Willpower Can Be Strengthened Like A Muscle

Willpower fuels success.

Whether it’s a “shiny” diploma, a “rockin'” body, an “eye popping” bank account, a “spring out of bed everyday” fulfilling career, a “change the world” business, “picture perfect” health, or any other goal — you must train yourself to “do the things you don’t really want to, but know you need to’.”

“Should I stay glued to the couch all afternoon or hit the gym? Should I Netflix (for yet another night) or make some new friends at that local Meetup? Should I continue my infinite social media scroll or (finally) get started on learning how to code? Should I finance this brand new car or pay cash for something older? Should I indulge in this brownie or hold off until I have achieved beach-bod status? Should I play another two hours of Fortnight or break-ground on my genius startup idea?”

Without the self-discipline to put in the “hard yards” today, the dream of a better tomorrow will always be just that. A dream. Luckily, we aren’t born with a set amount of willpower. All the great ones had it, you can too.

Before we tell you the secret to magnifying your own inner strength, it’s important to understand what makes the “high achieving” brain so unique.

The Marshmallow Study

As one of the most important psychological examinations of the 20th century, the “delayed gratification” marshmallow study offers deep insight into the inextricable link between willpower and success.

In 1972, Stanford university researchers (Mischel) put the willpower of 600 preschoolers to the ultimate test. One by one, the instructor had the four- and five-year-olds go into a room with nothing but a chair, a desk, and a yummy marshmallow waiting for them on a plate. The little ones were given two options. They could either eat the marshmallow now, or if they waited until the researcher came back into the room (usually after fifteen minutes), they could have two.

Of course, once the door was closed, many of the children did their best to wait it out. Some would cover their eyes, squirm, spin their chair in circles, bounce in anticipation, turn the other way, kick the desk, sing songs — one little guy even pet the marshmallow like a stuffed animal. It turns out that watching preschoolers resist temptation is quite the entertainment.

The Power Of Delayed Gratification

Of the 600 children who took the test, only about one third (≈200) were able to wait for the second marshmallow, the full fifteen minutes. Of the other two thirds, some made it one minute, others five or ten minutes, and so on. Like a self control “IQ score,” the number of minutes before “caving-in” was each child’s willpower grade.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. To see where the preschoolers ended-up in the world, Mischel and colleagues did three decades worth of follow-up studies. Here’s what they found:

The children who delayed gratification the longest, later on as adults, outperformed the “weak-willed” children on every single test the researchers threw at them. They had higher SAT scores, higher income, more education, more friends, fewer bad habits, cleaner criminal records, better stress scores, and so on.

On the results, study lead author Dr. Mischel said: “If you can deal with hot emotions, then you can study for the SAT instead of watching TV, and you can save more money for retirement. It’s not just about marshmallows.”

Willpower Can Be Strengthened Like A Muscle

While the marshmallow study’s findings imply that willpower is set from an early age, that’s clearly not the case. Whether through good parenting, good genes, or plain good luck, the kids who aced the marshmallow study simply learned to delay gratification at a young age. Good for them.

If human willpower peaked in preschool then we would all be, as adults, watching Pokemon and Spongebob cartoons 16 hours a day in our PJs, subsisting on a highly nutritious diet of Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms, throwing “I want this shiny new toy!” tantrums at our heart-attack-prone elderly parents, and so on. You get the idea.

Thankfully, willpower is never set in stone. Not at 5. Not at 55. Regardless of age, experience, and genetics, willpower can be strengthened like a muscle.

And the lead author of the marshmallow study, Dr. Mischel, agrees: “The ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake of future consequences is an acquirable cognitive skill… Even young students understand that they can change how they think and how they plan in ways which give them greater control over what they can do, what they can learn, and what they can become… Once you realize that willpower is just a matter of learning how to control your attention and thoughts, then you can really begin to increase it.”

We Can All Change

You’ve been smoking since you were a teenager? Forty-year old you can quit that “sh#%.” You’ve been a couch potato for the last thirty years? No problem, you can run a marathon six months from now. You’ve been working a dead-end job your whole adult life? No sweat, you too can have a “spring-out-of-bed-everyday” fulfilling career.

The world is full of “lazy bums” turned Ironmen/Ironwomen, “8th grade dropouts” turned mega-moguls, “lethargic loafers” turned hard workers, “round-the-clock-junk-food-eaters” turned certified nutritionists, you get the idea. No matter how badly life has beaten you down, no matter how deeply you are “set” in your ways — you can change for the better.

Mind is the builder.

So, the next time you’re on the fence about eating a salad or inhaling a sundae, going to the gym, or laying on the couch, breaking ground on your startup idea or scrolling your social media feed — remember the infinite power within.

“When you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong, and you’ll finally see the truth, that a hero lies in you.

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