if willpower was the primary factor driving personal improvement, fasting would be a more effective method of weight loss than exercise

exercise is fun and fasting isn't. no matter how much someone wants to lose weight, they find it effectively impossible to stop themselves from eating long enough to lose weight even though their body could survive adequately off their fat reserves

yet the concept of just trying harder is so seductive, propping up countless self-help grifts

i guess the reason people want to persevere at painful things is because they might turn out to be less painful eventually. but the misconception that a painful thing can be endured indefinitely seems widespread