibitory drive. The first step to growing willpower is to make sure your lack of willpower isn't caused by a biological problem or a mental health problem. Before struggling too long to grow willpower, have a phy…

[...] the left and right prefrontal cortexs (corti?) [...] Cortices. Very interesting comment! I find it slightly paradoxical that I associate Buddhist meditation with a passive attitude of just accepting the present and suppressing earthly desire, yet according to what you say, that activity actually improves one's ability to persist in the active pursuit of one's desires. Not a true contradiction, of course: both a…

"Besides any long term neurological benefits, I read once or twice that meditation and relaxation have an immediate effect of helping relieve the stress that lies at the root of most cases of procrastination."

You are right. This is because when you exhale, it calms the amygdala, which manages fear. The pattern of breathing in meditation over time causes a cumulative effect, and you end up with less stress, and less inhibition. At the same time, if doing a meditation where you direct focus, you are priming parts of your brain involved in focus and attention. Like I said before, motivation is an equilibrium involving inhibition (potentially caused by fear). Meditation is great for motivation.

I wouldn't go as far as to say most cases of procrastination would be fixed by meditation, though. Procrastination can have multiple causes. I'd say a failure to have clearly thought something through or unconscious psychological resistance would be more likely factors in procrastination, and meditation would not remove that stress as readily as logic or psychotherapy would, respectively.

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#22

Post by euccastro »

LPTS wrote: post #21
euccastro wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[...] the left and right prefrontal cortexs (corti?) [...] Cortices. Very interesting comment! I find it slightly paradoxical that I associate Buddhist meditation with a passive attitude of just accepting the present and suppressing earthly desire, yet according to what you say, that activity actually improves one's ability to persist in the active pursuit of one's desires. Not a true contradiction, of course: both a…

"Besides any long term neurological benefits, I read once or twice that meditation and relaxation have an immediate effect of helping relieve the stress that lies at the root of most cases of procrastination." You are right. This is because when you exhale, it calms the amygdala, which manages fear. The pattern of breathing in meditation over time causes a cumulative effect, and you end up with less stress, and less…

Sorry, I meant anxiety rather than stress. Anyway, I was wrong in saying that either thing lies at the root; you can go deeper and find the causes of anxiety and stress in order to fix them. Lack of preparation and psychological fears sound like usual suspects.

(Just reordering my own thoughts here; I'm no expert.)

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#23

Post by timr »

xlnt wrote: post #20
timr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For all I know, it's the worst paper in the world; that's not the point. This guy rejected the credibility of the newspaper article (and hence, the reporter), because s/he didn't cite a research paper.

I didn't say that was the point, nor say anything to indicate I didn't get the point (so no need to repeat it). Do you know why people take things personally just because they are the parent post, even if the content doesn't criticize them?

I didn't take anything you said personally.

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#24

Post by xlnt »

timr wrote: post #23
xlnt wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't say that was the point, nor say anything to indicate I didn't get the point (so no need to repeat it). Do you know why people take things personally just because they are the parent post, even if the content doesn't criticize them?

I didn't take anything you said personally.

You didn't? Then why'd you say how you took it?

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#25

Post by Prrometheus »

>The real problem here is that it’s hard to respect any article that mentions a study without providing references. I refuse to grant credibility to anyone using a study to support an argument without a reference. If the study was published I can read it myself and see what it actually says.

Unfortunately, most research today is behind a pay-wall, leaving little opportunity for an average Joe to check it.

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#26

Post by wallflower »

LPTS wrote: post #6

They actually have a lot of the pieces out there but unconnected. I will answer the question. Willpower is an equilibrium between two distinct drives, one of which is a drive to act, and one of which is an inhibitory drive. The first step to growing willpower is to make sure your lack of willpower isn't caused by a biological problem or a mental health problem. Before struggling too long to grow willpower, have a phy…

I think exercising the mind is the hardest thing to do because it's so easy to take the path of least resistance.

What are your thoughts on the (1) Marathon Monks of Japan and (2) the Lung-Gom-Pa's (near mythical if not mystical) of Tibet?

(1) http://www.millennium-tv.com/Monks.htm (2) http://www.planetultramarathon.com/lunggomparunners.htm

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#27

Post by ebukys »

Growing willpower is pretty much impossible for me--I'm smart enough to reason my way out of anything, even if it's something that will benefit me in the end (ie: exercise). The key is to not think about it. If I start to think about not wanting to go to the gym, I won't go. I realized that I was doing this, and decided to use my incredibly stubborn nature to defeat it.

I just say, "No."

Cliche, yes, but it works. It works so well, in fact, that none of my friends will discuss anything with me if I'm in a jovial mood, as when the argument begins to look up for them, and I no longer feel like defending my own point of view, I will simply contradict whatever they say.

I'm sure they also hate that I'll start arguing fine points that really have no relevance to the topic at hand, but...haha.

Willpower is exactly that, the strength of your will. The person with a strong will will do exactly as he decides fit, regardless of arguments presented by any camp, including his own.

Some call it will power, some call it determination. Even others call it perseverance. But in the end, it is pure OBSTINANCE.

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#28

Post by edw519 »

"Willpower" is a word to describe a non-issue.

"What, you don't beat your children? What willpower!"

"You'd rather miss a meal than rob a bank? What willpower!"

"You don't murder your enemies? What willpower!"

Funny how easy life gets when you stop thinking about "willpower" and start doing the right thing.

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#29

Post by jonnytran »

edw519 wrote: post #28

"Willpower" is a word to describe a non-issue. "What, you don't beat your children? What willpower!" "You'd rather miss a meal than rob a bank? What willpower!" "You don't murder your enemies? What willpower!" Funny how easy life gets when you stop thinking about "willpower" and start doing the right thing.

You're only saying that b/c you've never been in a situation where you were compelled to do the "wrong" thing. :-)

Re: How do you grow willpower?

#30

Post by astine »

edw519 wrote: post #28

"Willpower" is a word to describe a non-issue. "What, you don't beat your children? What willpower!" "You'd rather miss a meal than rob a bank? What willpower!" "You don't murder your enemies? What willpower!" Funny how easy life gets when you stop thinking about "willpower" and start doing the right thing.

'Willpower' may be a vague term, but it describes a real issue. It describes the difficulty of people who have long term goals that get subsumed by short term urges.

We all have drives, say for example the drive to mate and the drive to eat, and these drives compete: can't mate if we don't stay thin, can't be thin if we eat those cookies. In the long term someone may want to lose weight, but the short term impulse to eat can override that goal, even if intellectually we know what we'd prefer. I suspect that human action is as much driven by our chemical drives as our intellectual choices.

Willpower refers to the ability to use the rational element of our psyche to repress the baser elements rather than having the baser elements override the rational. The more willpower someone has, the more he acts based on reason rather than instinct.

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