The Willpower Instinct (Kelly McGonigal)

 

I really like Kelly McGonigal's book, The Upside of Stress so I was happy to find this one. I listened to the audio book, which tends to make me not so good at taking notes. I was sorry the author didn't read the audio book. I liked her other book so much, to hear a male voice reading this one was a surprise. 

The author suggests ending rigid dieting. She says that the more you tell yourself to not eat something or not think about something, the more our brain seems to want to eat it or do it. She suggests surfing the urge, neither pushing it away or acting on it. When impulses and cravings come to mind, imagine it as a wave and breathe through those feelings. The inner acceptance seems to bring more control according to many studies. 

This book was pretty much in agreement with other books I have read on this topic like The Motivation Myth and Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. 

Goodreads says:

The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, McGonigal created a course called "The Science of Willpower" for Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. The course was an instant hit and spawned the hugely successful Psychology Today blog with the same name.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, McGonigal's book explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. Readers will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep. People who have better control of their attention, emotions, and actions are healthier, happier, have more satisfying relationships, and make more money. Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health. Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, and that the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help readers with goals ranging from a healthier life to more patient parenting, from greater productivity at work to finally finishing the basement.