The "What the Hell" Effect

I've been reading this book, and while the author is not a Christian he has the best advice for overcoming temptation and staying on the straight and narrow I have ever seen. Most of the "church" advice I've heard boils down to "resist the Devil and he will flee" and that there is always a way out. However, there is rarely if ever any suggestions for finding those "ways out." So here is another way out to add to my last one.

The "what the hell" effect is the idea that once you've already failed in some way you might as well just go with it and enjoy the ride. Outside of the moment the weakness of this argument is obvious. It is clearly better to stop sinning, cheating on your diet, etc. after a small slip up than follow that with ten times more. However, in the moment, when you are discouraged and already condemning yourself for your failure it is easy to feel like you are already a horrible person and you can't really get any lower.

The key here is to not get all down on yourself. The harsher and more judgemental you are on yourself the worse this effect is. The lower you go with self condemnation the more likely you are to feel like there is no reason to not keep going.

Instead, show compassion and forgiveness to yourself. Accept the forgiveness G-d gives you. Beyond that, it is scientifically proven that showing yourself compassion in times of stress and failure is associated with better self-control.

So forgive yourself quickly and you'll have less to forgive.