Have you noticed that some people have the determination of an ox (as the saying goes), and others give in to the smallest of temptations? What distinguishes the one from the other is willpower. Willpower is the power of your will and closely related to patience and deferred or delayed gratification. Why are some so perseverant and others give in so easily? It doesn’t seem fair.
The psychologist and economist George Ainslie (specializing in drug addiction) visited the issue of willpower and wrote a fascinating book called “Breakdown of Will”. He made the brilliant observation that willpower and self-control is the art of making the future appear much bigger and therefore more promising than the present or very near moment. We all know about temptation and the dilemmas it creates in terms of indulging now or waiting; the trades-off between pleasure (short term) and wellness (longer term).
Ainslie used an example to highlight the willpower struggle. In the distance you see a very tall building (long term goal or reward, well-being) but as you approach the high-rise it is dwarfed by a two-story dwelling (short term reward or pleasure) such that the larger structure is obscured. The willpower, temptation or addiction challenge is to focus on the taller building, even though for the moment it is not visible, and the immediate pay-off is right in front of you. By being mindful of the larger but delayed reward one can confront temptation with resolve and the power of will.
Many of you may be familiar with the Stanford “marshmallow experiments” by Walter Mischel. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period (approximately 15 minutes). In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by achievenment scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures. Young children with better will power, self-control, patience and deferred gratification skills were handsomely rewarded later in life.
The rewards of stronger willpower are immense; master the power of your will and pass the skill along to the next generation.