How to Build Willpower

Note: I am not a doctor nor mental health professional. This is not intended to be viewed or used as professional medical or mental health advice.

Recently, I listened to an incredibly insightful podcast on the anterior mid-cingulate cortex — and I thought to myself, “what the hell is that?”

Well, it’s a functional part of your brain that does a funny little trick, actually. The "anterior mid-cingulate cortex” (or, “aMCC”) is the part of your brain that actually thrives on you doing things you don’t want to do.

I know, I know — my whole mantra in life is “SET BETTER BOUNDARIES,” right? Well, yes. However, sometimes things that aren’t pushing your boundaries still fall under the category of “things (you) don’t want to do,” and as a person living with OCD and clinical depression, that concept is all too real. Let me break it down —

What do you hate doing, but have to do?

Here’s an all-too-relatable example; you probably don’t want to do your laundry, or those dishes, or whatever other annoying household chore has fallen on your plate today. BUT, you know you have to do it (womp, womp). So, you have basically have two options — get up and get it over and done with, or procrastinate and feel probably fairly anxious about it later as things start to “pile on.”

Have you ever been in that boat? Because I’ve definitely been there, done that, and won the t-shirt. However, there’s a way to make yourself actually more likely to choose the first, “get it done”, option — and that’s exactly where building up your willpower comes into play.

How to build up resilience and willpower (to get stuff done)

I’m obviously not a neuroscientist, and this is still a relatively novel area of study, but the “just do it” mantra doesn’t always work. Sometimes, you can’t physically make yourself do something, because guess what? It takes practice.

Well, according to emerging science, that’s where the anterior mid-cingulate comes in to play. Again, I’m no neuroscientist (and I’d encourage you to read the entire paper to learn more), but the TL;DR as I understand it goes a little something like this: you do something, however tedious it may be, because you have to; you continue doing the thing, even if you don’t necessarily love to do it; as with anything, that tedious thing becomes something of a habit; your brain rewards you by actually becoming better at/less annoyed by doing the tedious chore or task in question; the resilience (and potentially the activity) of your anterior mid-cingulate cortext grows; you’re more likely to be able to take on other tedious tasks you don’t want to do, and to self-motivate in the long run.

While that may sound like a vast over-simplification (because, well, it is), that’s sort of what it all boils down to in the end. Habit. If you want to become more likely to make better choices, you have to practice doing it — and that process won’t look perfect. Hell, I know for me it can look really, really messy; but, in the long run, building these habits helps your brain build up a core element of resilience, which is willpower.

So, what tedious task could you get ahead of today? Do the dishes need doing? How about that load of laundry that’s been staring you down from the corner of the bedroom for some time now (guilty as charged)? It’s not fun, of course, to do these things — but it’s encouraging to know that a little effort goes a long way in terms of our long-term ability to be more tenacious and resilient.

Xoxo,

MM.