Willpower and Habit

The other day i got into a small discussion with my brother about “Willpower & Habit”. Which one of these is more powerful and plays a greater role in our lives. According to Merriam Webster, habit is a “behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance” and willpower is defined in two subtle words “energetic determination”. I am the kind of person who would place habit over willpower, for a number of reasons as I would explain later in this passage. My brother on the other hand thinks that willpower is more significant.

The first step of achieving something starts with willpower – “The determination to do”. As a result of this, new resolutions are formed, where things that have to be done to achieve the desired result are defined and the manner of following them is determined. Once this is done, the next stage is that of execution of ideas, where generally lies all the heat. For instance, a math student can have tremendous willpower (to begin with), for learning how to solve his problems and excelling in class. This is at the beginning of the academic year. Soon however this determination fades away for a number of reasons, one of them being lack of motivation. However a student who has developed acumen for math by working on it over the years would not have a problem in motivating himself to excel in the subject. The first student’s determination is more a burst of energy, where he wants to capture the marvel of being good in math in a nutshell and use that information in convincing himself that he should work hard to improve. However, when it comes to daily coaxing him to work with fine nuances of mathematics he fails. If instead he gets himself into the routine of working a few hours with it ever week, with time he will definitely take strides and learn to walk. Soon, though not in a very short period of time, his math could reach a level as good as some of the other brilliant students and possibly even excel and do better than them. It is relatively easy to imagine and fathom ideas on the table, a completely different task of executing them.

Let us think of a man named Jack, 26 years old who once goes to a see the competition of Mr. Olympia. He gets very impressed with the muscular build of Ronnie Coleman. Now Ronnie is 42 years old and possesses such a magnificent body. Jack sees that Ronnie is 16 years older than him and still winning and super fit. Jack on the other hand is a man with an average body. He likes the nutshell in which Ronnie is enjoying his fame and glory. Attracted by the nutshell, he decides to give it a try. Soon Jack is on the members list of the most expensive gyms in Houston. His membership includes three free counseling with the instructor. He is very enthusiastic about the whole thing and talks in great detail with the physical trainer at the gym. Soon he is on his first day at the gym. With tremendous will power, he starts his work outs. Anyone who has spent some weeks in the gym knows how tedious it is to shape up those sinews. Jack tries hard, trying to lift weights by keeping the image of Ronnie in his mind. Of course with so much of energy inside him bursting to lift more and more, he tries too hard and ends up with a lot of muscular pain on his first day. Not to be discouraged he is back the second and the third and the fourth day, finally taking a much deserved break on Friday evening, when he loves to party with his friends. Soon though he realizes that if you are a regular at the gym, alcohol dehydrates the body and is not recommended when you are training. Fatty food is also a strict “no-no”, but only if you are bulking up. There are a hundred supplements out there that he can take, starting from whey protein to ceratin etc. Ceratin is to be had only in the first month, when you are hydrating the muscles. Drink as much water as you can. Bodybuilding, of course is a science and there are no shortcuts. All this load of information soon convinces Jack that his job as a sales manager is good enough and he should focus on his squash which is so much more satisfying. So his willpower of doing a Ronnie Coleman is dissolved in the practicalities of day to day life. In order to succeed he needed to go to the gym regularly, six days a week, two hours every day, maybe 4 (I don’t know) for at least 2-4 years, before he could have thought of getting into his first competition. He needed a habit to supplement his imagination and willpower.