You Can Crash

<p>There are many metaphors for human willpower.</p> <p>About ten years ago the hot metaphor for willpower among psychologists was a battery.&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Ego Depletion Theory</em></a>, advanced by Dr. Roy Baumeister, treated willpower as a finite resource; one that could be spent only so much before it had to be recharged.</p> <p>Baumeister&rsquo;s theory has since fallen out of favor; the battery metaphor alone can&rsquo;t capture the nature of willpower, so people rely on others as well. A few others I&rsquo;ve seen:</p> <ul> <li>Force (&ldquo;<em>All obstacles broke under the sheer force of her will.</em>&rdquo;)</li> <li>Heat (&ldquo;<em>His eyes were burning with determination.</em>&rdquo;)</li> <li>Light (&ldquo;<em>She was laser-focused on her goals.</em>&rdquo;)</li> </ul> <p>Metaphors are limited by nature, highlighting one aspect of a thing while obscuring others. The big question regarding metaphors isn&rsquo;t whether they are correct. It is whether (and when, and how) they are&nbsp;<em>useful</em>.</p> <p>For example, the &ldquo;willpower is a battery&rdquo; metaphor is useful when you are trying to economize commitments. It is less useful when you need to give a single, intense push to overcome a difficult barrier, like getting through the first few days without a cigarette.</p> <p>The most useful personal metaphor I have found for willpower &mdash; the one that helps me confront and overcome obstacles &mdash; is less common. But it&rsquo;s one we all learned about in high school physics; momentum.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/the-affirmations/you-can-crash-b978f935f91b"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>
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