Prima încercare de a mă lăsa de fumat mi s-a părut ușoară – de unde și articolul triumfător (care a ajutat pe mulți) – și m-a ținut doi ani curați. Acum, după alți doi ani, sunt în mijlocul aceluiași proces de voință pe care îl găsesc puțin mai greu de parcurs.

Nu vreau să povestesc sau să-mi analizez chinurile filozofând în aer, dar vreau să fac o trimitere la câteva idei dintr-o carte pe care am citit-o recent:

1. You have a finite amount of willpower that becomes depleted as you use it.
2. You use the same stock of willpower for all manner of tasks.

You might think you have one reservoir of self-control for work, another for dieting, another for exercise and another for being nice to your family. […] There are hidden connections among the wildly different things you do all day. You use the same supply of willpower to deal with frustrating traffic, tempting food, annoying colleagues, demanding bosses, pouting children.

Focus on one project at a time. If you set more than one self-improvement goal, you may succed for a while by drawing on reserves to power through, but that just leaves you more depleted and more prone to serious mistakes later.

When people have to make a big change in their lives, their efforts are undermined if they are trying to make other changes as well. People who are to quit smoking, for example, will have their best shot at succeeding if they aren’t changing other behaviors at the same time. Those who try to quit smoking while also restricting their eating or cutting back on alcohol tend to fail at all three – probably because they have too many simultaneous demands on their willpower.