Willpower is Overrated

You don't need more willpower. You need fewer decisions.

Every time you tell yourself "I just need to be more disciplined," you're glossing over a design flaw in your environment.

The person who goes to the gym consistently doesn't have superhuman resolve. They put their gym bag on the front seat of the car. They go at the same time every Tuesday. They meet a friend there who'd notice if they didn't show up.

The person who reads more doesn't battle their phone each night. They leave it charging in another room and their book is on their bedside table.

The writer who publishes every week doesn't rely on inspiration. They block time every day. They have a template. They know exactly where the "publish" button is because they've pressed it fifty times before.

Your willpower is a battery that drains throughout the day. Stop asking it to do what a system could do automatically.

Where do you start? Look at what you're failing at and ask: what's making this hard? What decision am I forcing myself to make over and over? How could I make the right choice the only choice, or at least the easiest one?

The goal isn't to become someone with infinite discipline. It's to need less of it in the first place.