Willpower is like muscle strength and can be depleted or replenished. Eating supplies the brain with glucose, while sleep deprivation affects decision-making. Lack of willpower is a common weakness, but having supportive friends can help. Willpower may be more important than IQ for success in school.
Willpower is limited like muscle strength and can be depleted through overuse or replenished by eating or sleeping, research has shown. Mental energy is thought to be comparable to physical energy, and using self-control depletes mental energy in the same way that exercise does the body. Eating could help increase willpower because it supplies the brain with glucose, the simple sugar that gives the body energy. Getting sleep could also improve willpower, because sleep deprivation has been found to affect the function of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for making decisions, which could result in you being more likely to give in to temptation.
Read more about willpower:
A worldwide study of over 1 million people found that lack of willpower is often considered a person’s greatest weakness.
Having friends as a support system can build willpower; for example, a person is about 34 percent more likely to be successful in quitting smoking if a close friend is also kicking the habit.
A study of eighth graders found that a student’s willpower may be a more important factor in doing well in school than their intelligence quotient (IQ).
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