Want more willpower?
There are no hacks. There is one way. We now know (and have named) the area in our brain responsible for increasing willpower. Anterior Mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is its name. We should rename it Goggins, to be fair. According to leading neuroscience, it grows when you do something hard that you don’t want to do. I’m thinking the yo yo test for OSU WSOC athletes. This test is no fun. It’s volitional. You go as long as you can take it.
For me, personally, it’s doing burpees. I can’t stand doing burps. Here’s the crazy science. When we do hard things we don’t want to do, the aMCC grows. When it grows, so does our will to do other hard things. I guess one of my worldview beliefs is in fact true. We are meant to do hard things. We start by doing them not so well and learn, overtime and through pain and suffering, to do them better. Eventually, if we keep working, we learn to do them well. Doing hard things well is the great life…
Yesterday, the 3PP did 1:34:34 of work. Over an hour and a half doing hard things in my garage. We laughed, cajoled, and encouraged. We did a few things I enjoy and a bunch I’d rather not. The worst? 99 burpees in a little over 9 minutes. We grew our willpower. Want to grow yours? Do hard things. Do a few you don’t want to do. Simple, not easy. What, friend, do you believe?
Live hard. Love harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 
So that’s why we did or in my case, tried to do, 99 of those f*cking things. Unfortuantely, I’m pretty sure my aMCC shrunk instead of growing…
It grew. As did you
I read this one before heading to the gym. I started my workout with a warm-up on that fan bike which has a way of killing me in 5 minutes. The harder you try, the more it punishes you. This is no ordinary fan bike. I have looked for settings to make it easier and there are none. So… recalling “Do hard things”, I decided to finish my workout on that same torture bike. Yeah, hated that but we will tangle again.
Love reading this, BobbytheH. Great discipline there, my friend. The fan bike sucks.