How To Overcome The Willpower Trap, So

You Can Finally Stay On Course In Manifesting

Your Desired Results Without Having
To Constantly Push Yourself!
Most of us have been conditioned to assume that success in any endeavor whether its a diet,
applying personal development concepts, or building any other constructive habit for that matter is
strictly an affair of willpower.
But the truth is: the idea that our results depend on our willpower is a completely wrong
assumption.
And as a result, we can spend our entire lives going in circles and getting nowhere
I know exactly what thats like Ive been there myself It feels disheartening, frustrating, and can
do serious harm to our self-esteem, and in turn to our ability to make the changes we long for.
But fortunately, theres a deceptively easy way to overcome this predicament even when were
convinced we lack the self-control to keep up our positive intents or to get ourselves to do what
we know we should in the first place.
In this lesson youll discover what it is, and why anyone can make this work. And youll be able to put
this trick to use for you starting today!
So lets get started

Why Our Understanding Of Willpower Is Wrong:

Much of what were usually told or think we know about willpower is typically based on legendary
research initiated in 1972 by a Stanford psychologist called Walter Mischel, a study popularly known
as the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.1
Heres what happened:
Mischel sat children between the ages of four
and six in an empty room with a marshmallow
on a table.
Researchers told each child that they could
have one marshmallow right now. However,
if they waited a little while, then theyd get
two of them instead of just one.
Then, the researchers left the children alone with
the marshmallow to see what would happen

Shoda, Y., Mischel, W. and P.K. Peake (1990), Predicting Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Competencies from Preschool Delay of Gratification:
Identifying Diagnostic Conditions, Developmental Psychology 26 (6), pp. 978-986

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And heres what did:

Some kids ate the marshmallow immediately
Other kids waited a few minutes, but then caved in to the temptation
But about one-third of the children were able to wait longer than the others. They came up with
ways to avoid the marshmallows temptation while they waited.
Some covered their eyes, or turned away from it. Some invented other little distractions,
such as humming. Their payoff, of course, was twice as many marshmallows.
So by waiting (<-- in other words: delaying gratification), these children succeeded in getting
more in the long term than they had in the short term.
Thats interesting enough in and of itself, but heres whats even more intriguing:
Mischel and his research team kept an eye on their subjects for the next two decades, and then
followed-up with them in the late 1980s. The scientists now analyzed whether or not their being
able to resist the temptation of eating the marshmallow way back in the day was correlated
with future success in life.
It turned out that children who were able to delay gratification in the marshmallow experiment
were much more likely to be more successful later in life too.
The study demonstrated that the kids who could sit down with a marshmallow in front of them
and not eat it for a full fifteen minutes did better in almost every area of life as adults than the
more impulsive kids did who scooped up the treat and ate it right away despite being
instructed to wait and promised a more extensive reward if they did.
By the way, this experiment worked the same with pretzels, candy, and chocolate in case
you were concerned that maybe some of the kids just didnt like marshmallows.
But while Mischel showed that the capacity to delay gratification is indeed a big deal, his research
also created a treacherous pitfall. Because unfortunately, till this day

Most People Still Draw The

Wrong Conclusion From This Study!
We typically assume that the only reason (<-- among many possible reasons) that certain kids in the
study were better at delaying gratification than others was that nature had endowed them with
more willpower end of story.
But heres the thing:
This is a far too simplistic assumption. And its actually one that most of us use as an example
when trying to justify why we fail to change our bad habits into ones that are conducive to
manifesting our intents:

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When we fall off the wagon (<-- for example: we procrastinate over our tasks, binge eat while on
a diet, go on a shopping spree while on a budget, give in to our hair-trigger temper with a coworker, or whatever), we tend to blame our failure on a lack of will power:

We must not want it bad enough

We dont push ourselves to the limit
Etc.

And of course, by the same token: when we succeed, we brag about our grit, tenacity, and
commitment.
Either way, when explaining why we do what we do, we tend to see, think about, and eventually
blame or give credit to one thing and one thing only:

Our willpower.
But this is a far too simplistic interpretation that actually leaves us unnecessarily powerless!

