Why willpower matters - and how to get it

will is a mental muscle that can be formed. Those who do are more likely to lead a happy and successful life

In the elegant restaurant in a very elegant hotel in the West End of London, Roy Baumeister F, the eminent American professor of social psychology, orders a lunch of fish and chips, and then decides not to eat chips. "I will not eat something that is not good for me unless it is absolutely perfect, and I will give you a real pleasure," he says. "I'm afraid ... Well, I don ' had simply not look like they will do well. "

What

will, you might say. You are right, the chip looks pretty good. However, Baumeister is also, coincidentally, one of the leading authorities on the same subject, and has just published a book of great success in it with the New York Times writer John Tierney science.

Will: Rediscovering our greatest strength distills three decades of academic research (Baumeister contribution) in self-control and willpower, Florida State University social psychologist squarely identified as "the key to success and a happy life. "

The result is (contribution Tierney) readable, accessible and convenient. This is an unusual self-help book, indeed, as it not only provides tips, tricks and ideas to help develop, maintain and strengthen the will, but some fields of science.

will is, Baumeister says over lunch, "which separates us from animals is the ability to control our impulses, resist the temptation - to do what is right and good for us in term time, we want to do now. It is central, indeed, to civilization. "

The Victorians disciplined and obedient, all the Stiff Upper Lip and referrals to the moral fiber, had the will power in abundance, that, unfortunately, did the Nazis, who referred his adventure in the evil that the "triumph of the will." In the 60 thought differently: let all the time, and if it feels good, do it, I'm OK, You're OK

But without the will, it seems, we are rarely OK. In the 60s a sociologist named Walter Mischel was interested in how young children to resist the instant gratification, but given the option of one marshmallow now or two if they could wait 15 minutes. Years later, a follow-up of some of the kids down and made a startling discovery.

Mischel results were recently confirmed by a remarkable long-term study in New Zealand, completed in 2010. For 32 years, from birth, an international team of researchers followed 1,000 people, the classification of the observed and self-reported and will be in different ways.

What they found is that even taking into account the different types of intelligence, race and social development, people with high self-control - which, in the experience Mischel, resisted for two clouds later - has become healthy adults happier and richer.

• people with low desire, the study found, no one is not so well in school. They were more likely to be in low-paying jobs with little savings, to be overweight, have problems with drugs or alcohol, and have difficulty maintaining stable relationships (many them were single parents). They were also almost four times more likely to have a criminal conviction. "Will," says Baumeister, "is one of the strongest predictors of success in life."

So how can we improve? Great idea Baumeister, now confirmed by hundreds of ingenious experiments in its laboratories and other social psychology, is that the strength of will - the force by which we can control and manage our thoughts, impulses and emotions and helps us to persevere in the most difficult - is actually more like a kind of moral muscle.

As a muscle can get tired if you overuse. The exercise of the will, but also to make decisions and choices and to take initiatives, it seems that all are based on the same energy well, Baumeister was established. In experiments, he found that, immediately after the execution of a task requiring them to curb their impulses (say no to chocolate chip cookies, suppressing their emotions while watching a three tears tissues); students were much more likely to underperform in other jobs such as Will reverse a handle or solve a challenging puzzle.

"The immune system is immersed in the same pot, which is large, but finite," says Baumeister, "and we are sure is the same for PMS women. Having a cold tends to lower self, and premenstrual syndrome is not the same thing you cranky and irritable, but we have not the most unpleasant impulses -. is that our usual limits have weakened "
So I'd better not try to do too much mental effort involving, at the same time, or if you are sick. Like a muscle, however, you can train your will. Even small daily acts of will power, and maintain good posture, make complete sentences or use a computer mouse with the other hand, may be paid by the long-term strengthening of the self in independent activities, Baumeister found. People have said before sitting down or getting up when she later recalled much better results in laboratory tests of will.

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