One Pilot, Many Auto Pilots

The book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney, has completely changed how I imagine the daily life of a person with great willpower and discipline.  I used to picture someone who willed themselves to get up early when they didn't want to, to floss, to workout at the gym, to eat right, to work hard, and to resist temptations.  All day long they force themselves to act against their impulses.  Everything they do is a carefully chosen task aimed at a goal.

That's not the case.  According to this book, whose research I find totally compelling, a person with terrific discipline is typically pushing themselves in ONE or TWO areas of their lives, trying to form ONE or TWO new habits that require willpower, that require them to push themselves to do something they don't want to do or to stop doing something that they crave.  The rest of their good behaviours are habits. 

This is what I mean by "One Pilot, Many Auto-Pilots".  They are developing just one or two new habits at a time. The new habit does require what we normally think of as willpower.  It is something they DON'T want to do or a bad habit they want to stop.  The "Pilot" is needed; they must consciously change their behavior.  Maybe all this energy is going into flossing every morning.  Eventually, flossing becomes a habit.  It switches to robotic "Auto-Pilot".  There is no willpower required.  No thought.  You wake up, brush your teeth, and floss because that's what you do every day.  You don't even think about it.  Then you work on your next habit:  going to the gym before work.  Or whatever other good behavior you want to cultivate.  Eventually, you've got all these good habits in your life and it really isn't that hard for you.  It's automatic.  At any one time, there is just one "Pilot" that is a struggle and lots of "Auto-pilots" that come without effort or thought.  But to an outsider you look like Mr. or Mrs. Discipline.