Do You Ever Feel Like You Lack Willpower?

Do you ever feel like you lack the willpower to stay focused, complete projects on time, or stick to long-term goals?

It can be easy to blame yourself when you fall behind or get distracted. But what if it’s not just a matter of willpower? Much of what you experience is rooted in the way your brain is naturally wired.

Your Brain’s Protective Mechanisms

In fact, your brain is doing exactly what it’s designed to do – to protect you. Even if it feels like it’s working against you.

Let’s explore five things your brain does that might seem like a lack of willpower, but are actually just normal brain functions at play.

1. Procrastination: Your Brain Avoiding Stress to Keep You Comfortable

Fun. Procrastination. Your brain avoids stress to keep you comfortable. As a visual artist, you might have a blank canvas in front of you, but instead of diving in, you start organising your studio or scrolling through art tutorials online. This isn’t just laziness. It’s your brain avoiding discomfort. The brain’s emotional centre, the amygdala, is highly sensitive to stress.

When faced with a task that feels overwhelming or difficult, like writing an artist statement, your brain sends signals of discomfort, making you avoid it. Procrastination is your brain’s way of protecting you from stress and seeking immediate comfort. For example, you’ve been putting off a large commission because you’re afraid it won’t turn out as expected. Instead, you spend hours reworking sketches for personal projects or reorganising your materials. 

Why does the brain do this? Your brain is wired to avoid pain and seek pleasure, a mechanism that evolved for survival. In ancient times, this meant avoiding physical dangers. But in today’s world, it’s more about avoiding psychological discomfort.

The stress of starting a daunting project can feel threatening to your brain, so it pushes you to do something less stressful.

What Can You Do? 

Break down large, overwhelming projects into smaller, manageable steps. For example, instead of focusing on completing an entire painting, aim to finish a small section or the underpainting. This will reduce the emotional resistance and help you get started.

2. Distractions: Your Brain Seeking Novelty to Stay Engaged

You sit down to finish a painting, but before you know it, you’re checking your phone, scrolling through Instagram, or thinking about your next project. This distraction isn’t just a lack of discipline. It’s your brain’s natural craving for novelty. The brain’s reward system, which is heavily driven by dopamine, seeks out new and exciting stimuli. Visual artists, who thrive on creativity and new ideas, are especially vulnerable to this because art itself can be repetitive at times.

For example, you might be refining the details of a painting, when halfway through, you think of posting an image on social media, and then get distracted by a post to do with a new technique. You immediately put your painting aside and start focusing on learning more about the new technique instead. 

The brain’s curiosity and need for novelty were survival tools in the past. Seeking out new environments or information kept early humans safe and aware of changes in their surroundings. Today, this instinct makes you more likely to seek out new projects or distractions when your current task feels too routine or difficult.

What Can You Do? 

Set clear boundaries for distractions. For instance, limit your social media time or set a timer for 30 minutes of uninterrupted work. Afterwards, reward yourself with a break to explore new ideas. This will help your brain get its novelty fix without completely derailing your workflow.

3. Impulsivity: Your Brain Preferring Immediate Rewards Over Long-Term Goals

Let’s say you’re saving up to buy new art supplies or invest in a course, but then you come across a spontaneous art sale and buy a few prints instead. This seems like a lapse in willpower. But it’s really your brain favouring immediate rewards. The brain’s dopamine system lights up when you’re presented with something instantly gratifying, like a new art tool or an exciting project. This makes it hard to resist impulsive decisions, even if they conflict with long-term goals. 

This makes it easy to derail your success. For example, you’ve set aside time to finally finish your website update, but you suddenly get inspired by a social media challenge and decide to start a completely unrelated piece instead (even though your website update is more strongly connected to your goals and success). Why does this happen? The brain evolved to prioritise short-term survival over long-term planning. 

In the past, immediate rewards like food or safety were essential for survival. Today, that instinct still drives you to choose instant gratification over delayed rewards, which might make it harder to stick to long-term art goals, like updating your website or saving for a big purchase.

What Can You Do? 

Create big goals with milestones and set up small rewards for progress. For example, after completing a planned task or meeting a weekly art goal, treat yourself to something small, like a new sketchbook or a favourite snack. This allows your brain to experience the dopamine boost while still working towards bigger goals. Wokring with a group, mentor or coach who help you to celebrate the wins of chunked down goals can really help here too.

4. Self-Doubt: Your Brain’s Way of Protecting You from Risk

Self-doubt can be paralysing for artists, especially when starting a new project or trying something outside of your comfort zone. It’s easy to assume this self-doubt is just a lack of confidence or willpower, but it’s actually your brain’s way of protecting you from perceived failure. When you face uncertainty, the brain triggers a fear response, releasing stress hormones like cortisol. This makes you question your abilities and hesitate to take risks, even if the risks are part of growing as an artist.

For example, you’re offered an opportunity to showcase your work, but instead of feeling excited, you start doubting whether your art is good enough. You might even consider turning down the offer to avoid potential criticism. 

The brain is designed to keep you safe, which includes protecting you from failure or embarrassment. In prehistoric times, social rejection or failure could have dire consequences for survival.

Today, this wiring still causes us to fear judgment, leading to self-doubt and avoidance when we face new challenges or risks.

What Can You Do? 

Break the cycle of self-doubt by building confidence in small steps. Start by sharing your work in less intimidating spaces to get more comfortable with feedback. Each small success will help build the mental resilience needed to tackle bigger challenges.

5. Decision Fatigue: Your Brain Running Low on Energy After Too Many Choices

After a long day of making decisions, you may feel too mentally drained to make even simple choices, like what to eat for dinner. This is known as decision fatigue, and it’s a result of the brain’s limited energy for making decisions. Every choice you make throughout the day depletes your mental energy, making it harder to think clearly or resist impulsive decisions later on.

For example, you’ve spent all day making decisions about a new sculpture, what materials to use, how to approach the design, and what techniques to apply. Or you’ve had to make decisions in a day job. By the evening, you feel so mentally exhausted that you abandon plans to organise your studio and instead spend hours mindlessly watching TV.

Your brain consumes a lot of energy when making decisions, especially creative ones. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and problem-solving, becomes depleted after constant use. Decision fatigue is the result of this depletion, causing you to either avoid decisions or make impulsive ones.

What Can You Do? 

Reduce decision fatigue by creating routines or limiting your options. For example, set specific hours for certain tasks. Additionally, plan out your tasks, materials, and tools ahead of time, so you don’t have to make those decisions while you’re in a creative flow