A few studies have found that using your own name in place of “I” on your head when thinking about doing something can help “remove” your current feelings/desires out from the equation and, perhaps, lead you to make better (or less indulgent) decisions.
“I won’t eat that donut” is less likely to help your resolve than “Aaron won’t eat that donut”.
This was extended even further when a group of children were told to think of their favorite hero doing (or not doing) the thing. This would be the equivalent of saying to yourself:
- The person you want to be wouldn’t eat that donut.
In the book Do Hard Things this was posited as adding some distance between your current state and the message in your head.