Book Report Will Power

 

The Willpower Instinct written by Kelly McGonigal; Ph. D have become an educational read with many acknowledged situations. McGonigal wrote this book to express the importance of strength of will and power of will in our lives, she gave records power of will itself and the manner we use it to our benefit to better our lives. She explains how your mind and frame works together and the manner strength of will and power of will is something that is discovered out and can be practiced at some stage in everyday existence. McGonigal uses real-existence situations in this book to express how the ones strategies for power of will surely make you enjoy more on pinnacle of factors of your existence and make you enjoy better in all aspects. She offers such numerous beneficial tip sand relatable stories to excite the reader and get them triggered to try the one’s mind out for themselves     The most essential element for me in The Willpower Instinct turned into the stories of the human beings which might be private and examples of human beings’ problems or screw ups and the manner they labored and them running through committing to training power of thoughts and self-control. I moreover loved the interactive opportunities in the book which consist of the "under the microscope" which supplied you to comprise your lifestyles and struggles and located the one strategy to work. These techniques can also change my everyday lifestyles and I would really like to comprise them into my everyday lifestyles for the higher reasons. We once in a while do not understand matters about ourselves till a person else may point out it however once in a while you need to appearance within yourself and notice what you may change.     This book associated a lot to this class as some time due to the manner of willpower is linked to each factor of your existence. We discovered pills, meals, and performance, and Endurance. In Endurance, all of Shackleton's group individuals had willpower whilst it got here to meals, attitude, and conduct at some stage in their difficult voyage. Self-manage and self-discipline are not continually something you may see; it is far from something inside yourself this is so important. Another manner this book is hooked up to this class is the manner willpower works. This is something that may be used on the subject of meal selections or drug use. Willpower allows you to apprehend a trouble or failure and assist discover an answer with the aid of using the usage of distinct techniques. This book may be useful to anyone's daily life even if they believe their life is all sorted out.

Grit

 

Grit by Angela Duckworth

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to applying it’s themes throughout my life.  The biggest message throughout the book is that grit is a measure of effort above talent.  Someone who measures high on the grit scale likely works twice as hard as someone who tries to survive on talent alone.  In many circumstances, people with high level of grit will be more successful than those relying solely on talent.  The author spent time trying to compare grit among high achievers and compared that to intelligence, innate ability, or physical anomalies.  Quite often, people who are high achievers put in twice the effort to achieve and maintain their success.

People who are high on the grit scale often do more deliberate practice, fail more often, learn from the failures to correct issues.  One of the more important factors is effective high level goal setting and consistently striving to achieve one’s top-level goal.  The key components of being successful include someone’s interest, how often and hard they practice, believing their goal is their purpose, and having hope they can achieve what they’re attempting to do.   As important as having a goal is having mentors along the way that help one grow.  Whether that’s teachers, coaches, bosses, family members or peers to help guide and support one’s vision. 

My favorite part going through the book was the idea of high level and low-level goal setting and ultimately doing this in a pyramid like structure.  The high-level goal is what you hope are striving to achieve throughout your life, something that gives your life direction.  The author’s concept of high-level goals being written in pen and low-level goals being written in pencil really resonated with me.  The low-level goals should be plentiful and are the likely steps needed to be taken to reach the high-level goal.  One should be prepared to fail at the low level goals or abandon them all together through the personal growth process.  Continuing to find new ways to work towards the main high-level goal as one’s life evolves is key to being able to achieve the desired end result.

I believe that this book directly correlates to the book Endurance and what they went through.  The determination to survive was their high-level goal.  Every step it took to get through the extreme environment would be considered low-level goals to achieve the ultimate goal of survival.  Continually working, and at times failing in their low-level goals helped them learn what would keep them alive long enough to survive.  Their entire experience is truly the definition of persistence and grit.  

I look forward to applying this to my everyday life in terms of setting important high-level goals that go beyond what’s right in front of me.  For example, one of my main high-level goals is to become a nurse.  I’m currently on my path to do so, and one of the low levels goals is completing this class.  Another would be completing the Nursing Program through Stockton starting in the spring.  There are several steps along the way that I need to accomplish to achieve my high-level goal that I’m writing in pen, and make sure that no short-term failures on lower level goal discourage me from achieving my high level goal. 

 

https://angeladuckworth.com/research/  - Grit Scale

https://greatperformersacademy.com/motivation/15-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-their-first-try

Book Report: The Influential Mind

The book that I chose to read for my report was The Influential Mind, written by Tali Sharot. This book focuses on an individual's ability to influence others in a negative and positive way. The author considers this influence in the context of roles, specifically our roles in life. The book explains in various manners why people are stuck in their ways and hesitant to change their thoughts and behavior. This is caused by prejudices, natural born tendencies, emotions, selfishness and a need for control. The author's intention of this book is to help others understand the inconsistent success of persuasion and apprehension in society. 

