The Willpower Instinct was written by Kelly McGonical in 2011 and I found
it to be highly therapeutic and very interesting. This book was designed to
assist people with understanding and controlling their own urges and gaining will
power in order to fulfill certain aspects of their lives. McGonical explains why willpower is
important and exactly why and how it works. For instance, a person who has a
strong sense of will power tends to have pretty good control over their life,
and ultimately guides the road for prosperous relationships, happiness, and
success in short term and long term goals. Having strong willpower is not as
easy as it sounds and can be difficult to master. A major aspect of willpower
and being able to have a good sense of self control. McGonical puts emphasize
on the fact that in order to gain self control and will power you must first
understand why you feel you are at loss of control in the first place.
In addition, in my own
experience, I do not have the best patience, unfortunately sometimes I have a
really short fuse and I am really trying to work on that and better myself.
Therefore, I really enjoyed the section of the book when Mcgonical spoke about
the “pause and plan” response. Meaning, before we react too quickly without
putting much thought behind it, we should first pause, and then plan out our actions.
By pausing and planning, this will help us gain better patience, improve our
self-control, and prevent impulsive acts. This will definitely benefit me
because when I am put into a situation where I am in an argument with somebody,
I often say things that I do not mean simply out of anger and more often than
not I regret them later. If only I could pause and plan before I impulsively
spoke, I would not suffer from these regrets once the argument is over, and it
could spare somebody’s hurt feelings in the long run.
Another strong focal
point in this book is how our body uses willpower instinctively. For example,
set a warm chocolate brownie in front of us with chocolate ice cream on top
drizzed with chocolate syrup and we will almost immediately start to crave this
delicious brownie. Our mouths might start to water and we can almost taste it
just from staring at it. Once we have reached this point, every cell in our
body is sending signals telling us that we need to eat this brownie. Our brain
releases dopamine when we see something we want, and we may start to crave this
desired object. We must then make the decision if we are going to forfeit to
these cravings or resist the urges and strengthen our willpower.
Another
topic in this book that I could relate to was the focus that being good gives
us the permission to be bad. I have never heard it phrased in those words
before but I loved it because it is so true! During school, I work my ass off
and strive for the best grades to my ability. I always put work before play
because I know when to be serious and know when to buckle down and get
something done. I never half ass something for school because I know how
important it is. So at the end of the semester once I have received my grades,
I will then go out and blow off some steam and enjoy myself because I deserve
to! I did well and put school first therefore I’m allowed to go out and have
fun afterwards. That is always how I looked at things and once McGonical
mentioned this topic I enjoyed it because it was so relatable to me.
All
in all, The Willpower Instinct was a
terrific book and I am very happy I read it. It was an easy read while also
being very relatable and thought provoking. Lately I have been wanting to lose
about five pounds but I work at a restaurant and constantly being around food
all day long is not easy for me because I am always snacking! However, after
reading this book it gave me some good advice and sent me some hope as how to
gain some self control while walking past those warm freshly cooked fries or
newly baked brownies. From now on, I will engage in the pause and plan response
and think of the long run before I act impulsively.
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