“I promised myself I’d eat better this week, but then someone brought in a delicious chocolate cake. How can anyone say no to that?”
“I was going to take a jog, but it’s cold and rainy outside. Staying in and watching TV is just way more tempting right now.”
“I really need to start working on that report, but surely delaying it by another day won’t hurt, right?”
Many of us can relate to these sentiments. We know what we should be doing—whether it’s hitting the gym, quitting unhealthy habits, or making that important call—but find it challenging to muster the motivation to follow through. This phenomenon is so prevalent that we often don’t pause to consider why it occurs. Why is it so difficult to take action toward our goals?
The Disconnect Between Desire and Action
It seems counterintuitive that we can genuinely want to accomplish something yet fail to do it. This disconnection is a common experience: we set positive intentions but struggle to transform those intentions into reality. This paradoxical struggle is referred to as akrasia. Whenever you procrastinate or break a commitment without a valid reason, you are experiencing akrasia.
But what triggers this state? Are we simply lazy? Not quite.
Akrasia is most prevalent with activities that offer long-term benefits—like exercising, eating nutritious foods, or working on a thesis due well in advance. While regular exercise will improve your fitness over time, the effects are not immediately noticeable after just one workout. Similarly, tackling your thesis now may alleviate stress as the deadline approaches, but it offers little in terms of instant gratification.
Often, there is an immediate cost associated with engaging in positive activities, or more appealing alternatives present themselves. Running may be beneficial later, but it requires braving the elements now. Alternatively, you might choose to spend time with friends who are also putting things off, which can feel more rewarding in the moment. Research in motivational psychology indicates that the farther away the rewards, the less likely individuals are to act toward achieving them.
The Inner Conflict of Present and Future Selves
A useful way to conceptualize this struggle is to imagine “present-you” and “future-you” as separate entities. Have you ever felt an internal tug-of-war between what you should do and what you want to do? This is more than just a feeling; it reflects our tendency to have “time-inconsistent preferences.” For instance, in a study where participants were asked if they preferred an apple or a chocolate bar, those who were asked about their choice in the moment tended to choose the chocolate. In contrast, those considering their options for the future were more likely to select the apple.
The Positive Side: You’re Not Just Lazy
The encouraging news is that not acting on your intentions doesn’t indicate laziness. The challenge lies in the inherent difficulty of motivating ourselves to engage in activities that yield delayed rewards. In the next segment of this series, I will explore strategies to overcome this hurdle, including how to create personal incentives that align with your true desires.
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Summary
In summary, the struggle to act on our intentions often stems from the conflict between immediate desires and long-term benefits. This internal battle, characterized by akrasia, highlights that the challenges we face are not a reflection of laziness but rather the difficulty of prioritizing future rewards over present comforts. Understanding this can help us find ways to better align our actions with our goals.