Chapter one immediately grabbed my attention with it focusing on a topic I continually ask myself all the time, “Does Evidence Change Beliefs?” The author begins with a scenario of a  married couple who can't agree where to settle down. Both want to settle in their home countries but the problem is that they each have their own, which is thousands of miles apart. They each present evidence to each other supporting why their point is better, but they still can not agree. Through this scenario the author emphasizes how data does not always change minds although it may be accurate. People are not driven by data but belief and emotions. Data is useless to our brains because naturally people side with what makes them feel good or what beliefs have been instilled in their minds over their life. Ms. Sharots research has led him to these conclusions, for example he asked a group of volunteers their opinions of climate change. The conclusion from this was that people only changed their views if evidence or data was in their favor. Our human nature is to support material that goes with whatever preconceived notions that we have. 

This book reminded me a lot of the reproduction chapter in class, specifically the topic of mate selection. We as humans are selfish and want to be with a partner who can benefit emotionally, mentally and physically. In the video shown in class, people who were highly rated were sought after the most. People want a partner who has higher attractiveness or financial means. This concept is similar to the book, people seek information that benefits them. When information does not benefit one's personal agenda, it is cast away or considered last. By default the mind looks for what it is attracted to, whether that be information or a boyfriend. Our minds hold so much power that we sometimes forget. 

I believe that Ms.Sharot's ideas can be used in our everyday lives because he exposes all of the ways in which we remain stuck in our ways and prevent ourselves from expanding our knowledge and changing our beliefs. I think we need this today more than ever because whether the topic is vaccines, abortions or health care, every one refuses to look at any other perspective that is  not theirs. You have to open up your mind to be able to accept anything into it. For example, If our U.S government officials were more open minded, more laws and legislation would be passed. Instead of the back and forth or striking down of potentially beneficial and life changing legislation. The type of thinking that the author is calling out is heavily present in congress and other governmental authorities.

Book Report

If you're like me I read the title of this book and was immediately curious. How can anyone be against empathy? I chose the book Against Empathy by Paul Bloom because I feel as if I'm on the opposite side of Bloom's argument however it did make me have a different viewpoint on empathy. In the book, Bloom discusses how empathy isn't perfect and it actually has more of a negative effect than a positive one. Empathy is an emotional response that allows humans to feel what other people are going through. This book was more of a persuasive argument throughout today's society. Even though an individual may not realize they're being biased towards a situation they have underlying biased viewpoints that can occur from empathy. I disagree with how he states that you can't put yourself in everyone's shoes because of being biased. I do believe in life people can abuse Empathy. Spirituality and compassion I do believe could be an alternate sources of unintentional bias. This book definitely had me look at situations differently but my viewpoint on empathy has not changed, just enhanced my knowledge of it. I do believe however think empathy can be bad in a situation like giving a child a toy or I pad just so they don't cry. If the individual is portraying empathy in the long term, it will become a negative outcome. The child will believe that then they will get whatever they want. Empathy can manifest itself in physical ways, which is why I feel it was a good book to relate to in our class. It showed that even though you can feel empathy it shouldn't always be shown or it should be shown just in different ways is what this book was focused on. Overall this book was a very educational read that I felt made me gain more knowledge on how empathy can be viewed differently.

POST 3- MOTIVATION

Motivation is very important. In doing anything, a person needs motivation. Motivation in needed for everything. For me to get motivated, I really need to watch videos of motivation. The thing I really need motivation in is homework and cleaning my room. Sometimes I procrastinate and it ends up taking really long for me to finish my work. I watch motivation videos and it boosts me up. I watch cleaning videos and people doing homework and getting things done and it helps me do my chores. I’ll just give myself a time limit of two hours and try to get every chore really fast and take my time with my homework.

POST 2- SELF CONTROL

Self-control is a major thing in a every day lifestyle. Self control starts from the smallest things in your life to the major parts of your life. Whether it’s an argument or a habit a person wants to change about them selves or anything that needs determination, a person has to have self-control. For example, in a argument if a person has self control they will either leave the argument and walk away, and it might make things better. Them having self control will make them stronger as an individual when facing difficulties and challenges later in life. Self control is like having composure and it can help ease problems.

