YOUR #GOALS ARE manifold: Eat better, drink less, learn French, run a half marathon, save money. If only you had superhuman willpower, right?
You’re not giving yourself enough credit, says Katharina Bernecker, PhD, a University of Zurich postdoctoral student who studies willpower. Most of us show a decent amount of self-control daily: getting out of bed on time, not snapping at petty colleagues, taking care of annoying tasks. Those things might not seem like accomplishments, but “any conscious act in favor of a longterm goal, like earning money, over satisfying immediate needs, like staying in bed, is willpower,” she explains.
That said, no one has as much selfcontrol as they want—which is why researchers are working to figure out exactly what willpower is and how to get more of it.…
