Not stopping on a run when you feel the urge helps practise self-control

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Olivia Remes is a mental health and well-being researcher at the University of Cambridge, author of This Is How You Grow After Trauma and a life coach. Her research has covered everything from assessing the prevalence of poor mental health in high-risk settings, such as the construction industry, to what helps women in disadvantaged circumstances reduce their risk of anxiety. Here, she recommends three evidence-based strategies for cultivating a healthier mindset: one that will boost your happiness, increase self-control and motivation, and help you reach your goals.

1. Do small things daily that exercise self-control

My team’s research at the University of Cambridge, as well as seminars and discussions with hundreds of people over the years, has consistently shown that a key component of well-being is self-control. Having self-control has been linked to feelings of calmness and ease, and greater feelings of life satisfaction. But what is self-control? Anytime you put in effort to think, behave or act in a certain way, you are using self-control. Not quitting when you find something difficult, or not stopping on a run when you feel the urge – they’re exercises in self-control. And self-control is like a muscle: the more you exercise it or use it, the stronger it gets.

There’s plenty of research to back up this idea. In one study, for example, researchers asked 69 people to do self-control tasks at the beginning of an experiment, such as squeezing a hand grip and not thinking of a polar bear for 5 minutes (once you’ve been asked not to think of a polar bear, it’s very hard to think of anything else – try it!). Similarly, squeezing a hand grip soon becomes tiring and your hands want to relax, but if you keep squeezing despite fatigue, then you are using self-control to do so.

After these initial tasks, the participants were divided into four groups and asked to spend two weeks performing exercises that required self-control. The first group was asked to maintain optimal posture as often as possible, the second group was asked to try to change their moods, while others had to keep detailed notes of their diet. The final group didn’t have to do anything. After the two-week period was over, everyone was asked to repeat the self-control tasks from the beginning of the experiment.