HOW TO HAVE MORE WILLPOWER - THE WILLPOWER INSTINCT BY KELLY MCGONIGAL ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW
I remember a couple of years ago I used to
get very little sleep. And I really struggled with making the right decisions. Id be
running on four hours of sleep, and when I. Was presented with something healthy to eat
and an unhealthy choice, it was really hard for me to pick the healthy one.
And now a couple of years later, I get plenty of sleep and its so much easier to make
the better decisions.
So whether you need to refrain from eating something unhealthy,
or you need to actually do something productive like working on your project, getting plenty
of sleep will make it so much easier, and I can attest to this from my own experience.
So the first big idea for strong willpower is to get adequate amounts of sleep. When
you dont get enough sleep youre prone to all kinds of stress, and cravings, and
temptation. Research has shown that being sleep deprived is very similar to being mildly
intoxicated which is probably not the best time to be making decisions. And too little
sleep has been shown to cause problems that mimic those associated with ADHD.
So getting
enough sleep is absolutely one of the most important things you can do for your willpower. Now just like you go to the gym to build muscle
and get stronger, you can do the same thing for your brain. And the activity that trains
your brain is meditation. It makes your brain grow denser, packing in more grey matter just
like a muscle bulking up from exercise.
And research has shown that those who meditate
really do have more grey matter in their prefrontal cortex. And the prefrontal cortex is the area
associated with decision making and willpower. Its the part of the brain that gets you
to say no to something unhealthy, and its the part of the brain that gets you to get
up and start working on your project. And the impact of meditation is fascinating.
Even after only a few weeks of being consistent with it, we can already observe the brain
structure physically changing.
You dont need to meditate for hours either. Even a
very short period of meditation is effective. You can start with five minutes of meditation
focusing on your breath and move up to ten, fifteen, or however long you like, but its
much better to be consistent and do only five minutes than be inconsistent. So I would personally
highly recommend starting with five minutes if youre just starting out.
I also get a ton of emails and messages, and
what I used to do before was wake up and check all that stuff first thing in the morning.
And I would spend hours doing that, and then when it was time for me to actually do creative
work, I was just completely exhausted. And this is because willpowers like a muscle.
It gets tired. Its kind of like going to the gym to deadlift, and instead deadlifting
first, you decide its a good idea to run on the treadmill for two hours first and then
deadlift. So by the time youre done running, you probably wont have the energy to deadlift,
and if you somehow do, its not going to be the most effective workout.
And thats exactly how the brain works too.
You start out with your willpower for the
day and then it just keeps getting depleted and depleted. So one of the most important
things Ive done is to wake up and start with my creative work. I never check any of
the messages first thing in the morning anymore because I know my willpowers going to get
depleted. And I know so many people who wake up and
go straight to Facebook or do something else that isnt important.
Dont do that. Youll
deplete your willpower, and then you wont be able to do whats actually important.
Instead, wake up and do that important thing first before your willpower gets depleted. So those are the three of my favorite ideas
from the book that Ive found to be really effective in my life. And to recap them briefly
1.
Make sure youre not sleep deprived. Not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest
enemies to your willpower. 2. Just like you workout to build up muscle,
you can meditate to build up your prefrontal cortex.
3.
Willpowers like a muscle. It gets tired. Dont wake up and get on Facebook first
thing in the morning or do anything else that isnt important, instead do the most important
thing first before your willpower gets depleted..
get very little sleep. And I really struggled with making the right decisions. Id be
running on four hours of sleep, and when I. Was presented with something healthy to eat
and an unhealthy choice, it was really hard for me to pick the healthy one.
And now a couple of years later, I get plenty of sleep and its so much easier to make
the better decisions.
So whether you need to refrain from eating something unhealthy,
or you need to actually do something productive like working on your project, getting plenty
of sleep will make it so much easier, and I can attest to this from my own experience.
So the first big idea for strong willpower is to get adequate amounts of sleep. When
you dont get enough sleep youre prone to all kinds of stress, and cravings, and
temptation. Research has shown that being sleep deprived is very similar to being mildly
intoxicated which is probably not the best time to be making decisions. And too little
sleep has been shown to cause problems that mimic those associated with ADHD.
So getting
enough sleep is absolutely one of the most important things you can do for your willpower. Now just like you go to the gym to build muscle
and get stronger, you can do the same thing for your brain. And the activity that trains
your brain is meditation. It makes your brain grow denser, packing in more grey matter just
like a muscle bulking up from exercise.
And research has shown that those who meditate
really do have more grey matter in their prefrontal cortex. And the prefrontal cortex is the area
associated with decision making and willpower. Its the part of the brain that gets you
to say no to something unhealthy, and its the part of the brain that gets you to get
up and start working on your project. And the impact of meditation is fascinating.
Even after only a few weeks of being consistent with it, we can already observe the brain
structure physically changing.
You dont need to meditate for hours either. Even a
very short period of meditation is effective. You can start with five minutes of meditation
focusing on your breath and move up to ten, fifteen, or however long you like, but its
much better to be consistent and do only five minutes than be inconsistent. So I would personally
highly recommend starting with five minutes if youre just starting out.
I also get a ton of emails and messages, and
what I used to do before was wake up and check all that stuff first thing in the morning.
And I would spend hours doing that, and then when it was time for me to actually do creative
work, I was just completely exhausted. And this is because willpowers like a muscle.
It gets tired. Its kind of like going to the gym to deadlift, and instead deadlifting
first, you decide its a good idea to run on the treadmill for two hours first and then
deadlift. So by the time youre done running, you probably wont have the energy to deadlift,
and if you somehow do, its not going to be the most effective workout.
And thats exactly how the brain works too.
You start out with your willpower for the
day and then it just keeps getting depleted and depleted. So one of the most important
things Ive done is to wake up and start with my creative work. I never check any of
the messages first thing in the morning anymore because I know my willpowers going to get
depleted. And I know so many people who wake up and
go straight to Facebook or do something else that isnt important.
Dont do that. Youll
deplete your willpower, and then you wont be able to do whats actually important.
Instead, wake up and do that important thing first before your willpower gets depleted. So those are the three of my favorite ideas
from the book that Ive found to be really effective in my life. And to recap them briefly
1.
Make sure youre not sleep deprived. Not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest
enemies to your willpower. 2. Just like you workout to build up muscle,
you can meditate to build up your prefrontal cortex.
3.
Willpowers like a muscle. It gets tired. Dont wake up and get on Facebook first
thing in the morning or do anything else that isnt important, instead do the most important
thing first before your willpower gets depleted..
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