POST 1- Addiction

    Many people go through addiction. Addiction us something where you can’t let something go rather it be drugs or alcohol or or something even legal, like caffeine. It’s being stuck to some thing and not being able to let it go. It’s very dangerous being addicted to alcohol or drugs because if a person overdoses on it they could potentially die and not be saved. Addiction shouldn’t be taken lightly and as soon as a person feels like they can’t live without that one substance that is really bad for them they should immediately stop. People have died and suffered and times have changed now where people should think better for themselves but addiction is only bringing them down.

Book Report The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

 Before starting my book report I clicked on each option to find a book that I can relate to as well as a book that will motivate me.The book “The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It”  was written by Kelly McGonigal , Narrated by  Walter Dixon  , and published by Penguin Audio. I ordered the audio to the book instead of the paper back because I enjoy listening to motivational and inspiring audio throughout my day. I feel as though it helps my focus as well as my mood. It is a form of building a stronger mental health in my opinion. The book mainly speaks on willpower and helps us to be in control of every aspect of our lives. Lack of willpower is one of the main reasons others aren't able to reach their goals . Most of our lives are dictated by impulse

The book Willpower was written to help manage stress and change struggle. I enjoyed reading the book and being able to read about others personal experiences of willpower and what they had achieved once they gained self control. McGonigal uses real life scenarios such as someone being in debt or having a gambling problem. These types of people have used worn out strategies which causes more stress and self sabotage. When presented  the best strategies for training willpower a person is able to understand self control and take the necessary steps. They are able to pay down their debt and get their lives back on track.

McGonigal uses willpower to assist readers in understanding that we are in charge of our choices. A strategy used by McGonigal is breaking old habits and being able to concentrate on the new ones in order for us to be successful. She also states how we can resist our impulsives and temptations. I agree with her statement, another favorite part of the book is about procrastination. I am able to relate to procrasanting and not being able to get things done. I have found  myself procrastinating a lot, not being able to focus or control my impulses. These are some of the reasons I decided on this book instead of the others. After reading Willpower I was able to complete all of my work ontime as well as get things done in my personal life. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for those who need a little push. Lastly I wanted to state that this book demonstrates the limits of understanding control. Having the willpower will help us better understand our behaviors and teach us strategies to overcome obstacles throughout our lives.

Below is a youtube video link of Kelly McGonigal speaking on Willpower and providing examples : 

The Science of Willpower: Kelly McGonigal at TEDxBayArea

Book Report: The Influential Mind

     In the book The Influential Mind by Tali Sharot, it discusses the brain and how we think, feel, and make decisions is all done by the neurons going off in your brain. This is not lead to be true as some people believe that all brains have a code and this code is constantly changed as we go along and learn different things. Influence also plays a big role in what the author believes is why we think and act in specific ways. In the book they give examples and the reasoning behind why we may act that way or think a certain way. Each part of the book is broken into sections, priors, emotions, incentives, agency, curiosity, state, and others, all of which provide stories and examples as to how these things influence our brain and the effect these things can have on us. Overall, when trying to have influence over someone because that is not how we are able to operate. To be effective there must be a match between what is trying to be done and the "core elements" that are compatible with the workings of the brain. 

    A part of this book that I enjoyed was in the last section, "Is 'Unanimous' as reassuring as it Sounds?". In this section of the book the author talks about when given information or asked questions their is an influence on how you will respond or act as a result. She gives several real life examples and even made it an interactive experience where she asked the readers questions to answer. In one part of the book their was a series of three questions, I answered them all and then continued reading to see the correct answers and I got all the questions wrong but I seemed to give all the same wrong answers that other people had given. I found this quite interesting and was just something I enjoyed about the book. This can closely relate to the section of this class on performance and how given correct or incorrect responses to something can change the levels in which a person can become mentally stimulated. I also liked the authors inclusion of many pictures and diagrams. 

The book closely relates back to this course because it is informative on what can influence someone to react in a particular way or show a certain emotion. In the novel, Endurance, the men were put in positions where they may have felt different emotions leading them to be influenced to do different tasks. Our brain and the influence outside sources can have can be main motivators for why people do things and I think the things described in this book give good insight to how motivation can be linked to how our brains work and process certain things. 

This book is definitely one that can get someone thinking beyond just for this class. It gives a whole new perspective on why someone may think something or do something that may not have been done without some sort of influence. This can help us to get a better understanding on current issues in the world and why something was done in a particular way.

The video below demonstrates how the brain reacts to stimuli and the emotions projected to the outside world when we are threatened or rewarded. 

