The Willpower Instinct

The Willpower Instinct breaks down willpower into 3 categories, and gives you science-backed systems to improve your self-control, break bad habits and choose long-term goals over instant gratification.

Most people think of willpower as the ability to resist temptations. However, that’s only one third of the deal. McGonigal puts willpower into 3 distinct categories:

“I won’t” power “I will” power “I want” power

“I won’t” power is the willpower you already know: It’s what you use when you resist that cookie on the conference table, the urge to watch the next episode of Breaking Bad, or to swing by McDonald’s on your way home.

Question to ask yourself: Which habit is hurting my health, happiness, and career the most? This will help you determine what you need to use your “I won’t” power the most for.

Second, there’s “I will” power, the force that helps you do what’s uncomfortable, but important to reach your goals. This is the kind of willpower that allows you to delay gratification now, so you can reap the rewards later.

Question to ask yourself: Which habit should I do every day to reach my goals?

Lastly, there’s “I want” power, the force that allows you to remember your long-term goals when you most need to, i.e. in situations where you need your “I will” power.

Question to ask yourself: What is my one goal that I want to spend a lot more of my time on?

Out of these 3, “I want” power is by far the most powerful. It is not so much about the goal itself, but more about having a strong reason and a clear why for delaying gratification now to succeed in the long term.

Have you ever felt followed by someone and wanted to just run home as quickly as possible? That’s your fight-or-flight response, and it’s triggered by stress, for example in dangerous situations, or in our modern world, being afraid to miss a deadline. Kelly McGonigal says there’s an alternate version of this though: the pause-and-plan response. This is a state that can be triggered when you’re facing a willpower challenge and will boost your willpower in that particular moment. Instead of heightening your senses and releasing adrenaline, like in the fight-or-flight state, this response allows you to pause and reflect, by shifting your attention to your inner conflict. It gives you that short time buffer you need to make the better decision. This is your biological willpower instinct, and like your gut, it can be trained. However, since willpower is like a muscle, it does get exhausted over time. This is why your decisions get worse later in the day. Some ways to stock up your willpower…