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I'm also against the idea of willpower in general. All of the people I know with the most "willpower" are just those with great habits; they're not actually exe

I'm also against the idea of willpower in general. All of the people I know with the most "willpower" are just those with great habits; they're not actually exercising willpower 95% of the time we think they are. They're just doing their regular routine and they didn't have to act contrary to our perception of their wants/needs. Some podcast I was listening to had an Olympic athlete on it, they asked her how she avoided slipping up on dietary things like birthday cake, free pizza, etc. She said she doesn't use willpower, she just has a couple bites only. It's this rule she lives by, no stress, no anxiety, just a couple bites and that's it. I guess I'll follow her lead and take a couple of bites out of this SQL task...

matwood 8y ago
> All of the people I know with the most "willpower" are just those with great habits; they're not actually exercising willpower 95% of the time we think they are. Exactly. Willpower and motivation are fleeting. Real change comes from building habits with self-discipline. This is also why when I want to make a change I do it every day and/or on a very fixed schedule. People ask how I get up every morning at 6am and workout. I have been doing it for so long I don't really have an answer. It is just what I do. Do I always want to get up and workout? Not really, but what I want doesn't matter. I get up and do it anyways.
- ohaideredevs 8y ago
  "Do I always want to get up and workout? Not really, but what I want doesn't matter. I get up and do it anyways." That's because it's a habit. We are both conditioned chimps. Working out takes NO willpower for us.
  - matwood 8y ago
    Yes. It's just self-discipline at this point. I find habits and self-discipline to be closely related. Where willpower/motivation does come into play is the formation of self-discipline and habits. People often need that spark to get started. Look at someone like Goggins with insane self-discipline now, but if you listen to his story it took some very low moments for him to find that initial motivation.
ohaideredevs 8y ago
A habit, once formed, takes no willpower. That doesn't mean that willpower isn't important. A person with good habits but no willpower will have trouble adapting.

matwood 8y ago

> All of the people I know with the most "willpower" are just those with great habits; they're not actually exercising willpower 95% of the time we think they are. Exactly. Willpower and motivation are fleeting. Real change comes from building habits with self-discipline. This is also why when I want to make a change I do it every day and/or on a very fixed schedule. People ask how I get up every morning at 6am and workout. I have been doing it for so long I don't really have an answer. It is just what I do. Do I always want to get up and workout? Not really, but what I want doesn't matter. I get up and do it anyways.

ohaideredevs 8y ago
"Do I always want to get up and workout? Not really, but what I want doesn't matter. I get up and do it anyways." That's because it's a habit. We are both conditioned chimps. Working out takes NO willpower for us.
- matwood 8y ago
  Yes. It's just self-discipline at this point. I find habits and self-discipline to be closely related. Where willpower/motivation does come into play is the formation of self-discipline and habits. People often need that spark to get started. Look at someone like Goggins with insane self-discipline now, but if you listen to his story it took some very low moments for him to find that initial motivation.

ohaideredevs 8y ago

A habit, once formed, takes no willpower. That doesn't mean that willpower isn't important. A person with good habits but no willpower will have trouble adapting.