Book Report: The Influental Mind

 The Influental Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others is written by a neuroscientist named Tali Sharot. Throughout this novel Tali Sharot's purpose is to explain to the reader how human minds are influenced in many different ways. She aims to explain why many people fail to influence others, how we can influence others and how to realize when we are being influenced by others. There are seven key elements that the author guides us throughout the book. These include an individual's prior beliefs, emotions, incentives, agency, curiosity, state of mind and social knowledge. Sharot states that if you want to influence other people and alter their minds, then you have to think about what goes into your "seven key elements" and align it with the other individual. A great point that Sharot made in the book was that positive emotions are so powerful when it comes to influencing others and helps a lot because people are bias toward positive vibrations rather than negative. It was extremely interesting reading this book because of the different ways the author explains things from many different perspectives.

    I enjoyed this book because prior to reading this, the influence of others and the science that goes into that is something I have never thought about before. This is something that happens in our everyday life which is so interesting to me and made the book extremely enjoyable. My favorite part was The Incredible Sway of Emotion section because I feel like that was the section I could relate to the most out of all of them. I relate to it in the sense that I have encountered times throughout my life where I was influenced by someone due to their positive attitude. For example, if someone needs help and has a very positive attitude and is very kind approaching you, you are more likely to help them rather then someone who approaches you in a rude way and has a negative attitude. The main reason why I enjoyed this book so much was because it was so relatable yet something that I have never thought too deeply about before.

Post 3: Impulsivity & Self control

 When it comes to impulsivity and self control, everyone is different. Impulsivity is when acting before thinking something through fully. Self control is the ability to control oneself, specifically ones emotions and desires or the expression of them in ones behavior. When their is a lack of self control there can be negative effects and consequences, such as indulging excess amount of foods or drugs/ alcohol. But, self control can also be positive but not only does it take will power but the though of the conflicting outcomes the action may have is enough for someone to have a lot of self control. Same goes for impulsivity, but the outcomes are typically more negative rather than positive. Acting on an impulse can sometimes feel exciting for someone, depending on the situation, but they don't usually get the outcome they wanted and this can lead to issues down the line. 

In the video I linked below it talks about how ADHD can impact the brains ability to act on an impulse and lead children to sometimes not make the best choices with the best outcomes.

Post 2: Drugs

 Psychoactive drugs have a very large range as to what they can be and how often they are used and/ or abused. Psychoactive drugs are drugs that alter mood and behaviors, all of which can be different for the user. These drugs can range from things like caffeine and nicotine to more extreme like methamphetamine and heroine. These drugs are addictive substances that can ruin lives, typically the substances like alcohol, meth, cocaine, etc. Signs of addiction are the intense feeling of craving the drug at all times or needing it to function. Trying to quit using these types of drugs can be very challenging and requires treatment or programs, when it is a bad drug addiction. The feeling the drug gives a person can cause dependence whether it be something like coffee or a vape to cocaine or pills.

Post 1: Reproduction

 For some people finding a partner can come easy and for others it make take more time. Is it biology, standards, or just pure attractiveness to someone? Sexual selection is one sex selecting an individual for mating based on some traits including physical attractiveness. Though, there is more involved that goes beyond just physical traits, many time people take into consideration things such as, ambition, desire for children, humor, compassion, etc. Men tend to look for women with attractive features as this is believed to be linked to being fertile and having healthy offspring. Women lean more towards men they feel will be able to provide and support for a family. Overall, selecting a mate has several factors but many of them have to do with some sort of attractiveness or the likeness of being about to produce children. 

In the video clip, the man describes mate value and how each part contributes to what can make someone have a high or low mate value.

Peak Book Report

 Peak was written by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool examines various concepts which the author explains how some people can use to achieve extraordinary levels of performance by practicing the correct way. The book explains the common way of thinking that people’s potential in various fields are limited, Ericson and Pool explain how this way of thinking is incorrect. Throughout the book they recount stories in which people challenge their brains along with great research provided. The brain itself is quite adaptable and with the correct training the adaptability of the brain can achieve things that people would not think were possible. Similar to the way muscle’s grow as a result of physical training, the brain is able to grow with the help of mental training.

Overall the book was a great read! At some point I will say it felt a bit repetitive, however the research is extremely fascinating. I like how the authors examine prodigies such as Mozart, Serena Williams and Picasso in detail along with how they became what they are known for today along with how they improved their skills. As a society we look at these people as born with their great skills, we see them as people of the highest tier and we think of them as beyond a regular person we come across the streets. However we could not not be more wrong. They were just like us, normal people who admired others with great skills. However they went beyond regular human thinking and challenged themselves and worked hard to perfect their skills.

