Livemint: The One Thing You Can Control Right Now: Yourself
We feel powerless over so many things in the pandemic. But learning to practice better self-control can help. When we’re under extreme stress, our brain works overtime to regulate our emotions, attention and behavior.
“You can think of self-control as bandwidth,” says Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, who studies self-control. “And right now, it’s divided.”
One of the reasons it is so hard to choose a future goal over immediate gratification is because it’s hard to relate to our future self, says Dr. Duckworth. She suggests visualizing yourself in the future the way you want to be, as a way to connect your current actions to your future goals. Then—this is important—you need to identify the obstacles that stand in the way.
Read more at Livemint.