How To Increase Your Willpower

“ These things suck but they suck a little bit. Just enough that they require some effort to get over some friction and engage in something that you don't reflexively want to do. So it could be for 100 jumping jacks at the end of a hard run or finishing a learning session and then deciding to sit still thinking about the material when you so desperately want to jump on your phone.” - Andrew Huberman “

Willpower is your ability to engage in or resist a particular behavior even when you don’t feel like it. It’s controlled by one brain area called the ‘Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex’. And this area is plastic. Meaning, you can change its function and increase your willpower.

In the episode, Andrew goes over one method that can double the activation of the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex. He calls these ‘Micro-sucks’.

It’s when you do something that kinda sucks for no reason. For example, after you finish a very hard focused session, you force yourself into another 10 minutes of hard work. Or, after exhausting yourself in a workout, you do the 5-10 minutes of boring stretches.

When you do these, you get used to them. Eventually, you become capable of doing harder challenges like finishing marathons, studying for longer hours, and approaching strangers you find interesting. No matter how uncomfortable, stressful, and daunting they seem.

So Reader, engage in these micro-sucks.

Action for the day

You should feel the discomfort. The impatience, boredom, and anxiety. You need to feel like: ugh I really don’t want to do this. But I should. So I will. That’s how you know it’s working and your willpower is being challenged..

The micro-suck could be: Completing 10 minutes of meditation when you're feeling distracted. Writing a to-do list for the day. Throwing away items you don’t use anymore. Or stretching before/after a workout.

So Reader.

• What’s one micro-suck you can do today?

Pause for a sec and think about it ^

Good job.

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Bye!