And Thats Why We Can Refer To This

Misconception As The Willpower Trap:
Fact is that this simplistic view of willpower is not just wrong its tragically wrong:
Its wrong because its incomplete.
And its tragic because it gives us nowhere to go when we struggle to change our own bad
habits and/or improve our lot.
After all:
When we believe that successful peoples ability to make good choices stems from nothing more
than their willpower and that willpower is a quality were either born with or not we eventually
stop trying altogether when things dont seem to go entirely as hoped for and/or expected.
And lets face it most of us know exactly how this feels:
We start off with heroic commitment to change, by means of adhering to a practice of positive
habits and techniques that we know are conducive to manifesting our intents
Then usually, motivation quickly erodes, and we inevitably terminate our practice by a relapse in
old habits
And from there, when the built-up pain of our status quo becomes intolerable once more, we
muster up another heroic attempt at change with some other approach which is probably
doomed to fail for the same reason.
And so we go back and forth time and again. We feel as if were ascending a summit, when in fact
were rather walking a treadmill: lots of effort, no progress.
This depressing cycle is the willpower trap.

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Fortunately, Mischels research goes further than most people realize. A few years after he concocted his original study, he and Albert Bandura (<-- another big boy psychologist) asked a crucial
question:

What If What Appears To Be Will

Might In Fact Be A Function Of Skill?
The two scholars expected that the kids who controlled their cravings werent simply more motivated than those who gave in to their temptation, but instead were actually more able. In other
words, they had learned a skill (or two) along the way.2
So more recently, a team of researchers and consultants replicated Mischels original marshmallow
study, but also added to it by teaching the participating kids a few skills to influence their own
behavior.
It turned out that 50% more kids were successful at holding out for the second marshmallow when
taught a couple of simple skills! 3
So heres what this goes to illustrate:

Willpower Is NOT The Key To Transformation!

One of the biggest barriers to personal success is not a lack of willpower. Instead, its the mistaken
belief that willpower is the key to change.
Clearly, when it comes to personal transformation, skills also play a huge role.
This means that the models that are often used to figure out how to change our own habits are
woefully incomplete.

2
Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel, (1965) Modification of Self-Imposed Delay of Reward through Exposure to Live and Symbolic Models, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 2:1, pp. 698-705;
3
Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R. and A. Switzler (2011), Change Anything, Hachette Book Group Inc., New York

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Mastering temptations and transforming ourselves is not solely a function of personal motivation.
Instead, heres what to keep in mind:
The problem isnt as much that we tend to believe in the importance of willpower for creating
personal change. Indeed, willpower does play a role in your choices
However, the problem arises when we rely exclusively on a tough-it-out model, and thus ignore
the legion of other sources of influence that are working for and against us.
Many times we know exactly what we need to do to make the improvements we long for. And sure
enough, whatever we do may work for a while
But sooner or later a situation will come up where the going seems to get tough, and its likely that
well do either of the following:
We unceremoniously give in to the temptation to stop what were doing (<-- i.e. our new
habits)
And soon after that, we typically give up entirely, thinking what we did, didnt work or because
we feel we lack the willpower we think we need to keep it up (<-- and that we assume other
people who have been successful at what we want, do have)
Either way, we fall back into our old patterns and default state but this time with an increased
level of frustration and an even stronger blame on outside forces thus disempowering ourselves
even more, and perhaps even giving up permanently this time.
Fortunately, when it comes to personal change

We Dont Have To Be Pushing

Ourselves To The Limit All The Time!
Instead, we predominantly need to focus only on that relatively small, handful of moments when
were most at risk of falling back into our default patterns and make sure that we apply our skills
precisely at those very moments!
Those special circumstances are what well call our crucial moments i.e. the moments of truth
that would lead to the results we want, assuming we could get ourselves to enact the right
behaviors and responses.
A good way to look for crucial moments is to consciously look for the conditions that you know create
the greatest temptation for you to fall back in your old patterns (<-- i.e. the things that you like to
stop doing). Heres how you can do so:
As you search for your own crucial moments, consider the circumstances under which they
typically turn up:
Do they turn up at certain times?
Do they turn up in certain places?
Do they turn up around certain people?
Do they turn up when youre in certain physical or emotional states?

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Different conditions affect different people differently. Only you can systematically search for the
conditions that are of greatest importance to your change. The questions above help you do that.
And heres the great thing:
Once youve defined them, youll be extra mindful of them, which means that the chances that you
notice them in the moment will dramatically increase.
Then from there, when these crucial moments do indeed kick in

Use This Proven Way To Strengthen

Your Intent And Stick To Your Plan:
In the context of strengthening our intent, research has established some interesting
facts:4
If we establish explicit rules in advance of facing a challenge, were far more likely to
change our behavior when the actual crucial moment hits.
4

So instead of facing each instance as a unique event that calls for a new choice and for
more willpower, well have already decided beforehand what to do. And as such, were
far more likely to comply and stick to the plan.

