The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It

A RELUCTANT EXERCISER CHANGES HIS MIND
Antonio, a fifty-four-year-old owner of two successful Italian restaurants, was in my class on
doctor’s orders. He had high blood pressure and cholesterol, and his waist size crept up an inch
every year. If he didn’t change his lifestyle, his doctor warned him, he was going to collapse of a
heart attack over a plate of veal parmigiana.
Antonio had reluctantly gotten a treadmill for his home office, but it wasn’t seeing much use.
Exercise seemed like a waste of time; it wasn’t fun and it wasn’t productive—not to mention the
irritation of someone else telling him what he needed to do!
The idea that exercise could increase brain power and willpower intrigued Antonio, though. He
was a competitive guy and did not want to slow down. He started to see exercise as a secret weapon,
something that could keep him at the top of his game. It didn’t hurt that it would improve heart rate
variability, which is a major predictor of mortality among people with cardiovascular disease.
He turned his treadmill into a willpower generator by taping a “Willpower” label over the
machine’s calorie tracker (since he didn’t really give a damn how many calories he burned—this was
a guy who would throw an entire stick of butter in a pan without thinking twice). As he walked and
burned more calories, the “Willpower” number ticked up and he felt stronger. He started to use the
treadmill each morning to fuel up with willpower for the day’s difficult meetings and long hours.
Antonio’s willpower machine did improve his health—what his doctor wanted—but Antonio also
got something he wanted. He felt more energized and in control throughout the day. He had assumed
that exercise would take away from his energy and time, but found it gave him back far more than he
spent.
If you tell yourself that you are too tired or don’t have the time to exercise, start thinking of
exercise as something that restores, not drains, your energy and willpower.exercise as
something that restores, not drains, your energy and

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