🔋Self-Control Without Struggle: Is That Even Possible? (ATP#19)

Before we dive in: I’m opening new ghostwriting spots!

Does this sound like you?

• You’re in the psychology or life coaching space and want to grow your audience and authority without spending hours writing content yourself.

• You’ve been sitting on great ideas but struggle to turn them into posts, articles, or newsletters that get noticed.

If so, I can help. I’ll bring your voice to life with content that’s scientifically sound, engaging, and designed to connect with your audience. If you want to save time and grow faster, hit reply and let’s talk. Or book a free call with me.

More info here: creatorschmidt.com/work-with-me

My newsletter subscribers get a 15% discount for their first month!

Now, on to today’s newsletter.

We all face self-control conflicts when a short-term temptation collides with a long-term goal, like staying in bed when you planned to work out. Or eating chocolate cake when you’re on a diet. Or watching YouTube when you should be finishing that project.

These conflicts happen to everyone, and the popular belief is that you need willpower to resist short-term temptations for the sake of reaching your long-term goals. But new research tells a different story: higher levels of self-control are associated with lower levels of effort. Some people excel at self-control because it’s easy for them, not because they have endless willpower.

A recent review identified three levels to understand effortless self-control:

1. Spotting self-control conflicts early

2. Establishing “good” habits

3. Using self-control strategies

Let's take a look at each of them.

1. Spotting self-control conflicts early

High self-control goes along with rapid conflict identification. In other words, it’s about identifying and resolving self-control conflicts quickly, so it takes less effort.

The good news? You can train your brain to spot and resolve conflicts faster.

In one study, participants added a new behavior they considered important and practiced it daily, for example, eating a fruit for breakfast or going for a 10-minute walk. The focus was explicitly on small behaviors that would be easy to implement daily (for example, a 1-hour gym session was not an option).

This tiny daily practice improved self-control in the study participants, and even more so among those who believed self-control wasn’t fixed.

So, with the help of mindset and daily training, you can build your self-control capacity and become faster and more efficient at conflict identification.

2. Establishing “good” habits

Habits are automatic actions triggered by a specific context without you thinking about them or employing any effort. Think of the first thing you always do when you get up in the morning, or how you lock your door when you leave your home. Those are examples of habits.

Interestingly, research shows that self-control is more strongly associated with habits than controlled behaviors. In other words, successful self-control relies more on good habits than willpower. To improve your self-control, you need to establish the corresponding habits.

The best way to make a habit stick is repetition. So, regardless of which habit you aim to establish, repeat, repeat, and repeat. I covered habit formation in an earlier edition of this newsletter.

By establishing “good” habits, you can increase self-control. It takes some effort at the beginning to establish a new habit, but once it’s strong enough, you’ll be able to implement it without effort.

3. Using self-control strategies

There are two basic types of self-control strategies:

• Antecedent-focused strategies: Avoiding a temptation before it occurs

• Response-focused strategies: Resisting the temptation when it’s already there

The first type involves less effort than the second, because you avoid situations where you could be presented with the temptation. An example would be avoiding the junk food aisle at the supermarket. Another example is environmental control, where you design your environment for success, such as not having candy at home.

Antecedent-focused strategies reduce effort because conflict situations are less likely to happen. However, it’s impossible to avoid them altogether. Once a conflict occurs, you must use effortful response-focused strategies and exert willpower.

But as outlined in point 1, you can train yourself to become more efficient when facing self-control conflicts.

Final thoughts

Self-control has traditionally been associated with willpower and effort. But new research suggests that’s only partly true. Willpower and effort are necessary when you’re trying to establish a new habit or when you’re faced with a temptation and must apply a response-focused strategy.

But it’s only one aspect of the whole story, because successful self-control relies heavily on effortless processes. These new insights can help you replace effortful willpower battles with smart, automatic systems for self-control.

If this edition provided you with a new perspective on self-control and willpower, you can buy me a coffee here. ☕ That’s how I keep this newsletter free.

Until next time!

Best wishes,

Patricia (Dr. Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com.