Below I have attached two links, both of which are about a man named David Goggin's. I first stumbled upon his story when scrolling through YouTube and of all people I have come across or watched a video about, this man is beyond one of the toughest people I have ever read about. The first link is of him accepting the VFW Americanism Award and the second is a link to his audible book. This man has gone through a lot in his life, his stories will push you to think that if he can endure all of the things that happened in his life then I can get through my small issues in my life. He grew up in poverty with an abusive father and he faced a lot of prejudice in his life. Goggin's was able to change his mindset and from being a depressed 300 pound man with no future whatsoever working as an exterminator to a US Armed Force hero being the only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy Seal, Army Ranger and an Air Tactical Air Controller. Along with setting many records in endurance events along with being named “The Fittest Man in America '' in Outside Magazine. His story makes you see how it's all about the right mindset and his book inspired me to change my way of thinking. I encourage anyone to read his book, it is a great read!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJMwKQSovjo 

https://www.audible.com/pd/Cant-Hurt-Me-Audiobook/B07KKMNZCH?source_code=GPAGBSH0508140001&ipRedirectOverride=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3KqKxby1-QIVETizAB0dIwEKEAQYASABEgIRMvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Conditioned Taste Aversions

 

Conditioned Taste Aversion

Some people have lifelong taste aversions to food due to conditioned responses in their past.  If someone has a terrible experience with a stomach illness near eating a specific food, that person can prefer to not eat that food in the future because they believe that food will lead to a negative response.  This conditioned taste aversion can happen after one specific memorable episode, or can happen after several smaller, less memorable negative responses happen over time.  These taste aversion stimuli can be outside or environmental factors that have nothing to do with the food itself.  A person could ultimately spend their entire life avoiding a specific type or kind of food that is otherwise enjoyable to most of the population.

 

 

 

Mate Value

 

Mate Value

Picking a mate that has a mate value very similar to one’s own is important for longevity of relationships.  Understanding that mate value changes over time is a critical part in lasting relationships also.  Potential partners should look at where they and their potential partner currently are and what their long-term prospects for growth are.  Being honest with one’s own mate value is as important as identifying their potential partner’s mate value.  To find a “high value” mate, one needs to position themselves to be a “high value” partner as well.  If there is too much of a discrepancy between the “mate values” of potential partners, the relationship will struggle to be successful.  Priority mate values differ for everyone, some prefer confidence, others prefer financial security, dominance, or physical attributes.

 

 

Willpower and Smoking

 

Willpower and Smoking

Some people attempt to quit smoking completely through willpower instead of understanding that cigarette smoking is an addiction.  The body is physically addicted to the nicotine and no matter how much an individual thinks that have the will power to do it on their own because they feel they’re strong willed.  The addiction to nicotine quite often is stronger than the willpower to stop just to stop.  People often need to change their behavioral patterns throughout all the parts of their lives in which smoking played a roll.  It’s important for people that want to quit to identify all those patterns of behavior that drive them towards smoking and how to replace those behaviors with other things instead of the cigarette.  Deeper relationships need to be created with things other than the cigarettes, like working out, eating better, or personal relationships.  Only 5% of people who quit “cold turkey”, or through will power alone, remain non-smokers after six to twelve months.  Most relapse within 8 days.  Failure is to be expected and should be looked at as dress rehearsals to get to the point where someone can finally get it right.

 

Reply to Angela Procrastination

 

Reply to Angela Procrastination : I have also been struggling with procrastination these past few months. Usually i'm on top of my game because I am an overthinker and plan months in advance which gives me anxiety. I feel that mental health plays a big role in our procrastination. ( site will not allow me to comment only make posts.)

Reply to Milo Addiction

 Reply to Milo Addiction  : I agree that when people hear the word addiction they automatically think of drug or alcohol use. I find that one of the biggest addictions in Atlantic County is gambling. I know many people who live in Atlantic city have to gamble everyday because the casinos are nearby so it becomes tempting and they are unable to control their impulses. ( Site isn't allowing me to reply only to make post )

Food

 When it comes to innate food preference I agree one hundred percent. During my pregnancy I mainly ate cereal. Now I have a picky toddler who only likes to eat cereal and pbj sandwiches. From the lectures I have learned that humans and rats have an innate preference for salt when deprived of it.. That was my first time hearing that. I thought that humans would have more of a preference for sugar when deprived. It is also not a shock that we as humans have a preference for fat. I feel that one of the main causes for that is that most of our food from stores has some sort of fat in the ingredients.

Rewards and Conditioning

 I enjoyed the lecture on rewards and conditioning. Around my birthday I rescued a puppy from the animal shelter and named her Luna. She was not house trained  or leash trained when I received her. I had to put puppy pads everywhere and when we went for walks she was scared. In order to house train her I gave her a treat and said “good girl” every time she went on the puppy pad and not  the floor. Soon after I began to walk her more and she went to the bathroom outside. I then began to give her treats every time she went. Giving her those rewards while going outside resulted in her being house trained. Now she is able to wait until my lunch break or until I get off of work to use the bathroom. She also has learned that every time I grab her leash she we are going for a walk so she sits by the door and waits.

Finding a partner comment reply to Delia

 Finding a partner comment reply to Delia: I agree that when finding a partner the most common characteristic is physical attractiveness. Although some may have an attractive appearance their personality and attitudes tend to be negative. I found it interesting that when someone is beautiful there is more of a possibility that they are able to have healthier babies.

( It won't allow me to comment only allows me to make post)

Self Control

 I've learned that self control is one of the key factors in our lives in order to be successful. Having self control teaches us patience and we often receive positive  outcomes. While viewing the lectures I saw a video of children being given a marshmallow. The children were told if they wait and do not eat the first marshmallow they will be given a second one as a reward. This video goes to show that  having self control often ends in rewards. The children who controlled themselves and did not eat the marshmallow were rewarded with a second marshmallow. Another example of having self control is the amount of time we speed on our phones or on social media. When we put our phones down we tend to be more productive compared to when we sit on our phones all day. We have to control ourselves in order to get things done.

Book Report

    The book I chose to red is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book consists of three parts. Part one talks about habits in individuals. Things like why people make unhealthy choices or healthy choices. Why people are in harmful patterns, and dissecting those harmful patterns with tips to alter them. The second part talks about habit in businesses. This explains a lot of companies prosper my focusing on one thing, and how things sell to the public. The last part is habits in society. A major topic within this part was how societies join together to cause change and what is required to incite those waves of change amongst entire communities and populations. This section talked a lot about the civil rights movement and how it was sparked through people's ability to join together and make a difference. Here is a video talking about some of the biggest lessons learned from this book.

https://youtu.be/5Ws2WfeD6d8

    My favorite part of the book was when Dungy was the coach of The Bucs and was trying to win Superbowl by a very specific technique. Dungy only focused of simple and basic plays where a cue resulted in a routine. He wanted to drill those plays into his players head so they become habit. The purpose of this is for the players to act without thinking leaving no room for mistakes. I liked this part because I really do see how doing something so often leads to muscle memory and even the most complicated stressful things become second nature. Like someone who is obsessively rock climbs but has no fear. This reminded me of the Yerkes-Dodson Law. The Yerkes-Dodson law displays when stimulation increases so does arousal but when optimal arousal is reached performance begins to decline. This is a major concept in sports psychology. Furthermore, the Cusp Catastrophe Model says that cognitive and physical arousal engage to alter one's performance. If arousal continues when performance is optimal catastrophe will ensue. Dungy wanted his players to be so calm and comfortable in their plays that the arousal never gets too high. They never stress or stop to think so arousal doesn't keep elevating causing performance to drop. This was one of my favorite take-aways from the book as a reminder to always stay calm and stress free to best achieve whatever I'm trying to accomplish.

    One thought I've had after reading this book is using techniques from the business portion of the book to aid climate change. A big suggestion I learned from this section is to focus on one change at a time .  In the book it was the safety of the employees, maybe as a society we can really focus on one major thing that is impacting our environment. Like supplying every infrastructure with solar panels to decrease greenhouse emissions. Maybe other positive changes will follow naturally just like the business that only focused on the safety of employees.

Book Report: Grit

This book was a fantastic read about the power of passion and perseverance. To summarize, Dr.Duckworth  is a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Her studies of grit began when she was teaching math to seventh graders. She realized IQ wasn't the only factor separating successful students from those who struggled, and that grit was the difference. She breaks down her book into three parts to help parents, teachers, and mentors to help guide students to achieve success for themselves and no one else. The first part talks about what grit exactly is and why it matters in life. Part two describes the four bases of grit which are interest, practice, purpose, and hope. While part three talks about how parents, teachers, and mentors can instill grit into their children and students. 

My favorite part was when she also mentions her personal struggles with her father. He always wanted her to be successful and had very conventional views about work and success. Every time she was shut down by her father, it gave her more drive and grit. This relates to Shackleton's voyage in Endurance because they all needed to have grit and passion to succeed in order to survive the journey. Each wave that crashed and wind that howled during Shackleton's journey was like Angelas father shutting her down during her life. I think younger students, especially middle and high school students need to read this book as a course requirement. It will help them gain a better understanding of the importance and power of grit so they can be ready for the next steps in their lives whether it is college, moving schools, or for any life situations they could come across.

Here is a link for her Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8 

Endurance Book Report

 In Endurance by Alfred Lansing, Ernest Shackleton recruits a squad of 27 men to take on an extreme voyage. They started in the United Kingdom and planned on traveling all the way to South Georgia. Pretty early on in the book their ship had been crushed by ice and they had no choice but to abandon it. Their whole mission went out the window when this happened and now they were just trying to get to an island to be rescued. They missed that island and floated way past it and there were only two more islands they could possibly settle at before it was just open water. They were all in extremely small boats at this point and were hardly getting any sleep. Once they arrive at Elephant Island the crew created shelter there and eventually Shackleton decided to bring five men with him in a small boat to travel over 800 miles to South Georgia Island where they would hope to find rescue. On their way to South Georgia they encounter the Drake Passage which is one of the deadliest seas in the world, but they made it through all the way to South Georgia despite the small boat and treacherous weather. Once Shackleton got to South Georgia he got a big boat and went to rescue the rest of his crew and although it took a while he rescued all other crew members. Surprisingly, all of the 27 men they started the voyage with survived.

    The theme of this book that I took away from this was that no matter how difficult something may be whether its physical or mental, if you want something bad enough or are passionate about something you can achieve it as long as you never give up and keep trying. The crew members of this ship throughout the entire time displayed outstanding determination, grit and willpower to never give up no matter how terrible a situation got. This was the part I enjoyed most about the book which was just enjoying the pure motivation and courage that these men constantly had despite any circumstances. This book is truly an inspiration to me because it showed me that if I want something bad enough to never quit no matter how hard it gets because there is beauty in the struggle and it will all workout in the end.

The Willpower Instinct book report

    The Willpower Instinct written by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D was an educational read with many relatable situations. When I first chose this book, I was interested but no completely sold that I would enjoy it as much as I did. McGonigal wrote this book to express the importance of willpower and self-control in our lives, she gave facts about self-control itself and how we use it to our advantage to better our lives. She used language everyone could understand so that each reader could enjoy without feeling overwhelmed with a bunch of scientific words. She explains how your mind and body work together and how willpower and self-control is something that is learned and can be practiced throughout everyday life. McGonigal uses real-life situations in this book to express how these strategies for self-control can actually make you feel more in control of your life and make you feel better in all aspects. She provides so many helpful tip sand relatable stories to excite the reader and get them motivated to try these ideas out for themselves. She encourages readers to pick a current situation and try some of these strategies until they've found the one that they could work on to understand their problem, failures, and successes. It is an amazing book to try self-control and willpower strategies, especially if you have no experience with this kind of focus or thinking. 

    My favorite part of The Willpower Instinct was the personal stories and examples of people's problems or failures and how they worked through them by committing to practicing willpower and self-control. I also loved the interactive opportunities within the book such as the "under the microscope" and "Willpower experiments" which provided you to incorporate your life and struggles and put these methods to the test. I found myself taking a break from reading and thinking closely about current situations in my life before trying to use these strategies to change them. This book made me think more in depth about my own personal life, which I found so interesting because I do not examine my own life often. I enjoyed reading this book so much because it was not simply reading about others experiences or struggles, it actually gave you a closer looker at your own life, which is not always so easy. 

    This book related so much to this class as a while because of the way willpower and self-control are connected to almost every aspect of your life. We learned about drugs, food, and performance, and Endurance. As I read Endurance, I noticed all of Shackleton's crew members had self-control when it came to food, attitude, and behavior throughout their tough voyage. Self-control and willpower are not always something you can see; it is something within yourself that is so important. This was displayed in Endurance because of the way the men carried on even when it seemed impossible. Another way this book is connected to this class is the way self-control works, like the I won't, I will, and I want ideas. This is something that can be used when it comes to food decisions or drug use. Willpower and self-control can help you understand a problem or failure and help find a solution by using different strategies, such as I will make healthier food choices, or I won't use drugs today. This book can be helpful to anyone's life even if they think they have their mind and body completely under control. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I want to try more of these strategies in my personal life. 

Here are some helpful tips on willpower and self-control and a short video about how to increase willpower!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZdvsDhOkWY

Addiction

 Addiction is something that humans from a variety of ages can struggle with young and old. When the average person hears the word addiction I feel like they automatically think of illegal drugs and substances, but people can be addicted to legal substances as well such as coffee/caffeine, alcohol or cigarettes and nicotine. Common drug addictions people have are usually to drugs such as pain pills, cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine just to name a few. Addiction is basically something when a human gets an extreme craving and feels like they need a certain substance. Many drug abusers get addicted to the feeling that the drug brings them and they just want more and more. Addiction is an extremely dangerous thing that is very hard to overcome, but very possible if determined. 

