You can grow your prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for willpower. However growing this part of the brain is pretty painful; imagine waking up every morning and running sprints, or resisting a candy bar in front of you. For most people growing the prefrontal cortex is clearly not worth it. However, maybe if the benefits of exercising willpower were more visible, the reward matrix would change, and people could get excited by the growth in their cortex, they might be more willing to grow their willpower, which would allow them to focus and work hard for long periods of time, with a clear gain to society.

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