In Greek mythology, the story of Odysseus and the Sirens illustrates a paradigmatic example of self-control. When the hero of Homer's epic prepared to travel past the Sirens, mythical creatures who ...

Let’s start off with the conventional wisdom. Willpower is how we break free of the past; it’s how we undo bad habits and avoid temptation. You’ve heard this your whole life. If you’re eating to much, ...

With the expanding knowledge of neuropsychology, what was previously speculation is now being confirmed through the use of imaging studies such as functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) to track brain ...

Is willpower a limited resource? I have written a few times about factors that affect willpower. Willpower is the name that we give to the mechanisms (most of which involve the frontal lobes of the ...

So much of our lives are affected by our ability (or inability) to reach a goal. Whatever the plan may be, willpower, self-control, and motivation are at the forefront. Yet, too often, we pressure ...

It's around this time of year – two weeks after alleging a total habits overhaul – that the idea of willpower begins to occupy an outsized portion of our minds: why don't I have more of it, how can I ...

Not so long ago, my post-work routine looked like this: After a particularly grueling day, I’d sit on the couch and veg for hours, doing my version of “Netflix and chill,” which meant keeping company ...

Mike Harmon cannot tell you how he lost his willpower, but he is certain that it is gone. On a recent Thursday night, sitting in a grungy recliner at the Stop Smoking Hypnosis Clinic of Baltimore ...

We all admire people who seem perfectly in control of themselves. They exercise regularly; they finish projects on time. In a study of one million people, most said that self-control was their biggest ...

Willpower is sorely tested at Easter, when temptation comes in abundance and is often coated in chocolate. But a new book suggests that people who exercise greater self-control are those who have ...