Recruiting takes a lot of willpower.

It’s like anything that’s highly beneficial and involves delaying gratification (eating right, exercising, sticking to a budget, etc.).

For years, researchers have concluded that willpower is a finite resource and will be depleted when an individual relies on it to do the right thing.

You can only resist the cookie on your counter for so long before giving in.

But new research from Stanford is challenging this belief.

Willpower is not a finite resource, but more akin to something like an emotion.

Just like we cannot “run out” of anger or happiness, we cannot run out of willpower.

So how do you tap more willpower under this paradigm?

You change your beliefs.

Researchers discovered that willpower depletion was only observed in individuals who thought of willpower as a limited resource.

Also, those who showed a high level of engagement or commitment to an end result did not seem to experience as much willpower depletion.

The more committed a person is to the tasks, the process, and the end result of what they’re trying to accomplish, the less they’ll be derailed by the feelings that lead to a lack of willpower.

More progress will be made when you rely less on how you feel and more on the beliefs and convictions about the end result.

As Jerry West once said:

You can’t get much done in life if you only work hard on the days you feel good.