After reading this book, by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, I found a lot of the psychology behind it fascinating and wanted to share some of the ‘Best Of’ ingredients that made this such a fascinating read.
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“The Zeigarnik effect: Uncompleted tasks and unmet goals tend to pop into one’s mind. Once the task is completed and the goal reach, however, this stream of reminders comes to a stop” (81)
“When people were placed in front of a mirror, or told that their actions were being filmed, they consistently changed their behavior…They were more consistent in their actions and their actions were also more consistent with their values” (111)
David Blaine Quote: “You’re building disciple. Now that I think about it, when I’m training for a stunt and I have a goal, I change everything. I have self-control in every aspect of my life. I read all the time. I eat perfectly. I do good things…I don’t overindulge. I don’t drink. I don’t waste time” (139)
“The ‘hot-cold empathy gap’: the inability, during a cool, rational, peaceful moment, to appreciate how we’ll behave during the heat of passion and temptation” (148)
“Bright lines: Clear, simple, unambiguous rules. You can’t help but notice when you cross a bright line” (185)
“An implementation intention takes the form of if-then: If x happens, I will do y. The more you use this technique to transfer control of your behavior to automatic processes, the less effort you will expend” (229)
“Telling yourself ‘I can have it later’ operates in the mind a bit like having it now. It satisfied the craving to some degree-and can be even more effective at suppressing the appetite than actually eating the treat” (236)
“It takes willpower to turn down dessert, but apparently it’s less stressful on the mind to say ‘later’ rather than ‘never’” (236-7)
“People with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work…They use their self-control not to get through crises but to avoid them…They play offense instead of defense” (239)
“Achieving a big goal-like quitting smoking for a year, deserves a big reward…But it is just as important to have lots of little rewards for little feats” (258)
Hope some of these points resonate with you or at least make you think about your ownWillpower in a new way.
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“The Zeigarnik effect: Uncompleted tasks and unmet goals tend to pop into one’s mind. Once the task is completed and the goal reach, however, this stream of reminders comes to a stop” (81)
“When people were placed in front of a mirror, or told that their actions were being filmed, they consistently changed their behavior…They were more consistent in their actions and their actions were also more consistent with their values” (111)
David Blaine Quote: “You’re building disciple. Now that I think about it, when I’m training for a stunt and I have a goal, I change everything. I have self-control in every aspect of my life. I read all the time. I eat perfectly. I do good things…I don’t overindulge. I don’t drink. I don’t waste time” (139)
“The ‘hot-cold empathy gap’: the inability, during a cool, rational, peaceful moment, to appreciate how we’ll behave during the heat of passion and temptation” (148)
“Bright lines: Clear, simple, unambiguous rules. You can’t help but notice when you cross a bright line” (185)
“An implementation intention takes the form of if-then: If x happens, I will do y. The more you use this technique to transfer control of your behavior to automatic processes, the less effort you will expend” (229)
“Telling yourself ‘I can have it later’ operates in the mind a bit like having it now. It satisfied the craving to some degree-and can be even more effective at suppressing the appetite than actually eating the treat” (236)
“It takes willpower to turn down dessert, but apparently it’s less stressful on the mind to say ‘later’ rather than ‘never’” (236-7)
“People with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work…They use their self-control not to get through crises but to avoid them…They play offense instead of defense” (239)
“Achieving a big goal-like quitting smoking for a year, deserves a big reward…But it is just as important to have lots of little rewards for little feats” (258)
Hope some of these points resonate with you or at least make you think about your ownWillpower in a new way.