Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

This book is not what one would or might imagine. It's not a traditional self-help book that'll get you no where and hardly ever work. This one is filled with simple and many studies that can be very surprising and very easy to understand. Surprisingly enough, glucose depletion severely lowers our ability to exercise self-control. A studied and true, and for me, new concept. A main premise of this book is why and how self-control, self-regulation or monitoring can be learned. That virtually anything from deciding where to eat, what movie to watch, or even which road to take depletes our willpower. Considering that we start the day with a certain amount of willpower, each little decision or even deciding not to decide, depletes energy and thus willpower. worldwide studies have been conducted on all these concepts. Many results surprised the researchers. Many old but tried and true adages have been shown to work. A good breakfast is really the most important meal of the day! It's true. It's been studied, tested and has been found to work. Starting with a full tank of glucose is critical and more important, easy. Once started on self-control, in any area, eventually will become a habit. No more decisions to make on that one. Self-control, having been created in one aspect of life tends to generalize across others. Habits finally enable us to dispense with most decision making, lowering stress, expending less effort, reserving more willpower for those more critical decisions that we encounter less frequently. I've a MS in psychology, and what I've learned from this book amazes me! This, to me, is a must read and we'll worth the small cost. I'll be reading it again. I'm hoping you'll give it an earnest try. You won't be disappointed.

"However you define success - a happy family, good friends, a satisfying career, robust health, financial security, the freedom to pursue your passions - it tends to be accompanied by a couple of qualities. When psychologists isolate the personal qualities that predict "positive outcomes" in life, they consistently find two traits: intelligence and self-control. So far researchers still haven't learned how to permanently increase intelligence. But they have discovered, or at least rediscovered, how to improve self-control. Hence this book." "The first step in self-control is to set a goal, so we should tell you ours for this book. We hope to combine the best of modern social science with some of the practical wisdom of the Victorians. We want to tell how willpower - or the lack thereof - has affected the lives of the great and the not-so-great. We'll explain why corporate leaders pay $20,000 a day to learn the secrets of the to-do list from a former karate instructor, and why Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs are creating digital tools to promote nineteenth-century values. We'll see how a British nanny tamed a team of howling triplets in Missouri, and how performers like Amanda Palmer, Drew Carey, Eric Clapton, and Oprah Winfrey applied willpower in their own lives. We'll look at how David Blaine fasted for forty-four days and how the explorer Henry Morton Stanley survived for years in the African wilderness. We want to tell the story of scientists' rediscovery of self-control and its implications outside the laboratory." Now, I hope these two quotes from the Introduction give a sense of what this book is about - it's one-half psychology and one-half self-help. It's a great read and I would think everyone would have something to gain because the subject matter is universally applicable - learning tricks to strengthen our willpower and recognizing the warning signs that our willpower is being exhausted. Here are some other practical quotes: "Ego depletion thus creates a double whammy: Your willpower is diminished and your cravings feel stronger than ever." "What stress really does, though, is deplete willpower, which diminishes your ability to control those emotions." "You could sum up a large new body of research literature with a simple rule: The best way to reduce stress in your life is to stop screwing up. That means setting up your life so that you have a realistic chance to succeed. Successful people don't use their willpower as a last-ditch defense to stop themselves from disaster, at least not as a regular strategy...people with strong self-control spent less time resisting desires than other people did." In sum, this is a very helpful book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the psychology of human motivation, or someone looking for a practical self-help book. I would say that either Peck's book, The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth , or Ellis's book, A New Guide to Rational Living , would make a fine follow-up of to this book.

Lots of really good ideas presented in ways you can put directly into practice. Already have recommended this book to others and have discussed it with a friend who had already read it. The conclusion did a great job of reinforcing many of the ideas.

I just finished reading this book and, seeing myself in the behaviour of so many of the experimental subjects, ended up laughing out loud at times. Its primary conclusion is that we have a finite amount of willpower, and if aware of this, can make better decisions and effectively conserve it for the important "stuff" and recognise when we have depleted our reserves and take need to take action to charge up again. It also provides research observations and evidence which you are likely to find explain some of the behaviours you have engaged in from time to time but never understood, which is generally my test of whether a book like this is worth reading. It is a well researched book but written in a very readable style which comes us up with some surprising evidence and conclusions, at the same time as giving straightforward advice on how to conserve/effectively use willpower while not beating yourself up because you can't be supremely efficient all the time. One of the things I do like about it is that it doesn't pretend to offer a "silver bullet". I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get a little bit more done with a little less stress.

The authors do a good job of explain the history and the nuances behind the word willpower and uncover a lot of myths along the way. The structure and writing is also really good and it gives a lot of practical, scientific advice on how to build and train willpower. The topics range from discipline in school, diet and sports to explorers and stars to addictions. A nice read and really helpful guide!

This book is incredibly helpful into understanding human willpower and bettering ones self in every aspect of ones life. The book is well written, interesting, entertaining and informative at the same time. I would highly recommend this book. The look of the book is also quite sleak, though after time the cover can have some visible fingerprints on them, though they wipe off pretty well if you're concerned.

Excelente! Abordagem aprofundada desta função tão primordial da nossa Mente consciente. Recomendo após ler este livro a leitura do Desbloqueie o Poder sua mente do Michael Arruda.

The book served the purpose for which I bought it, namely, give me insights into the science and practice of willpower. The back stories and the scientific research that the authors have delved into are amazing! I have already started benefiting from some of the suggestions they've forwarded. I intend to re-read the book on regular intervals to keep my knives sharp. There's a lot to learn in there, and a lot to practice. One read isn't enough. I would strongly recommend keeping notes.