How To Have More Self Control: Look At The Big Picture

How To Boost Your Self Control

Thinking about the big picture instead of the little steps required along the way can help to give us the self-control we need to reach a goal, according to new research.

This finding could be especially useful for weight loss. For example, when confronted with the choice between a piece of fruit or an unhealthy snack, thinking of the end weight loss result could better help you pick the fruit, researchers said.

Ultimately, the study suggests that "high-level construal (the use of cognitive abstraction to extract the essential and goal-relevant features common across a class of events), relative to low-level construal (the process of highlighting the incidental and idiosyncratic features that render a particular event unique), promotes self-control," the researchers wrote in the study.

The study, which included analysis of past research, is published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

And having self-control really is important, even early on in life -- another recent study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, showed that preschoolers who don't have a lot of self-control or patience are more likely to put on extra pounds later on in adulthood, Reuters reported.

"Self-control is associated with so many outcomes important to society: weight... but also health, financial stability (and) likelihood of being convicted of a crime," study researcher Tanya Schlam, from the Univeristy of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, told Reuters.

For more tips on boosting your self-control, check out HuffPost blogger Christine Carter's tips here.

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