Kelly McGonigal: "The Willpower Instinct" | Talks at Google

Great talk about developing willpower:

 

I should probably write some key takeaways from the talk, although I recommend checking it out for yourselves.

1. Sleeping well, meditating, exercising and eating healthy (no/less sugar and plenty of fiber) increases willpower. (What I've read in the book Willpower (link) is that sugar gives us a short boost of willpower, but in the long run it wrecks havoc on our willpower by making our blood sugar unbalanced).

2. Forgiving yourself after a setback reduces the risk of having another one. If we put ourselves down and feel bad about ourselves, we're less likely to have the willpower to resist urges and more likely to engage in them, to distract ourselves from the unpleasant guilt and shame.

3. Feeling connected to your future self increases the likelihood of behavior that benefit us on in the long run.

4. Prepare for challenges and obstacles. Plan strategies for when temptations arise.

5. Mindful acceptance improves willpower, we can experience urges without acting on them. We can just observe them and let them be.

Also, everything she talks about has been shown to be effective in scientific studies.