To recap, willpower is knowing when to say no and when to say yes. We would love to be able to do whatever we want but it is not always the case. Read below what Roy F Baumeister, eminent American social psychology professor, has to say on the subject.

Willpower is, Baumeister argues over lunch, “what separates us from the animals. It's the capacity to restrain our impulses, resist temptation – do what's right and good for us in the long run, not what we want to do right now. It's central, in fact, to civilization.”

The disciplined and dutiful Victorians, all stiff upper lip and lashings of moral fibre, had willpower in spades; as, sadly, did the Nazis, who referred to their evil adventure as the “triumph of will”. In the 60s we thought otherwise: let it all hang out; if it feels good, do it; I'm OK, you're OK.

But without willpower, it seems, we're actually rarely OK. In the 60s a sociologist called Walter Mischel was interested in how young children resist instant gratification; he offered them the choice of a marshmallow now, or two if they could wait 15 minutes. Years later, he tracked some of the kids down, and made a startling discovery.

What they found was that, even taking into account differences of intelligence, race and social class, those with high self-control – those who, in Mischel's experiment, held out for two marshmallows later – grew into healthier, happier and wealthier adults.

Those with low willpower, the study discovered, fared less well academically. They were more likely to be in low-paying jobs with few savings, to be overweight, to have drug or alcohol problems, and to have difficulty maintaining stable relationships (many were single parents). They were also nearly four times more likely to have a criminal conviction. “Willpower,” concludes Baumeister, “is one of the most important predictors of success in life.”

We are not saying you should take all pleasure out of your life. Yet, there have to be moments of self-control or we are no better than the animals or our ancient ancestors!

Think about that the next time you are preparing for a survival or prepping project. You may be canning jellies or veggies, thinking about buying a new tent, or even considering the purchase of a parcel of land near the Canadian border! Are you doing it for all of the right reasons?

To read more on Willpower go to The Guardian.