Nevertheless, one can sometimes "will" oneself into future action indirectly. One can predict well enough how one would act in certain circumstances and can therefore sometimes set matters up to stimulate a particular response. For example, I may know that, once I get out of bed in the morning, I am really up and I will not return to sleep. Therefore I set my alarm clock on the dresser a few feet from my bed, so that I will have to stand to stop its noise. I have then used an external device to get myself on my feet, but it is something internal about me that keeps me from returning to bed and to sleep. If the alarm were too near, I might often turn it off and go back to sleep.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 229