It’s common to be concerned about willpower when making New Year’s resolutions or trying to adopt healthier habits. Many people worry they might not have enough willpower to achieve their goals. The unspoken assumption is that different problems require different amounts of willpower and that if we don’t have enough, call it x willpower, we may be doomed to fail. For decades, therapists and counselors accepted this view of willpower as a fixed quantity that varies by person. This idea seemingly explained why some people could withstand temptation better than others.

However, more recent investigations into willpower have disproven this assumption. We now know that willpower is not a fixed quantity within individuals. Instead, individual willpower varies enormously from day to day and even from hour to hour.

Willpower depends on the degree of recent mental stress a person has experienced. When the brain works to make decisions, the decision-making part of the brain becomes far more active than usual and burns more glucose. This area of the brain becomes glucose-depleted and thus fatigued, at which point the individual experiences decision fatigue and becomes increasingly impulsive. In effect, willpower fades because the power in willpower is actually brain glucose. Studies led by social psychologist Roy Baumeister and his colleagues have left no doubt of this process: when your mind works extra hard, even for just ten minutes, mental fatigue sets in, and your willpower gets shaky.

So, how can we incorporate this new understanding of willpower into our daily routines? Here are four simple, effective strategies that fundamentally support your willpower.

1. Clean Your Room

Keeping a tidy home environment helps your mind worry less about what you “should” be doing to clean up. If you have to keep looking at stacks of messy papers on tables and desks, some of your energy will be diverted from the more important choices requiring your attention, such as eating healthily.

2. Eat Something Healthy First

It’s common to crave junk food when stressed or mentally fatigued. When exhausted, your mind and body naturally crave sugar to replace the missing glucose. So, instead of eating something sugary, eat something healthy first. Food with substance—such as something with complex carbohydrates (like a banana, some oatmeal, or a bean burrito) will support your brain glucose much more effectively. These foods are more slowly digested than junk food, cause a gentle but steady blood glucose rise, and nourish your brain for a long, steady ride.

3. Exercise Daily

Next, a modest daily exercise routine also supports willpower. This routine can be as simple as taking 10 minutes a day in your own place to dance to some of your favorite music. There is no need to go to the gym or make a big production of your exercise. I jump rope for about ten minutes to get a great workout. Keeping this simple is especially helpful if working out isn’t your thing. It’s not known exactly how exercise supports willpower; one hypothesis is that exercise helps the body more effectively release glucose from storage on demand and thus supports more resilience. Regardless of how it works, you should get moving and keep it simple.

4. Get to Bed on Time

Finally, shut off the electronic toys and go to sleep! The brain does a lot of its housekeeping during sleep. When you are sleep deprived, your mind has to contend with yesterday’s mental debris plus whatever is new today.

These four tips might sound ridiculously low-tech and unimaginative, but they are all critical parts of the willpower puzzle. Fundamentally, they support your mind, and when you treat your mind well, it does a much better job of sticking by you and helping you when you need it most. By focusing on these simple tips, you can begin heading down the exciting path toward health, happiness, and the life you deserve.