Brief rant whenever I read this tripe, and reading it afterward reminds me of psychobabble, but I am ranting against psychobabble anyway...

I thought the notion of willpower being a finite resource was debunked (http://lifehacker.com/5967249/your-willpower-is-only-a-finit...). If you believe your willpower is finite, then it is finite; if you believe it is infinite and powerful, then it is infinite and powerful. This "finite resource" notion is a feel-good easy path out, a way to comfort yourself that it is okay that your will failed you because, after all, you only had so much.

I see this article confuses willpower with motivation. Willpower is what you use when your motivation has waned. Willpower is a tool to help you rekindle the fires of motivation or to press forward regardless because of an oath you made to yourself.

It comes down to what you believe, what mental constructs you have put into place, to inhibit or strengthen your willpower. You have the power to choose, every moment.

Somewhat annoying article. First half is complete BS. For first timers it is about willpower. For most people who have never given a serious go at getting into shape it will be one of the hardest things they ever attempt. It's all about consistency. If they don't understand that and start to miss sessions after the first week and give up by March, well, sorry, but the fault is with them. People need to realize they're not going to magically drop 5 pounds after the first week by going to the gym 3 times and walking on the treadmill (which people could easily think after seeing the hordes of dieting supplement ads and other BS). What the author fails to mention about the "positive feedback look" is that one is not going to see any kind of reward unless they've been thoroughly consistent in their efforts and they are honest with themselves about said efforts. It's as simple as that.

However, the top skills they mention are spot-on. Verse yourself in them (especially self-compassion) and you will see results and feel better.

Dick asks if you ever approached fitness resolutions with a “just do it” attitude only to be disappointed that you summoned up all of the willpower that you could muster and still failed. A further discussion is happening on Lifehacker on the topic http://lifehacker.com/ask-an-expert-all-about-health-and-fit...

I am a believer in changing my environment to facilitate what willpower is powerless to accomplish. And one of the changes to my environment, which incidentally exhausted my limited reserve of willpower, was the removal of people from it who believe in willpower.