Okay, maybe that’s not the takeaway Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, co-authors of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength intended. But it sure makes me happy.
The gist of Baumeister’s research is that willpower is mental energy powered by glucose. You NEED glucose in order to, say, resist that large order of French fries. From which you would get . . . glucose. Oh boy. A catch-22 for dieters.
But it occurred to me that this is good news for those of us waiting for publication. It takes willpower to keep writing, querying, editing, and pitching when it would be so much easier to watch another episode of House Hunters on HGTV (I don’t care if it is staged, I love that show!).
Now when I feel like I can’t wait another minute to hear back from that editor. When I think I just can’t make myself write another word or read my manuscript through one more time . . . all I need is some chocolate. Or pasta. Or potato chips. You know, a quick hit of anything that my body will turn to glucose which my brain can then turn to willpower.
Flawed logic? Hmmmm. Perhaps. But like I said, it sure does make me happy.