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“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” – Vince Lombardi
Willpower often proves to be a challenge for individuals when navigating the decision-making processes. They face many choices and the effort required to maintain self-discipline can become overwhelming, especially as they find themselves torn between instant gratification and delayed rewards.
In addition, external factors such as stress, emotional state, and the environment can all impact one’s willpower, making it increasingly difficult to consistently make choices aligned with one’s intentions. Thus, practicing willpower requires an understanding of one’s limitations and the implementation of effective strategies.
An article by James Clear entitled “How to Declutter Your Mind and Unleash Your Willpower by Using ‘Bright-Line’ Rules” has some interesting ideas on how to make decisions while maintaining willpower.
In this blog, we describe what Bright-Line Rules are and how the specific and measurable qualities of these rules can help individuals to make effective decisions, break bad habits, and increase willpower.
What is a Bright-Line Rule?
A Bright-Line Rule is a clearly defined rule or benchmark. It has a clear boundary between what’s included and what’s not, removing ambiguity and leaving minimal chance for confusion or other interpretations.
An example of the Bright-Line Rule are Miranda Rights. These are the legal entitlements that law enforcement officers must communicate to a suspect before initiating any interrogation during their time of custody.
As most of us are familiar with, these rights include the right to stay silent, the access to an attorney, and the caution that anything said by the suspect can be used as evidence against them in a court of law.
If a law enforcement officer does not inform a suspect of their legal rights, then any statements made by the suspect cannot be used as evidence in court.
Establishing Bright-Lines
Bright-Line rules can not only be helpful to societies, they can also help individuals. Here is how you can create these rules for yourself:
Consider some areas of your life, both personal and professional, that are important to you where you could set Bright-Line Rules. Write down Bright-Line Rule statements for each rule. Remember to make them clear and measurable so that you can track your progress and make improvements. Here are some examples of Bright-Line Rule statements:
● I check my email twice a day – at 9AM in the morning, and at 4PM in the afternoon.
● I eat 1,400 calories a day to reach my ideal weight.
● I walk three times a day – at 7AM in the morning, at 12 Noontime, and at 5PM.
● I save $500 a month each year for a vacation at the end of the year.
When establishing Bright-Line statements, the more precise and actionable you make the statements, the brighter your line will be, which helps to get the best results.
Breaking Bad Habits
In addition to establishing new habits, Bright-Line Rules can also be used to break bad habits or change behaviors. An example that James Clear offers in his article is the following:
“If you were interested in becoming a vegetarian, you might start by saying, ‘I don’t eat red meat.’ The goal is not to change everything at once, but to take a very clear and extreme stand in one small area. You are establishing a Bright-Line on that topic.”
Eventually, you can add additional elements to a Bright-Line Rule statement. For example, you could say “I don’t eat read meat or drink soda.”
Bright-Line Rules and Willpower
Willpower is like a battery. It has about a 15-minute duration on it, if you are not hungry or tired. If you are tired or hungry, then your willpower will last for about 7 minutes. For example, you might wake up in the morning and tell yourself that you will go to the gym today. In the morning you are rested, so you can think about going to the gym for about 15 minutes – and then your willpower will run out.
Having Bright-Line Rules established helps to prevent the loss of willpower and helps you to stay committed to your goals and prevent one-time exceptions to rules. This is because the rules become part of your identity. For example, your rule may be “I don’t eat cake.” So if someone offers you cake, you can say “No thanks, I don’t eat cake.”
Creating Bright-Line Rules also reduces the amount of decisions that you need to contemplate since the Bright-Line Rules already establish what your decisions will be for the areas that you created rules for. This helps to save willpower for important decisions that you need to make.
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