Do you know of someone who has great will power? Do you ever wish you could borrow some of their self-control when you need to resist a tempting cookie or to get yourself to the gym.
Well, recent research suggests that actually thinking about that person can give you some of their self control.
Michelle vanDellen of the University of Georgia did several experiments that show that just thinking about a person with great will power can increase your own.
In one study 36 people were divided into three groups. One group was asked to think of a friend with good self-control. Another group was asked to think of a friend with bad self-control. And a third group was asked to think of a neutral person Those that thought about a friend with better self-control persisted longer on a handgrip task that’s often used to measure a person’s self-control. Those who thought of a friend with poor self-control did worst of all with the neutral group in the middle.
The explanation. Thinking about a friend with good self-control makes it easier to access ideas related to self-control and to act on these ideas. And the same is true for thinking about people with low self-control. Thinking about them makes it easier to think about and act with less self-control.
So how can you use this information?
First, when working on a challenging goal such as losing weight spend more time with people who have great self-control. Some of it will rub off on you.
Second, keep pictures of friends and family around you that also have great self-control. In other studies pictures of supportive family members or friends has been shown to increase persistence. So if you choose people who also have great self-control in addition to being supportive that may magnify the effect.
Third, in one of the experiments described in the same paper just observing people make choices that showed good or bad self-control increased or decreased the will power of observers. So avoid watching TV or movies with people who have no self-control before getting into a situation in which you’ll be tempted. Or at least think of people who great self-control when the film is over.
How will you use this study to enhance your life? Please leave a comment below telling me about one way you’ll use this information.
Reference to the study quoted above:
vanDellen, M. R., & Hoyle, R. H. (in press). Regulatory accessibility and social influences on state self-control. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
9 replies to "How To Increase Your Will Power In 60 Seconds"
great post thanks for asking. I have just signed on with a daily mentor as I have tried many options and I think the addition of daily mentor via video plus timer and realistic to do list will see success
Suzie,
Yes. Research shows that the more techniques you use to help yourself make a change the more successful you’ll be. So your willingness to put them all together will definitely increase your chances of success.
Rodney
Thank you for this very informative post! I will definitely try and think of whom I know with great self-control and bring that person to mind whenever I need a willpower boost.
Nicole,
Glad to see you’ll be using this information. Let me know how it works out for you.
Rodney
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suzie Cheel and Michelle Shaeffer, Rodney Daut. Rodney Daut said: @JeanetteCates: How To Increase Your Will Power In 60 Seconds http://bit.ly/ajQy8R #blog30 […]
Thanks for a great post. Your examples are very good and I know they work. One just has to apply them more often.
cheers
Gitie
Thanks for the comment, Gitie. one way to apply the techniques more often is to use something called implementation intentions. I describe them in this post.
This is so true and it has worked for me in the past. Thanks for the great reminder 🙂
Glad to be of service Lauren.
Rodney