{"id":100846,"date":"2023-05-02T04:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T08:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=100846"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:10:59","slug":"how-to-resist-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-resist-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Resist Temptation: 3 Proven Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What makes something tempting? What are some helpful tips on how to resist temptation<\/a> when you want to give in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to resist temptation is an important factor in achieving your goals<\/a> and changing your behavior<\/a>. If you can\u2019t say \u201cno\u201d to temptation, you’ll struggle to stay consistent with your efforts and will likely give up before you see any meaningful progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the psychology of temptation and some strategies for keeping yourself in check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Psychology of Temptation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is temptation? In simple terms, temptation is a desire to do something that\u2019s pleasurable, but that\u2019s usually wrong or unwise for whatever reason. On the neurological level, temptation is powered by dopamine, a neurotransmitter that motivates you to seek out rewarding experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the brain senses the opportunity for a reward\u2014like when it sees a patch of perfectly ripe berries\u2014it releases dopamine, which causes a form of arousal. It tells the rest of the brain and the body to get ready for a reward that is coming soon. Dopamine makes us feel alert and excited. It directs us to take action. Dopamine has played a critical role in human evolution<\/a>, motivating people to focus their energy on pleasurable activities necessary for survival and reproduction, like eating food or having sex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, according to Thibaut Meurisse, the author of Dopamine Detox<\/em><\/a>, dopamine no longer offers the same evolutionary benefit that it once did. The modern world is a media-saturated environment, full of passive entertainment, like social media or video games, trigger dopamine, offering minimal benefit and often leading to more harm than good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temptation vs. Delayed Gratification <\/strong>

The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment is a great example of how being able to resist temptation can influence your life outcomes. In this study, four-year-old kids were placed in a room with a single marshmallow and told that they could go ahead and eat it now, but if they waited 15 minutes, they could eat two marshmallows. The kids were left alone in the room as cameras filmed their decision-making<\/a> processes. Some kids invented all manner of strategies to avoid eating the marshmallow (like turning their backs on the treat or distracting themselves by singing<\/a> songs or talking to themselves); others couldn\u2019t resist the temptation and gobbled it up immediately. 

The researchers then tracked these kids’ lives for the next 40 years. Not surprisingly, the four-year-olds who were best at delaying gratification\u2014not eating the first marshmallow\u2014wound up having an easier time in life than the others, as determined by higher SAT scores, healthier body mass index, lower incidence of substance abuse, better social skills, and various other life measures. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, when you’re trying to stay focused on your long-term goals, you need to be able to resist the temptation to engage in these dopamine-stimulating behaviors because they consume your time and steal your focus. With this in mind, here are some tips on how to resist temptation so it doesn\u2019t derail your progress toward your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 1: Make Temptation Hard to Access <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first and probably the most common sense<\/a> piece of advice on how to resist temptation is to make it a little harder to access. For example, you won\u2019t return home with purchases you can\u2019t afford if you don\u2019t carry your credit cards when you go downtown. If you have to walk downstairs and down the hall to stick your hand in the candy jar, you’ll be less likely to indulge than if you merely have to reach across your desk. And you\u2019ll be less likely to procrastinate<\/a> on writing your novel if you invest in software programs like MacFreedom, Anti-Social, or ProcrasDonate, which limit your access to email, social networks, or even the entire Internet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTITLE: The Willpower Instinct<\/a>
\nAUTHOR: Kelly McGonigal
\nTIME: 42
\nREADS: 87.9
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/the-willpower-instinct-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-willpower-instinct-summary-kelly-mcgonigal
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 2: Introduce Reinforcements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you resist temptation, you make a choice<\/a> that\u2019s unpleasant in the short term but better for you in the long term. In other words, you forego immediate gratification<\/a> for a future reward, which requires sacrifice. Sacrifice is unpleasant, so you must find a way to mitigate it. This can be done by introducing reinforcements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinforcements help maintain continued behavior by allowing you to experience a win after a certain action.<\/strong> They are especially useful when you are trying to form a \u201chabit of avoidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habits of avoidance include things like not drinking alcohol for a month and not spending money on unnecessary items. The habit is one of simply not doing something you are tempted to but don\u2019t want to do<\/em>, so there is no real element of action that creates a sense of progress. Reinforcements can help make the behavior more satisfying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n