The Physiology of Willpower

We know what we need to do to get where we want to. We know the things that we need to avoid and cut out.

But when it comes to making things happen, we often fail to follow through and give in to our temptations. It happens to all of us. We fail to win these battles because in that moment we lack the required “willpower” to overcome the resistance.

Imagine what your life would look like if you had the ability to avoid all distractions and check off everything on your to-do list. You wouldn’t be a slave to your urges and feelings. You’d be able to prioritize the things that are truly important to you. You’d have freedom in the true sense.

But we can’t simply think our way into increased willpower. It’s not just a question of “mental grit”. You see, willpower is as much a matter of physiology as psychology. It has a biological basis, in the brain and the body. And like a muscle, it can be strengthened.

This article focuses on the physiological aspect of willpower and how to strengthen it.

The Pause-and-Plan Mode

Say it’s Sunday and you have decided to work out in the evening. The evening rolls around and you’re lying on your bed, watching stuff on Netflix. An episode ends and you remember that you had vowed to exercise today. Netflix is about to autoplay the next episode.

In that moment, there’s a conflict in your brain. You could say “fuck it” and let it play. Or you could shut the laptop down and put on your training shoes. When your brain detects such a conflict (or a possible future regret), it has a higher chance of delaying the gratification if your body is in the Pause-and-Plan mode.

The Pause-and-Plan mode is basically the opposite of the body’s Fight-or-Flight mode. Instead of racing up, your heartbeat stays slow. Breathing is steady. And the body is relaxed. The objective is to have your body in a calm state so that energy can be redirected away from the body to the brain.

In your brain, the prefrontal cortex is the locus of self-control. It is responsible for encouraging you towards doing the harder things — hitting the gym instead of letting Netflix autoplay the next episode, picking up a book instead of scrolling through Instagram, working on that project you’ve been putting off.

But when you’re stressed, the body redirects energy to your muscles (fight-or-flight response), leaving your prefrontal cortex starved. As a result, your reptilian brain takes over and you switch to an autopilot mode where you behave irrationally and are more susceptible to temptations.

Stress, therefore, is inherently incompatible with willpower and self-control. You might have noticed that when you’re stressed or anxious, you are more likely to indulge and procrastinate. (That’s why stress eating is a thing)

To succeed at our willpower challenges, we need to attain the state of mind and body that directs our energy toward self-control, not self-defense. This flow of energy is controlled by a primitive part of the nervous system, called the Autonomic Nervous System.

Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) controls the hundreds of automatic processes going on in your body — digestion, breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, arousal, etc. The ANS can be divided into two components; the Parasympathetic Nervous System and the Sympathetic Nervous System.

When our mind perceives any “danger”, the sympathetic nervous system functions as an accelerator pedal and turns on the fight-or-flight response. It triggers the release of stress hormones, providing the body with a burst of energy (which can manifest as anxiety).

On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for slowing things down and enabling the pause-and-plan mode.

Now, ideally, these two systems would balance and complement each other.

But unfortunately, today, we are all exposed to numerous physiological and psychological stressors — heavy workloads, poor sleep, isolation, toxic air and water, processed foods, artificial lighting, addictions, sedentary lifestyle, etc.

These things throw the balance off and make the sympathetic nervous system more dominant, damaging your ability to resist temptations.

Heart Rate Variability

Alright, so how do we measure and track this “imbalance”? Because, as they say, what gets measured gets managed.

The sympathetic nervous system speeds up the heart rate, while the parasympathetic nervous system slows it down. So by measuring something called Heart Rate Variability (HRV), we can assess the balance of our Autonomic Nervous system.

Heart Rate Variability is simply the variation in the time interval between two consecutive heartbeats. A healthy heart does not tick like a metronome — it changes its rhythm with each beat.

When you are stressed, your heart rate goes up but HRV goes down. Because when your heart is beating rapidly, the time between each heartbeat is more orderly and equal. But when you are relaxed, your heart rate slows down making room for variability between beats. Heart Rate and HRV generally have an inverse relationship.

When you’re relaxed and calm, your mind has more energy to think rationally and avoid impulsive behavior. According to The Willpower Instinct, Heart Rate Variability is the single best physiological measurement of our ability to engage the “Pause-and-Plan” response.

HRV is such a good indicator of willpower that you can use it to predict who will be able to resist cravings. Research shows that people with higher HRV are better at ignoring distractions, delaying gratification, and dealing with stressful situations.

Research has also shown that low HRV may be a risk factor for depression and anxiety. Low HRV is even associated with an increased risk of heart disease. And HRV is also used by athletes to assess recovery and readiness. It’s an excellent marker for overall well-being.

There are apps that help you measure your HRV using the camera of your phone and they are fairly accurate. Check out HRV4Training and Welltory. You’re going to hear a lot about Heart Rate Variability in the coming years as more and more health startups integrate it into their apps and devices. (But since a lot of this is new stuff, the science on it is a bit muddy.)

Hacking Willpower

On to the important stuff, how do we increase our Heart Rate Variability, and consequently our willpower? Nothing ground-breaking, it’s the usual stuff. But perhaps in the context of willpower, you’ll understand the importance of these habits:

Controlled Breathing

It’s amazing how our respiratory system influences the nervous system. Allowing us to alter our mental state simply by controlling how we inhale and exhale.

Also, observe your breathing frequency. Most people take 12-16 breaths each minute. This kind of quick shallow breathing directs energy away from your brain and exacerbates stress.

If you can train yourself to take just 6-8 breaths a minute, you will have much more control over your behavior. Because when the breathing is calm, the mind follows.

Exercise

The impact of exercise on self-control is fairly established. Using the lens of Heart Rate Variability might help us understand the underlying mechanism.

Consistent aerobic exercise increases the stroke volume, thereby lowering the resting heart rate. This creates more space for variability between heartbeats. And unlike the effects of controlled breathing, exercise creates lasting changes. This is on top of the various neurobiological benefits of exercise.

Meditation

When you meditate, you are training your mind to not give in to distractions and stay focused. Over time, this training starts reflecting in your day-to-day life.

Also, meditation is perhaps the best defense mechanism against psychological stressors. It reduces sympathetic activity and helps you establish a consistently calm mind.

A Yale University School of Medicine study demonstrated that smokers who participated in a mindfulness meditation practice showed improvements in their HRV and ended up smoking fewer cigarettes.

Closing Thoughts

You have another reason why exercise and meditation are keystone habits that create a domino effect in every area of your life.

Apart from inculcating these habits, it’s important to cut out all the psychological and physiological stressors mentioned earlier. They damage your willpower and as you might have already inferred, it can become a vicious cycle.

For me, the biggest takeaway from learning this stuff has been that our mind and body are intricately intertwined. What you do for your body impacts your mind and vice-versa.

Mentality = Physicality

_References

• _{Pause and plan: Self-regulation and the heart}
• _{Longitudinal gains in self-regulation from regular physical exercise}
• _{Meditation-induced changes in high-frequency heart rate variability predict smoking outcomes}
• _{Heart rate variability. Applications in psychiatry}
• _{Heart rate variability, prefrontal neural function, and cognitive performance: the neurovisceral integration perspective on self-regulation, adaptation, and health}

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