Willpower is something that most people would like to increase.
Willpower is what keeps us going, our drive, our dedication to achieve a goal or finish a task.
But often enough, we find ourselves struggling with it, fighting against our weaker inner self and ultimately giving up.
So why is that? Have you ever heard of the term Ego Depletion?
Ego Depletion basically means that we only have a certain amount of willpower and when that's used up, we turn into couch potatoes.
Sounds like an interesting theory, but let's look at the scientific proof:
In 1998, a study called "Ego Depletion: Is the Active Self a limited resource?" tested exactly this.
Two different groups of participants were advised to skip a meal and don't eat 3 hours before the experiment (so they were hungry at the time).
Then, all the participants were sat in a room that was filled with the smell of freshly baked cookies, and on each table, they prepared a plate with radishes and a plate filled with chocolate.
One group of participants only ate radishes, while having to resist the tempting smell and sight of chocolate. So their willpower was tested in 2 factors - having to eat something they didn't particularly enjoy, and resisting to eat something else.
The other group only ate the chocolate.
After that, both groups were asked to finish an unsolvable riddle.
The ones that had to eat the radish and already depleted their willpower gave up twice as fast!
After the experiments, the participants filled out some questionnaires.
And these were the results:
- The ones that ate the radish felt more tired after the experiment than the other group
- When the chocolate eaters felt like quitting the puzzle, they pushed themselves to keep going a little longer.
- When the radish eaters felt like quitting the puzzle, they quit almost immediately.
These results provide initial support for the hypothesis of ego depletion.
Resisting temptation seems to have produced a psychic cost, in the sense that afterward participants were more inclined to give up easily in the face of frustration.
It was not that eating chocolate improved performance. Rather, wanting chocolate but eating radishes instead, especially under circumstances in which it would seemingly be easy and safe to snitch some chocolates, seems to have consumed some resource and therefore left people less able to persist at the puzzles.
- Quote from the research study paper
Now if we would apply the results of this study to real life, the result would be to evolve and complete your tasks in baby steps.
It would mean that it would be counter-productive for you try changing several bad habits at the same time.
But there's also a controversy about this theory.
There have also been studies that did not have any proof of Ego Depletion in their results.
It's a highly controverse topic, and there are lots of different opinions about it.
One thing is for sure - You are always tricked by your brain.
Someone who believes their willpower is limited will use that as an excuse to slack off or take a break sometimes, while someone who believes their willpower is unlimited might just keep going - and will end up achieving more in the end.
- Instagram -
© Sirwinchester
Is Ego the same as Will?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I agree with @mindhunter - it totally depends on yourself!
But in this experiment, ego is = will .
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I'd love to see you do a post where spirit = will; like the light touch of the Dalai Lama for example ;)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Will controlled by spiritual means or egotistical means. The choice is yours?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
i have experienced ego depletion, personally. this n=1 is not useful for statistical analysis but is useful for my understanding of myself. i would love to see a better controlled experiment as i think the alkaloids and fats contained in the chocolate have been demonstrated to have superior stimulating and energy sustaining effects as compared to something such as a radish. great post. this is information more people can use. thank you.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
:)
Like on song
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
such a fascinating theory! I think it's pretty reasonable
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
yes I think so too!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
wow, what an interesting topic!
love how much effort you put into your posts
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
glad that you liked it, I enjoy creating these posts as well!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
this is a great example for a steemit post -
interesting topic, and awesome original images that go along with it!
keep it up sir
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you for your kind words!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
that first experiment is so interesting. Although I have not experienced it myself, it sounds logical, and the results speak for themselves
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Yes I'm the same, I found the theory to be very interesting and I could imagine that this is really how our mind works!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
posts like this are the reason you're rocking on steemit and your hashtag is trending!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you, I appreciate that!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Good job! Removing self makes a way for the will to go forward.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thank you! and that's very true
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I like that you mentioned the controversy around this as well, not just the studies that proved it. It's a topic that scientists are still discussing about!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
it's nothing that's set in stone, but I think the theory behind it is very fascinating and everybody can decide for themselves what they want to do with that information!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
In my experience, if I've been in sugar burning mode, which is what most every American and probably person in the world is in, the results of the experiment hold mostly true.
However, if I am in fat burning mode, or Ketosis, which I try to stay in all the time now, these results of this experiment are inconsistent with my experience.
When your body is running on glucose, you're very sugar sensitive because it's not healthy for your body to have high blood sugar at any given time, so it gets rid of it, and your body doesn't make glucose, so it's dependent on recently consumed fuel. But if your body is running on ketones, it doesn't just get depleted, it continues to turn fat into ketones and your brain doesn't ever feel the imminent need for more fuel.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I'll take this as an inspiration. I'm not a very patient person, in fact I've often wished I could buy that trait just to acquire it. I easily get frustrated but I'm a go getter I don't easily give up.
I'll use this as a self reminder whenever I get frustrated to help me to always think of getting to "finish".
Thank you @sirwinchester
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
A very interesting theory! It could be evidence of how each of us gives off a certain energy, when we feel an emotion or a desire to do something it is merely a form of energy within ourselves that is being released. In this case of course will power. Very interesting indeed!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Up vote and followed
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
Advanced Steem Metrics Report for 1st October 2016 by @ontofractal
Redeem Humanity thru Simple Acknowledgment of Those Who Are Suffering by @kurtbeil
Learn more about linkback bot v0.4. Upvote if you want the bot to continue posting linkbacks for your posts. Flag if otherwise.
Built by @ontofractal
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I will bookmark this, very interesting topic choice!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit