Quinton Battle
The Willpower Instinct Book
Report
The Willpower Instinct By Kelly
McGonigal
General Review:
The Willpower Instinct gives insights into willpower from
different fields, such as psychology, neuroscience, economics and medicine. In
the book McGonigal says willpower consist of three forces: “I will”, “I won’t”,
and “I want”. This book also gives a neuroscience by gonging over how the
prefrontal cortex of the brain comes in with willpower and decision making.
McGonigal goes over ways humans can exercise our prefrontal cortex to have more
willpower. It also gives advice to over come bad habits, avoid procrastination,
stay focused and have less stress, though exercise, sleep and nutrition. In the
beginning of the book McGonigal suggest the reader choose a willpower challenge
and gives us experiments to do as we are reading to see if
we can get to our goal. Some examples of the experiments are meditating at
least once a day, getting exercise, changing sleep schedule, etc.
Favorite Part and
Relation:
The part I liked most about the book is the neuroscience
section. This section was interesting to learn how the brain works with
willpower. Willpower is the in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, this is
where the “I will”, “I won’t”, and “I want” forces are. The “I will” power is
in the upper left prefrontal cortex; this is the power to do what you dislike
or is unpleasant. Next is the “I won’t” power which is located on the right-side
prefrontal cortex. This power is the ability to say no even when every feeling
is saying yes. Last, is the “I want” power and is in the middle of the prefrontal
cortex, this force keeps track of your goals and desires. Without the prefrontal
cortex it will alter our moral judgement, social emotions, and the way people
respond to moral problems. Also, we would not be able to achieve future goals
we sent for ourselves without the prefrontal cortex. This relates to the class
because this is where people can fight impulsive choices. For example, we will
think about what they really want and make a good decision. The prefrontal
cortex sends messages throughout the body that can lower blood pressure and
heat rate that can help people make better choices. If the decision is bad for a
goal the prefrontal will send a message and it will feel like a punch in the
gut, this will help us have self-control and make the better decision. This
relates to the self-control section of the lectures. McGonigal goes over ways
to improve our decision making and self-control.
Creative:
This is a motivation video that I really like because in
the video the guy mentions a lot of things that are gone the book, and how they
can make us better people, and achieve goals we set.
Extension:
I really like this book, it taught
me a lot of new things. After reading this book I am always thinking about what
I really want, and if the choice I am about to make is going to make my goal
harder or not. I need to have a little self-control to reach my goal. All the consequences
start to come to mind and I can ignore the impulsive choices. Also, some of the
experiments that are mention in the book I find myself doing each day. The main
one that I use is the meditating. When there is a tough decision, I close my
eyes and control my breathing. This helps me realize what I need to do.
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