Building up your willpower
Day 259 / 365
In 1992, a British Psychologists conducted an experiment with patients from a Scottish hospital. The aim of the experiment was simple, to find out how a person’s will power can be increased. The patients he chose were all over 60 and recently had knee or hip replacement surgeries. People who undergo such surgeries are required to start exercising quite soon after the surgery to prevent the joints from clogging. But it is quite painful, and most people skip these exercises. Elder people have even more difficulty in following the exercise routine, which is why they were perfect for this experiment.
The actual experiment was quite trivial. Each patient was given a journal where he was asked to write down his weekly goals, along the lines of how much of the exercise routine they are aiming to get through a particular week.
After 13 weeks, the recoveries of these patients were compared with the recoveries of those who didn’t keep a journal, and the researchers were shocked to find out that the ones who wrote down their plans were recovering almost twice as fast!
Now you would think how can a simple task such as writing down your plans can help you get more stuff done. But it becomes more clear when you see what these patients were writing down in their journals.
The patients who recovered the fastest were those who put in their plans in more detail. Not only would they write that they will go for a walk on Monday, but they will also write the time they’ll do it, which path they will take, the time they will get back and so on. They will write down what they would do if it rains, or if they start feeling pain, etc.
Basically, they were able to predict most of the situations that might prevent them from completing their tasks, and they were able to make plans to tackle those situations beforehand.
This is why it is important to make plans. Write down what you want to achieve, write down how and when you are going to achieve it and get to work!