There is a chocolate on the table.
You lose if you pick up the chocolate and eat it.
You know picking it up is not good for you, within the game or in real life. And you love chocolate. Your body tells you that that sugary delight is probably the reason you will survive. Your gut tells to eat it, your animal instinct is strong but now you either have the will to say no or to give in and lose.
How often does that happen in one’s life? We know that certain things are bad for us in the long run but still; we tend to give in to our instincts for short-term pleasure. And then we think in guilt about our inappropriate control over our ‘will’. We think we are losers; we think we just don’t have it in us.
Of course, you will give in. You may stop yourself the first time, or the second and possibly even the third time. However, there comes a time when your ‘will’ goes out of service, so to say. The limited resource of ‘will’ is exhausted. The instinct, on the other hand, is ever so stronger. And the instinct wins most of the time.
Thus, it is better to not rely on raw will for long. Instead, one ought to focus that ‘will’, on creating systems that become a hindrance in doing the activities you shouldn’t do. You have the will to think about removing a bad habit, maybe not continuing long enough to get rid of the habit but at least to start. And those starting moments are extremely critical. One should use the energy at that time to form a foolproof system. A composed system, so well that neither your instincts nor sudden outside influences can divert you from your path. In a hand-to-hand combat of raw will vs. composed systems, the latter will always have the upper hand.
So, it is just better to cover the chocolate or to sit in another room or to learn to like other things more than chocolate (like greens) and perhaps one day you will be a winner.
