How to build astonishing self-control

The mindset that brings unlimited willpower Getty Images Many people believe willpower is fixed and finite. Getty Images Research shows that even if you're able to harness willpower to resist temptation, you may have less willpower for a task in the future In 2010, however, the psychologist Veronika Job published a study that questioned the foundations of this theory, with some intriguing evidence that ego depletion depended on people’s underlying beliefs. People with the non-limited view on willpower did not show any signs of ego depletion: they showed no decline in their mental focus after performing a mentally taxing activity Job soon replicated these results in other contexts. In recent years, some scientists have debated the reliability of the laboratory tests of ego depletion, but Job has also shown that people’s willpower mindsets are linked to many real-life outcomes. Further studies showed that the willpower mindsets could predict students’ procrastination levels in the run-up to exams – those with the non-limited views showed less time-wasting – and their ultimate grades.