How To Increase Your Willpower By Hacking Your Heart Rate
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. — Vince Lombardi
If you could ask for a superpower (not a fantasy one), what would it be?
Personally, I would definitely opt for iron willpower.
Why?
Because it’s the ultimate freedom. You would be no longer at the mercy of your emotions, temptations, or desires.
You would do the right thing at the right time, whether you feel like it or not.
Unlike fantasy superpowers, this one is attainable by learning how to shift your physiology into a state that boosts your willpower.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) — The Body’s Mighty Willpower Reserve and How to Unleash it
Paul Ekman — the brilliant mind behind the discovery of micro-expressions — made a striking observation when he was studying the expression of emotions on the face.
Ekman discovered that the effects of emotions and physiology on one another are mutual.
When something makes you happy, for instance, your body releases endorphins and you laugh as a consequence. This genuine laugh has a signature on your face with specific signs:
- Raised corners of the mouth
- Raised chick bones
- Crows feet around your eyes
These facial expressions are the result of your emotions, the sensation of happiness.
And the striking part?
Ekman discovered that if you mechanically mimic or fake the signatures of happiness on your face, your body releases endorphins and you actually feel happy in consequence.
But, what does it have to do with increasing willpower?
Suzanne Segerstom, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, has found that, just like happiness, self-control has its own biological signature and that is: heart rate variability.
Heart Rate Variability — The Signature of Willpower
Basically, heart rate variability (HRV) is the time between every two of you heartbeats which could vary slightly per pulse.
Studies show that when someone successfully exerts self-control, his/her HRV is increased.
Heart rate variability is such a good index of willpower that you can rely on it to predict who will resist temptations and who will give in. For instance, recovering alcoholics whose HRV goes up on the sight of alcohol are more likely to stay sober.
People with higher HRV, are better at ignoring distractions, delaying gratification, and dealing with stressful situations. They are less likely to give up on difficult tasks even if they initially fail and receive critical feedback.
So, the more the HRV, the more willpower.
Now the million-dollar question?
After all, it’s not just a smile that you can fake. Then, how can you actually manipulate your heart rate variability?
There are three ways.
1. Breath Your Way to Increased HRV and Willpower
There’s a simple breathing technique through which you can replicate the signature of self-control and increase your HRV.
Next time, when the temptation kicks in, or you have to do a project but you don’t feel like it, use this technique to claim your mighty willpower. Here’s how it goes:
Slow your breathing down to four to six breaths per minute. That would be ten to fifteen seconds per breath.
Heart rate variability steadily increases as your breathing rate drops below twelve per minute.
Do this for just 2–3 minutes and you will marvel at results.
Pro tip 1: Do not hold your breath when trying to slow down your breathing. Otherwise, it sparks stress.
Pro tip 2: It would be much easier to control the exhale. If you had trouble, focus on slowing down your exhale (imagine you’re venting off the air through a straw in your mouth).
This technique is powerful enough to crush your impulses. But, you have to mindfully exercise it every time that those impulses strike.
What if there would be a drug or solution that simply worked permanently, keeping your HRV to the roof most of the time?
2. The Willpower Miracle — How To Significantly Increase Heart Rate Variability Permanently
Megan Oaten, and Ken Cheng, having just concluded their study on a new treatment for self-control, were stunned by their findings.
Their guinea pigs included six men and eighteen women. After two months of treatment, they showed improvements in attention and their ability to ignore distractions.
But, that was not all.
They had reduced the drinking, smoking, and caffeine intake — while nobody asked them to. They had adopted healthier eating habits, spending less time watching TV and more time studying. They even procrastinated less.
Now you might be wondering what this miracle drug is.
The treatment was not a drug at all, it was physical exercise.
The participants exercised an average of just on time per week for the first month. Then, they upped it to three times a week — again, voluntarily.
Exercise turns out to be the closest thing to a wonder drug that a scientist could hope for. After several weeks, brain scans show significant growth in both gray matter — brain cells — and white matter — which helps neurons to communicate faster.
Now you might be asking how much exercise do you need to reap the benefits.
This is the response of Kelly McGonigal — the best selling author of willpower instinct: “How much are you willing to do?” A 2010 analysis of ten different studies found that the biggest mood-boosting, stress-busting effects come from just 5-minutes of exercise.
Your next question might be, what kind of exercise is the best? To which McGonigal responds: “What kind will you actually do?” Gardening, yoga, swimming, or walking your dog around the block, your brain doesn’t discriminate.
So, go with the activity that you enjoy the most and make it part of your life.
There’s one more hack.
The super workout which significantly increases heart rate variability and willpower.
3. The Super Workout to Increase Willpower and HRV
This super workout is nothing but meditation. Meditation is one of the major contributors to increased heart rate variability.
That’s not all.
One of the areas in the brain that mediation drastically affects is the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) of the brain which is the seat of all the human feats i.e. imagination and creativity, willpower, decision making, problem-solving, and of course focus.
Brain scans of people who have meditated for just 11 weeks show significant growth in the gray matter of their PFC which translates to having more focus and willpower.
And if you are wondering how you can start meditating, here’s a simple but superbly effective recipe:
- To meditate, designate a specific time and place for it.
- Sit comfortably with a straight spine and your feet on the ground, Close your eyes and start breathing.
- There two major points here. First, you have to focus on your breath. You can focus on the sensation of inhaling or exhaling in your nostrils or you can focus on your chest or belly when your breath moves them.
- Second, as soon as your mind wanders and you notice it, take your focus back to your breath.
It is crucial to know what constitutes a successful mediation session: Let’s say you designate 10 minutes to meditation. Even if you spend 9 minutes and 50 seconds of the session thinking about your todo-list or the last season of Game of Thrones, but, even if for once you manage to bring back your mind from these thoughts to your breath, it means you had a successful session.
Increasing your HRV is followed by a boost to your willpower. Think of the possibilities that stronger willpower can open up for you.
Happy thriving.
Summary
- Effects of emotions and physiology are mutual.
- Your emotions have a physical or biological signature which can be objectively measured.
- If you fake the signature of emotion, you will manage to actually induce that emotion onto yourself.
- The signature for willpower is increased heart rate variability (HRV).
- You can increase HRV temporarily and reap the benefits by the breathing exercise. Namely, lowering your breath to 4–6 count in each minute.
- You can permanently increase your HRV by doing exercise.
- The most effective exercise to increase HRV and willpower is meditation.
