Self-control

Notes

Claim

Self control is perhaps a contradiction of a sort, but in essence it means that you are capable of Agency is the ability to connect desires and actions in your life, that you manage to overcome internal desires, emotions and intrusive thoughts in order to fulfill your "true" preferences.

Explanation

For example, to Delay Gratification, resist Temptations, or obey Absolute rules trade flexibility for willpower savings are simple examples of self control.

We might imagine self control as the victory of our Rational System over our Emotional Side, yet it is far from the truth. Emotions are not something to be discarded, they can be helpful as much as our rational side, and similarly our rational side can lead us astray just the same.

Why it matters

Perhaps self control is too simplistic a way of looking and analyzing our behavior. The best case scenario is to not need self control in the first place. To create an environment that reflects who we want to be, and makes it easier for us to follow through, without the need to exert our limited willpower.

Examples

Supporters

Opposers

Paradoxically, self control can also be a sign of intrapersonal conflict, if you feel that "yourself" is something that you have to control, that there is a "controlling" side and a "controlled" side. This means that you perhaps lack clarity about who you are, or that you fail to listen to the different parts of yourself and achieve Achieving internal harmony requires integrating all parts of yourself.

Open questions

Visual

Overview

🔼Topic:: Self-Regulation and Change ◀Origin:: 🔗Link::