Thinking about the big picture instead of the little steps
required along the way can help to give us the self-control we
need to reach a goal, according to new research. This finding
could be especially useful for weight loss. For example, when
confronted with the choice between a piece of fruit or an
unhealthy snack, thinking of the end weight loss result could
better help you pick the fruit, researchers said. Ultimately,
the study suggests that "high-level construal (the use of
cognitive abstraction to extract the essential and goal-relevant
features common across a class of events), relative to low-level
construal (the process of highlighting the incidental and
idiosyncratic features that render a particular event unique),
promotes self-control," the researchers wrote in the study. The
study, which included analysis of past research, is published in
the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science. And
having self-control really is important, even early on in life
-- another recent study, published