Training the Brain!

4b)

 How can people train their brains to govern self control?

In this week’s readings I read and learned a lot about how people use self control. Self control is eventually seen as a “muscle” because your brain is trained in the long scheme of the on going process. 

I’m curious how self control becomes a muscle. How can one train their brain to govern that? For me, I try to eat healthy for most of my meals and it is very hard. Especially, here at school and with Conn Hall because there are so many different choices and there is the wonderful dessert table that tempts me EVERYTIME I walk by. It is so hard to resist when my friends go to get dessert because I know I want it but I do not usually let myself and that’s my brain using self control.

Temptation is a huge aspect that is the baseline for how people control themselves. A way to approach governing self control can be by rewarding yourself, a form of extrinsic motivation. Maybe you can tell yourself, I will be able to get that dessert if I do my homework or if I go to the gym. I think self control goes hand in hand with motivation. You need to motivate yourself to maintain that self control that everyone works so hard to achieve. Your brain needs to form a routine because after a while your body will not crave the desired object anymore.

Another way to teach the brain to govern self control could be by replacing the desired object with something else. You can train your brain to find an alternate source. In the article, “Resistance Training For Your Willpower Muscles” I found the quote “out of sight, out of mind” and that applies to self control. If the thought or the object is not directly in front of you, it is much easier to deny the temptation. 

Self control is a long process but everyone has some form of self control, it differs how much each person has though. It is different from person to person because it depends on how willing a person is to stay committed and motivated to their goal.