Depletion takes away some of our reasoning powers and with them our
ability to act morally. Still,
in real life we can choose to remove ourselves from situations that might tempt
us to behave immorally. If we are even somewhat aware of our propensity to act
dishonestly when depleted, we can take this into account and avoid temptation
altogether. (For example, in the domain of dieting, avoiding temptation could
mean that we decide not to shop for groceries when we’re starving.)
**
ON A
MORE serious note, these experiments with depletion suggest that, in general,
we would be well served to realize that we are continually tempted throughout
the day and that our ability to fight this temptation weakens with time and
accumulated resistance. If we’re really serious about losing weight, we should
get rid of temptation by clearing our shelves and refrigerator of all the
sugary, salty, fatty, and processed foods and acclimating to the taste of fresh
produce. We should do this not only because we know that fried chicken and cake
are bad for us but also because we know that exposing ourselves to such
temptations throughout the day (and every time we open a cupboard or the
refrigerator) makes it more difficult for us to fight off this and other
temptations throughout the day.
Understanding
depletion also means that (to the extent that we can) we should face the
situations that require self-control—a particularly tedious assignment at work,
for example—early in the day, before we are too depleted. This, of course, is
not easy advice to follow because the commercial forces around us (bars, online
shopping, Facebook, YouTube, online computer games, and so on) thrive on both
temptation and depletion, which is why they are so successful.
Granted,
we cannot avoid being exposed to all threats to our self-control. So is there
any hope for us? Here’s one suggestion: once we realize that it is very hard to
turn away when we face temptation, we can recognize that a better strategy is
to walk away from the draw of desire before we are close enough to be snagged
by it. Accepting this advice might not be easy, but the reality is that it is
much easier to avoid temptation altogether rather than to overcome it when it
sits lingering on the kitchen counter. And if we can’t quite do that, we can
always try to work on our ability to fight temptation—perhaps by counting to a
hundred, singing a song, or making an action plan and sticking to it. Doing any
of these can help us build our arsenal of tricks for overcoming temptation so
that we are better equipped to fight those urges in the future.
