Research suggests that intrapersonal communication (talking to oneself) and maintaining a questioning mind are more likely to bring change.
[1] One experiment compared the performance of two groups of people doing anagrams.
The same researcher, Ibrahim Senay (at University of Illinois in Urbana), found similarly that repeatedly writing the question "Will I?"
[2] Michael J. Taleff writes, "Willpower in our field (psychology) is a paradox".
Addiction affected patients are told that willfulness is less effective than willingness.