Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney. New York: Penguin Press, 2011. 304 pp. $27.95 (hardcover).
- What is Willpower?
- How does Willpower works?
- How can i improve my Willpower?
- What can i do now or start today after rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength?
- Beneficial information
What is Willpower
Self-control is part of willpower.
What?
- Energy with limit or finite amount of willpower – could deplete
- We use same stock of willpower for all manner of tasks
Ego Depletion – restraining sexual impulses takes energy and so does creative work. -affects heart beat
Conclusion on ego depletion: Your willpower is diminished and your cravings feel stronger than ever (ie, addictions)
4 Categories
- Control of thoughts
- Control of emotions
- Impulse control – ability to resist temptation
- Performance control – focus energy on current task
How does Willpower works
More glucose absorbed by the body, the better willpower and vice versa.
With breakfast (‘fuel’) comes better performance.
Conclusion: No glucose, no willpower.
When willpower is depleted, we tend to make not buy or make decision or choose whatever the default option was or recommended option.
How can i improve my Willpower
1. Eat foods with low glycemic index: vegetables, nuts, raw fruits, cheese, fish, meat, olive oil and ‘good’ fats.
2. Sleep reduce demand for glucose, thus improve overall ability to make use of glucose in the bloodstream.
Willpower 101
- Know your limits
- Choose your battles
- Beware of planning fallacy
- Dont forget the basics, ie, changing your socks, expend on neatness
- Power of positive procrastination
- Keep track
What can i do now or start today after rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength
- Set goals
- 13 Weeks to Total Virture by Benjamin Franklin
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- GTD by David Allen
- Lifehacker website
- Getting your brain wired into little goals and achieving them, that helps achieve the bigger things you shouldn’t be able to do said David Blaine
- Sitting up straight could improve willpower as the key is to concentrate on changing a habitual behaviour thus an exercise in self-control
- Change speech habits – ie, say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ instead of ‘yeah’ and ‘nope’; avoid ‘like’ and ‘you know’…etc
- For writers: Write every day. Use your self-control to form a daily habit, and you’ll produce more with less effort in long run.
Beneficial information
Goals
- 3 Consequences of conflicting goals
- You worry a lot
- You get less done
- Your health suffers, physically and mentally
- Short term vs long term
- Answer: Proximal/ both
- Short term – day to day basis to create momentum and confidence
- Long term – help to remember your goals when faced with challenges
- Zeigarnik effect
- The Judge’s Dilemma (and the Prisoner’s distress) – sandwich/break time.
- Choose: receive $100 now or $150 but in a month. Our judgement is distorted by the temptation of immediate cash that we irrationally devalue the future prize. This tendency is called hyperbolic discounting.
- Children: Self esteem vs self control :
- Students’ self esteem went up while their performance declined. They felt better about doing worse.
- High self esteem, more confidence, more willing to act on their beliefs- side effects: arrogance and becomes narcissism
- Self control – hard work, diligence, steadiness, reliability
- Asian parents use ‘authoritative’ that set limits/rules that instill self-control by being governed.
- The more children are monitored, the more opportunities they have to build their self-control with parents guidance. Thus, anything that forces children to exercise self-control can be helpful, ie,writing thank-you notes, minding their table manners etc.
- Dieting – requires strong willpower.
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