WNA #10: Willpower and Resistance
Today, (a section of) another free chapter from Part IV: Time, titled—
Willpower and Resistance
Why do we put off working on difficult things? And how come, after a challenging day at work, we can’t bring ourselves to cook a healthy meal, do the dishes, or work out?
It’s not a matter of time. We spend entire evenings watching TV or scrolling on our phones.
It’s not a matter of energy, either. We have plenty of energy. No matter how rough our day is, in case of emergency, we run faster than we ever did before, and our levels of excitement and focus are unmatched during a tense sports match on TV.
If it’s not a lack of time or energy, what is it?
Willpower is the third currency for action. Compared to time and energy, it might be the most important one. Because, when we run low on willpower, it doesn’t matter how much time or energy we have: we’ll avoid doing what needs to be done — willpower, and lack thereof, dictates our actions.
The willpower reserve is singular. Our personal and professional lives draw from the same container. If one area of life eats up too much of it, we’ll run dry in every other area.
In psychology, this phenomenon of running dry is called _ego depletion_. It refers to the idea that there is indeed a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up. Once used up, self-control is impaired, which is described as being 'ego depleted'.
I must note that ego depletion theory has received criticism because researchers have failed to produce conclusive supporting evidence. But, regardless of how it works, there is no denying that we all encounter this lack of willpower, a feeling of depletion, now and then. Something is going on beneath the surface, we’re just not able to explain how it works yet.
Resistance
Some tasks feel as if they demand more willpower than others. In his book ‘The War of Art,’ author Steven Pressfield talks about an invisible force called Resistance. According to Pressfield, it prevents us from fulfilling our creative potential and achieving our goals.
Resistance manifests as self-doubt, procrastination, fear, and any other form of self-sabotage that keeps us from taking action and pursuing our true calling.
The concept of Resistance is not limited to art and creativity. In the face of a relentless workout or doing something difficult for the first time, we experience more Resistance than when confronted with similar but easier activities.
Although Pressfield doesn’t go so far, Resistance can be treated as the adversary of willpower. The more Resistance we feel towards a task, the more willpower it will take to get it done.
Interestingly, Pressfield argues that the tasks that put up the most Resistance are often the ones that are most important for us to work on, either consciously or subconsciously.
The longer we put something off, the more Resistance we will feel towards it. It accumulates. We’ll look for more and more excuses and reasons for not doing it. In Pressfield’s words, this is Resistance plotting against us, trying to lure us away from what’s important to us.
That’s the end of the chapter for today’s newsletter. In the book, I’ll continue to explore what the implications of “Resistance” are, and how we can use this concept to better plan and distribute our time and energy around our willpower.