Mogama

Questions and Answers about Willpower: What To Do When Willpower Fails?


Posted: Monday, April 06, 2009

by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info

What is willpower? Wordnet defines willpower as "the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior." Wiktionary calls it "the unwavering strength of will to carry out one's wishes". Other words that entail or include willpower are discipline, self-discipline, self-control, self-determination. Willpower is the power to constrain, restrain, conquer or overpower oneself. Willpower is a person's version of self-regulation. Willpower is the power to conquer myself, the guts to confront the dark side of my nature, personality and desires. Willpower also includes the power of persistence, the focus to persevere until a goal is achieved.

Exercising willpower on a long-term basis is such a challenge because other-control is easier than self-control. It is much easier to control someone else or something else than to control myself.

Where is my willpower located? From a theological view, a person is more than flesh and blood. Some theologians see a person as body, soul, and spirit. The body contains the physical senses of seeing, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The spirit is home to the ethical compass we call conscience. And the soul is expressed through the mind, emotion, and will. Based on this theological model, willpower is part of the soul. It is the soul's power of choice, the freedom to choose. (Democracies make the most of willpower.)

What can I use willpower for? Among the many positive uses of willpower are the following: I can use willpower to quit smoking, quit drunkenness, quit gambling, resist or quit pornography, endure hardship, avoid impulse spending (overspending), manage money better, resist overeating, resist eating unhealthy food, restrain myself from acting out my anger in a violent way, restrain my sex drive so that I don't sleep around or rape someone, talk less, exercise more in order to keep in shape and/or lose weight, resist committing a crime so I stay out of jail, stay out of fights, keep my room / apartment / house clean, start a business, complete my education, and the list goes on.

When you think of it, it takes willpower to do anything constructive as much as to avoid something destructive. Without willpower it is useless to dream, set goals or plan.

Can I lose my willpower? The short answer is Yes, or sort of. Though my willpower is always a part of me till I die, it can become so weak as to be considered dull, dormant or dead. This happens when I let life happen to me, when I become mostly reactive rather than proactive in life, when I yield to circumstances and others to decide what I think, how I feel, how I look, where I go, what I do, and therefore who I become.

Concerning the possible death of willpower, let me cite Alex Spiegel, who does the Your Health section of NPR's Morning Edition. On the April 6, 2009 edition of that news program, Alix Spiegel mentioned Mike Harmon, who said of his willpower, "I don't have it anymore. It's gone." When Mike Harmon obituarized his willpower he was sitting at the Stop Smoking Hypnosis Clinic of Baltimore County.

Since at the time, Mr. Harmon was alive and therefore still had a soul (mind, emotion, and will), we can say he still had his willpower. So when he said 'My willpower is gone', he means that he has been unable to use his willpower to achieve his goal, in this case, to stop smoking.

How or why is willpower limited? Willpower can be a powerful ally, but it has its limitations. In the same report by NPR's Alix Spiegel, he quoted a woman named Neecy Riley as saying, "My willpower isn't doing it." Neecy was also a client at the same Baltimore County clinic.

One reason willpower fails is because humans are morally fallible. But there is a scientific reason to explain how willpower can be "gone" or become powerless. Strangely, some scientists say, "Exerting self-control lowers blood sugar, which reduces the capacity for further self-control." What? Willpower has something to do with my blood sugar level? No laughing matter...

This notion was contained in an April 2, 2008, New York Times online article by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang. The scientists cited in this source think that such functions as planning and self-control, which are required to exercise willpower, are sensitive to even "small changes" in blood sugar levels. Interestingly, the researchers found "Foods that persistently elevate blood sugar, like those containing protein or complex carbohydrates, might enhance willpower for longer periods." (One more reason to eat healthy!)

How can I exercise my willpower more successfully? Limit the number of goals that require willpower. The neuroscientists cited above advice us to compare willpower to money or income: When you budget your money, it does more; budgeted money works harder. In the same way, I need to "budget" my willpower. How? Concentrate my willpower on one thing or just a few things at a time. That way I restrict demand on my willpower. Here is why: When I succeed in exerting my willpower until I achieve this goal, I boost my chances of drawing on my willpower to accomplish the next goal.

To quote the New York Times article referenced above, "Like a muscle, willpower seems to become stronger with use. The idea of exercising willpower is seen in military boot camp, where recruits are trained to overcome one challenge after another." (Emphasis mine.)

Let's say I am addicted to smoking and gambling. Since these are two giant addictions that will demand gobs of willpower to overcome, I should NOT take on quitting both at the same time. Instead, I should focus all of my attention and the full force of my willpower on breaking free from gambling first. Once I break that addiction, then I can begin my quit-smoking campaign.

With all that said, let me admit that in my own life, willpower has often failed me. I have also met and talked to fellow travelers let down by willpower alone. Personally, I have often succeeded when I have reached for the spiritual dimension of life. For me, that would be the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who empowers me to reach my goals. So when willpower becomes powerless, I motivate my soul by saying aloud, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Suddenly, His unlimited power kicks in, and the rest is His-story!

Mogama (Moses Garswa Matally) is a minister, Bible teacher, life skill coach, blogger, and author of Refugee Was My Name. Due to a civil war in Liberia, his native country, he fled to Sierra Leone, then to Ghana where he lived as a refugee, before migrating to the United States. Mogama holds a Bachelor of Theology and a Master of Divinity. He is the founding pastor of Church For All in Kentucky, where he lives with his wife and three children. Website www.mogama.info;email mogama@gmail.com.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)
» left by Linda DeWitt
 3 years 36 days ago.
67 fans. Follow Linda DeWitt on twitter!
Great article. . When I allow God's will to over ride my will miracles happen.
Sorry about your back.
God Bless you Mogama.
» left by Mogama 3 years 35 days ago.
116 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!
Hi there, Linda. Thanks much for reading and commenting. My back is so much better now, which means I can sit much longer to write articles. Enjoy your day! ~mogama~
» left by Nancy Daniels
 3 years 34 days ago.
Mogama,
 
This was great.  It is interesting to look at oneself and learn from your wrods.  I have the willpower to write and write and write.  The willpower is not there to clean and clean and clean.  (Although after reading Mike Fak's article about 'under his desk,' I realized that a little dust is nothing!)
 
Thank you for making me take a look at myself.  A good learning experience.
 
Nancy
 
PS As one who occasionally pulls out her back, my heart (& back) go out to you.
» left by Mogama 3 years 34 days ago.
116 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!
Thanks, Nancy, for your witty, hilarious comments. You scratched my funny bone. I do appreciate the sympathy too. Enjoy your day! ~mogama~
» left by Steve Kovacs
 3 years 34 days ago.
95 fans. Follow Steve Kovacs on twitter!

Thanks for the interesting article. I especially liked the part where you wrote--suddenly, His unlimited power kicks in, and the rest is His-story!--- Been there done that!


 

» left by Mogama 3 years 33 days ago.
116 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!
Thanks, Steve, for commenting. Glad to know you have experienced The Power. ~mogama~
» left by Deepak
from India 2 years 179 days ago.
 
amazing article , I think i was searching this thing only to improve my ruined life, Thanks , Thanks a lot, and the words,"WITHOUT WILLPOWER IT IS USELESS TO DREAM, SET GOALS OR PLAN", were simply the Best,
» left by Mogama 2 years 179 days ago.
116 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!
Thanks, Deepak, for reading and commenting. ~mogama~
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