psychology
We go through life assuming we’re in charge of our own minds – until temptation strikes, that is. Few things better illustrate how little control we really have. You can know exactly what you should do (decline the second slice of cake or the third cocktail; ignore the call from the ex who’s nothing but bad news), but that hardly seems to mater when the urge arises. More self-discipline is rarely the answer, though. Instead, if you can understand what’s going on inside your head when temptation looms, you’ll be far better placed to make a healthier choice.
Separate the feeling from the action. It’s easy to start berating yourself for feeling like doing something bad. But that just triggers a nasty internal fight, which temptation will probably win. In reality, the only thing you need to avoid is acting on the feeling. The more you can accept the feeling when it comes, the more you can focus on a simpler task: walking away from the source of temptation.