Unleash The Power of Will

There have been limitless studies on the unfathomable recesses of the mind, mostly on the origins of free will.  Don't ask Nietzsche.  Is will power an illusion?   In recent years, the popular answer has been yes.  Our abilities, according to this argument, are constrained by the narrow limits of our biology. In her 2008 book, “Health at Every Size,” the nutritionist Linda Bacon argues that, because of how the brain’s hypothalamus works, it is a “myth” that anyone can will himself to lose weight by maintaining a diet. “It’s not your fault!” she writes. “Biology is so powerful it can ‘make’ you break that diet.”

This year, in their book “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength,” the social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister and the New York Times science writer John Tierney survey a large body of scientific research to conclude that willpower is limited and depends on a continuous supply of the simple sugar glucose. When glucose is depleted, you fall prey to impulse shopping, affairs and cookies. The solution? “Try to get some glucose in you,” Mr. Tierney told NPR.  This is, of course, the history.   Aside from Oprah appeal, these theories are unhinged form the fact that will power is a mind state.  If you actually believe that will power is self-renewing, people may successfully exert more will power!  In a study done on 153 college students during finals, those that believed willpower was not limited ate healthier and received better grades than "pessimistic" counterparts.  The behind this is particularly the power of the placebo.  In this case the will to power is largely a human construct aided by if we believe there is one at all.