Did you know there’s a theory that we get just a little bit of willpower each day? Just a tiny piece of resolve that gives you the power to make hard decisions.
You might think that the best way to utilize your little piece of willpower each day is to make yourself do or not do something. That could be exercising first thing in the morning or staying away from the biscuit tin at work. But actually it’s very hard and expensive in terms of willpower to force yourself to do the right thing. You probably find yourself continually drawn to the path of least resistance. How often have you hit the snooze button, skipped breakfast and grabbed a latte and muffin on the way to work? How many times a week do you have a sandwich for lunch because that’s what you always do?
You see for most of us the ultimate path of least resistance is a habit. Humans are creatures of habit and habits pull us into thinking, feeling and behaviour patterns that are automatic. Therefore, the best use of your daily willpower dose is to create new habits. Once your build a new habit then you don’t need to use your willpower to do that thing because you do the new behavior naturally and automatically. You don’t have to think about it because it just happens and you free your willpower up to create another powerful new habit. Make sense?
When it comes to your body shape and weight loss, the best habits are those that transform the path of least resistance into the path of healthy choices. Then you’ll start to get results because you’ve set your life up so that your habits are healthy ones and they’re the natural thing that you automatically do. For example, you always plan a couple of hours out of your week to batch cook and freeze healthy meals. That means the next time you’re running late or have a busy day you have healthy options to choose from rather than unhealthy quick fix meals or reaching for the take away menu. Make healthy food the path of least resistance not junk food.
So for the best weight loss results don’t waste your daily willpower allowance forcing yourself to stay out of the bisucuit tin. Instead chuck away the biscuit tin (and the biscuits!) and use your willpower to create a healthy habit. Transform your path of least resistance into your path to smart weight loss.
