5 tweets · November 2022 · 30 likes · 0 retweets · read on Twitter
a thing I use willpower for: overriding unconflicted autopilots I started grabbing a snack on the way to pee, & years later sometimes I go grab a snack and get back to my room & realize my bladder's still full 🤦♀️ I'm now committing to completing bathroom trips before any snack
if I find myself strugging to uphold this commitment, THEN I'll consider that I must have some sort of inner conflict about it, and seek to figure out what it is but as far as I can tell, even time I notice this it's just hilarious & obvious that I want to do something different
the thing is, it does require an active will towards bothering to notice, the same way that someone who moves needs to pay a different kind of attention on their commute so they don't accidentally drive to their old home instead of their new one
often my awareness kicks in when I'm reaching for chocolate etc so the new practice is: - inhibit that at whatever phase - check if my bladder's full, and if so: - leave the snack - go pee - return to what I was doing then maybe some minutes later true hunger will be obvious
so this is the thing I'm using willpower & commitment for: bringing extra attention to override the old default while I develop a new autopilot I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether or not you also tend to use non willpower/commitment approaches