So when it comes to personal change and cracking the egg, well first want to set specific rules (i.e.
not vague guidelines) for our crucial moments that will guide us to act in ways that eventually lead
to what we want.
We refer to such specific rules as vital responses, which are essential, high-leverage actions thatll
lead us to the results we seek provided that we implement them on a consistent basis, and at our
crucial moments in particular.
In other words:
Crucial moments tell us when were at risk
Vital responses tell us what to do in those moments.
So how can we seal the deal in terms of making sure that well actually perform these vital
responses at those moments?
Well, theres some additional science that offers a simple solution:
A team of researchers from New York University worked with students whose grades
suffered because they procrastinated studying:
They gave half of the procrastinators information on how to improve their study habits.
They gave the other half the same information However, the folks in this group also got
4

Gollwitzer, P. and P. Sheeran (2006), Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes, Advances in Experimental
Social Psychology 38, pp. 69-119

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56

pencil and paper, and were told: Decide now where and at what times youll study in the
next week, and write it down.

The results were clear:5,6

Those who recorded their plan studied more than twice as many hours as those who didnt.
Repeated studies show that simply writing down a plan increases our chances of sticking to it
and yielding the resulting success by at least 30%!
So to increase the probability that youll actually put your techniques, tools and methods to use,
do the following:
Define your crucial moments (<-- i.e. the moments that youre at risk and likely to fall back into
your old patterns), and write them down.
Select the vital responses that you commit to applying when these moments occur, and write
those down too.
The goal here is not perfection, but progress:
By actually recording your plans, youll increase your ability to follow through, enhance your
motivation to change, and expand your capacity to learn and adjust along the way.
And make no mistake:

This Deceptively Simple Plan Can

Literally Change Your Entire Life!
After all, you now have a choice:
You can spend your life going in circles, while exhausting yourself getting nowhere
Or you can spend your life heading in a clear direction, without needing to muster up a lot of
willpower all the time.
One of the most important components in that regard is to make sure we focus on the right things at
the right times especially at those crucial moments where we literally make or break our success.
So in summary, the premise of our plan is simple:
Watch for situations where old destructive programming still comes up. Define those as crucial
moments, and write down their details.
Then define what you will do in those moments as vital responses (<-- i.e. your more enlightened ways to act that would lead to the success youre after), and write those down too.
Because no matter how brilliant you think your initial change plan is, or if youre solely depending
on the supposed magic of the newest trick to manifest abundance
5

Sheeran, P., Webb, T. and P.M. Gollwitzer (2005), The Interplay between Goal Intentions and Implementation Intentions, Peronality and Social Psychology
Bulletin 31, pp. 87-98;
Cialdini, R. and N. Goldstein (2004), Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity, Annual Review of Psychology, 55, pp. 591-621.

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 sooner or later a crucial moment will hit. And when dealing with long-standing habits, its likely
that the plan wont work if we strictly have our willpower to rely on every single time the going gets
a little tough
Fortunately, for us thats no longer an issue, because:

Our New Plan Takes Willpower Out

Of The Equation Almost Entirely!
All thats left for you now is to make sure you use the right vital responses in your crucial moments.
And indeed, most of us already know the right things to do. We just often find ourselves not doing
what we know we should.
Luckily you now have an easy way to overcome this issue, and to make sure you do indeed stick to
your plan. And the consistency that arises out of it ultimately cant help but produce the results
you seek!
So lets put this skill to work starting today, so you can finally get to where you want!

Famous Last Words:

Were all aware of todays enormous information overload that unfortunately (but typically)
brings along many half truths, conflicting concepts, and sometimes even flat-out incorrect
information when it comes to personal transformation and manifesting our visions
The sad truth is that as a result, were often left with a set of vital responses that are downright wrong, woefully incomplete, or completely unproductive to the ends we seek to achieve.
So if you enjoyed this lesson and would like to make sure youre equipped with the most effective
and efficient techniques to put to work as your vital responses (<-- and greatly increase your
chances of manifesting the success you seek that way) then youll really like the Crack Your
Egg Home Study Course! (<-- Click the link for a detailed outline of what youll learn.)
Clearly, youre really serious about your success: most people never take the time to educate
themselves the way you have already. Thats why I believe this program could be perfect for
you.
But before you enroll (if you havent already), let me tell you exactly what it does, so you know its
right for you: >> Click here for a detailed description <<

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