Proven Methods for Achieving Self-Mastery

This article on self-control will focus on what has been termed “the seven deadly threats to self-regulation,” with an emphasis on one in particular, referred to as “ego depletion.” (The following originally appeared in The Ambition Handbook by Martin Vidal.)

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Ego Depletion. “Ego depletion” is a scientific term, but ego depletion is simply what scientists call it when self-control runs out. This might sound like a novel concept, but it is something you’ve experienced throughout your life and something you’re gradually experiencing right now as you utilize your willpower to understand the concepts in this article, some of which are abstract and technical. The ego, the consciousness, or the self (whatever you wish to call it) focuses, thinks critically, and resists the other systems of the brain. It is what concentrates on difficult subjects and what keeps us running when we’re tired — in a word, it is willpower.

The suppression or redirection of emotional impulses and thought, and thereby behaviors, comprises the ability known as self-control. The reason our self-control is not perfect is because it comes from an area of the brain, which like any other part of our physiology, has…