Turning the best choice into the default choice

I wrote last week about getting better at delaying gratification by finding ways to remind ourselves of our future self when making choices. 

However, even if we can see how our choices will take us away from achieving our goals, many lack the willpower to resist temptations. 

How do we increase our willpower? It's a sensible question. Perhaps a better question, due to the ease of implementation of the answer, is 'How to eliminate willpower altogether?'

Using rules to eliminate willpower 

Rules allow us to turn the best choice into the default choice. Rules automate good behaviours, giving us no choice in matters. We remove a failure point in our decision-making processes - the willpower element.

Let's say I struggle with refraining from eating chocolate at night, and am a reader of Plane Thoughts. 

I implemented last Sunday's idea and have a post-it note clearly visible in the kitchen with the scrawl 'This meal gonna help with summer body 23?'. This induces me to consider the longer term impacts of my choices, but I just can't say no to the chocolate.

By having a blanket ban on chocolate in the house, or a time of day at which I'm no longer allowed to open the cupboard housing the offending calories, I take that choice out of my own hands. 

Implementation idea

Define rules to automate good behaviours.

The rules should leave no margin for error or subjectivity: No chocolate in the house. Write one thing I'm grateful for as soon as I wake up. No social media after 8pm. Read 10 pages before bed. 

When you find yourself reliant on your own willpower to make choices for the benefit of your future self, an automatic rule can provide a helping hand.