Test your boundaries. The first feeling of fatigue is your body’s reaction under stress, but it doesn’t mean you can’t go on any longer. Push your limits to see how much more self-control you can squeeze out of yourself.

Sir Roger Bannister, who was the first man to run the mile in less than 4 minutes in 1954, said in 2000, “It’s the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ, it’s the brain26.” Studies show that the first feeling of fatigue is an emotion, not the signal that your body is spent and can’t go on any longer.

Consequently, you can learn how to exert more self-discipline when you decide to go past the first feeling of fatigue and see how much further you can push yourself. Obviously the easiest area where you can introduce this finding is exercise.

If you go to the gym, don’t be afraid to go past your original limits and see if you can push a little bit more. Make it a priority to do it in a safe way, though – with the proper form and a spotter to help you. I do it from time to time at the gym, and it helps me explore my true limits and discover that frequently it’s only my mind that limits me from achieving more. If you run long distances, push yourself to beat your personal record and finish your usual distance in a shorter period of time or run farther.

Going beyond the first feeling of fatigue will help you move your limits and increase your capabilities to control yourself under overwhelming pressure. After all, if you could push through extreme exhaustion and complete yet one more rep with a heavy bar on your back, you can also resist the temptation to eat a chocolate bar, right?

Please refer to the book for more details on this activity.