Self Control

 Self control is something that we don't think about all the time or even notice in our everyday lives but it plays a role in a lot of the things that we do. Self control can have an effect on things such as your health, careers or relationships. For example, if an individual is trying to lose weight and get in better shape they have to have self discipline. If a couple days in a row the individual doesn't want to go to the gym or workout because they are tired, but they make themselves do it anyway, that is positive self control. That is good because even though they don't want to, they are controlling themselves to go anyway because they know the benefits that can come with it. If an individual has complete self control it can be extremely beneficial for their lives.

Self-Control

 Self- control or Self-Management is not an issue of willpower but an issue of conflicting outcomes. Self-control is to delay short-term gratification in favor of long-term gratification. It's an investment of cognitive, emotional and behavioral resources to achieve a desired investment. Self-control involves resisting temptation, impulses and habits that often undermine self-control. Self-commitment is the development of valuable patterns of behavior that bridge over individual temptations. Sustainability of “positive addictions” include  social activity or exercise, for “negative addictions "this includes drug abuse or overeating. 

Finding a partner

 When finding a partner there are many things that play a role in our decision making. Physical attractiveness is a main characteristic that most people use when selecting a partner. In fact in nature peacocks spread their feathers in mating rituals to attract peahens along with producing particular sounds, these are mate values. Mate values are characteristics that make them desirable to another person as a mate, some examples of mate values include one being emotionally stable, faithful, loyal, financially secure etc. People with higher attractiveness are better at attracting mates and they also have more sexual experiences. The good gene hypothesis examines the beauty signals that a person with good genes has such as intelligence, good immune systems, healthy babies, and good parenting. People select partners with high mate value and people do not select partners with low mate value.

 

Incentives

 Incentives are things that motivate or encourage someone to do something. In other words it is external stimuli that motivate behavior to occur. Positive incentives motivate approach behavior while negative incentives motivate avoidance behavior. The value of the incentive and the attractiveness of it is based on objective properties whether that is number or amount. The utility of the incentive is subjective value and based on it providing satisfaction, pleasure and usefulness. There are a number of variables that affect the subjective value or utility of an incentive. The more valuable incentives are described by bigger and better, and less valuable incentives by less or smaller. Incentives are used in various areas whether that's recognition and rewards, to improve morale or create motivation.

Profitization of Coffee

 Food and drink chains such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts are profiting off of the selling of drinks, especially coffee. Some may say what is the issue with that? I say the issue becomes prevalent when we have millions of Americans becoming addicted to these sugary and aesthetically appealing drinks. Although coffee is beneficial in small doses, the large and extra large cups full of creamer, caramel and whipped cream present potential health risk. There are too many Americans walking around overweight or with diseases such as diabetes. And,  stores like these ones add to the nationwide problem. I do not know how many times I heard someone say "I cant live without my morning coffee" or "I think I am addicted to Starbucks." Coffee is a drug that people are becoming addicted too and the health risk are not being advertised. The only thing I see on television is further advertising on the coffee trend from more and more food chains. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqAMr-ztG8o

Book Report: The Power of Habits

The Power of Habits, by Charles Duhigg, is a book that can give one a different perspective on the power of habits because of its ability to control our lives and our societies. This book gives us the ability to see how we don’t realize how much power habits have over our life and our societies because he talks about how habits become automatic responses meaning they become innate to the point we don’t even realize we are doing a specific action because we have normalize it. That is why in this book it goes into further detail on how awareness can help us tap into our habits and see which habits uplift us or bring us down. It’s a book that helps one to know how to break unhealthy habits and become conscious. Now, one of my favorite parts in this book is chapter two when he writes about Claude C. Hopkins, who wanted people to buy his toothpaste and convince people into buying his product by promoting better smiles. Better smiles would signal to the brain that the product worked and he constructed a worldwide habit. However, as time went by what was discovered was that people only believed that they had clean teeth if they felt tingles in their mouth as they brushed their teeth, showing me that the sensation they craved lead to their reward. Lastly, this book could help solve real life problems within myself and current issues because of its ability of showing me how easy it is to dismiss unhealthy habits. If we are not aware of our unhealthy habits than how will we realize the unhealthy habits that have taken a toll on lives, so yes this book has the ability to help me solve real issues.