Why it is harmful to undertake too much efforts?

It is considered that on the way to a goal a person has to overcome a lot of obstacles and show iron strong will. However, scientists are sure that such an approach is not only ineffective, but also harmful, and the best way to achieve something is not to overtake efforts. Two years ago, Jeff Wise in his article with the title ‘How to keep your New Year promises and achieve set goals” wrote about it for New York Internet edition The Cut. Let’s have a look at the main moments.

People think that in achieving something the most important moment is self-control. Because on the way to desired result a lot of temptations are waiting for us, as our long-lasting goals contradict to short-lasting ones. For example, on the one hand, we want to start doing sport, but on the other hand we want to watch serials. Of course, we could press down this desire with our strong will, but we would not be able to do it always. So, it appears that in order to achieve big goals we need to strengthen our strong will. 

The same idea is proved by the research of Canadian psychologists Marina Milyavskaya and Mikal Intslikht, the purpose of which was to define the optimal model of behavior for achieving the best results. In the beginning of an academic year we have asked students about their objectives for the new semester. “Have final excellent marks”, “Learn a new language”, “Do sports” – these are several of answers During the experiment questioners were sent to smartphones of participants, where they were asked whether they had enough strong will in order to struggle with temptations and fulfill what was planned. The results became known in the end of semester. 

It was found out that self-control influences a little on goal achievement. Those students, who took a lot of efforts in order to avoid temptations, were not able to achieve results. Vice versa, they felt themselves tired and exhausted.

Organizers of the experiment came to the conclusion that instead of harsh control of your actions it is better to remove what provokes them, For example, if you want to start eating healthily and there is a can of fizzy drink in the kitchen, then it would be correct if you do not try to resist temptation to drink it, but just not buy it the next time in order not to subject yourself to an obstacle.

But what should be done, if somebody in the street drinks fizzy drinks, and we see and also want it? We are not able to control everybody and everything. That is why, besides issue 1: not to subject yourself to temptation, there is issue № 2- “to strengthen your shapeliness step by step”.

And you need to do it by choosing the right for you patterns of behavior as in the present moment we usually do the same as we used to do earlier. And herein we return to the safe and proven method to work out a habit. If you want something sweet- eat a fruit, if you want to smoke- have a chewing gum. So, in this way, substituting in equation one variable into another one, we constantly work out a new model of behavior, which later on we would use automatically.  

But here in there is a paradox – how to choose a new habit if you lack of strong will? The secret is not to pay attention to a minimum progress and strengthen it, not caring about the final goal. When this novice becomes a habit, develop it further. 

For example, if you want to learn English, then instead of boring learning of new words you could watch original films or English videos in YouTube. Or, if your objective is healthy lifestyle, then instead of an hour in a gym you could go jogging once or twice a week. Or if you can’t concentrate on deals, close Internet browser and start counting your time(let it be one hour or two), when you could only work, and if you want to have a rest, you could look through a window or put your head on the table. As a result, boredom would finally anyway make you work and with time these hours of working would be spent easily.