Apply Rachlin’s advice to your own willpower challenge this week: aim to reduce the variability of your behaviour day to day. View every choice you make as a commitment to all future choices. So instead of asking, “Do I want to eat these sweets now?” ask yourself, “Do I want the consequences of eating these sweets every afternoon for the next year?” Or if you’ve been putting something off that you know you should do, instead of asking “Would I rather do this today or tomorrow?” ask yourself, “Do I really want the consequences of always putting this off?
