1 CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Willpower is actually three powers—I will, I won’t, and I want—that help us to be a better version of ourselves. Under the Microscope • What is the harder thing? Imagine yourself facing your willpower challenge, and doing the harder thing. What makes it hard? • Meet your two minds. For your willpower challenge, describe your two competing selves. What does the impulsive version of you want? What does the wiser version of you want? Willpower Experiments • Track your willpower choices. For at least one day, try to notice every decision you make related to your willpower challenge. • Five-minute brain-training meditation. Focus on your breath using the words “inhale” and “exhale” in your mind. When your mind wanders, notice, and bring it back to the breath. 2013-05-31 09:13:47 回应 2 CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Willpower is a biological instinct, like stress, that evolved to help us protect ourselves from ourselves. Under the Microscope • What is the threat? For your willpower challenge, identify the inner impulse that needs to be restrained. • Stress and self-control. Notice when stress strikes throughout the day or week, and watch what happens to your self-control. Do you experience cravings? Lose your temper? Put off things you know you should do? Willpower Experiments • Breathe your way to self-control. Slow down your breathing to four to six breaths per minute to shift into the physiological state of self-control. • The five-minute green willpower fill-up. Get active outdoors—even just a walk around the block—to reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost motivation. • Zzzzzzzzzz. Undo the effects of sleep deprivation with a nap or one good night’s sleep. • Relax to restore your willpower reserve. Lie down, breathe deeply, and let the physiological relaxation response help you recover from the demands of self-control and daily stress. 2013-06-01 14:33:51 回应 3 CHAPTER SUMMARY • A willpower workout. When you find your biggest want power—the motivation that gives you strength when you feel weak—bring it to mind whenever you find yourself most tempted to give in or give up. or keeping track of something you aren’t used to paying close attention to. • A willpower workout. Make sure that your body is well fueled with food that gives you lasting energy. protects the environment)? • Who do you think you are? When you think about your willpower challenge. Make sure that your body is well fueled with food that gives you lasting energy. Under the Microscope • Virtue and vice. with special interest in when you have the most willpower. Under the Microscope • The highs and lows of willpower. When you find your biggest want power • The willpower diet. forget virtue. examine whether you can go beyond that first feeling of fatigue to take one more step. fat-free. or keeping track of something you aren’t used to paying close attention to. Exercise your self-control muscle by picking one thing to do (I will power) or not do (I won’t power) this week.The Idea: Self-control is like a muscle. and when you are most likely to give in or give up. and focus on goals and values. then give yourself permission to do something “bad”? • Are you borrowing credit from tomorrow? Do you tell yourself you will make up for today’s behavior tomorrow—and if so. being good gives us permission to be bad. Willpower Experiments • The willpower diet. 2013-06-03 15:21:29 回应 4 CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: When we turn willpower challenges into measures of moral worth. • Find your “want” power. • Is your exhaustion real? The next time you find yourself “too tired” to exert self-control..g. do you follow through? • Halo effects. Do you justify a vice because of one virtuous aspect (e. For better self-control. which part of you feels like the “real” you—the part of you who wants to pursue the goal. Keep track of your self-control strength this week. • Find your “want” power. Do you tell yourself you’ve been “good” when you succeed at a willpower challenge. but regular exercise makes it stronger. Exercise your self-control muscle by picking one thing to do (I will power) or not do (I won’t power) this week. discount savings. It gets tired from use. or the part of you who needs to be controlled? Willpower Experiments . And so the promise of happiness—not the direct experience of happiness—is the brain’s strategy to keep you hunting. motivate yourself by linking it with something that gets your dopamine neurons firing. television. • The stress of desire. gathering. 2013-06-04 09:55:49 回应 5 CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Our brains mistake the promise of reward for a guarantee of happiness. 2013-06-03 15:22:27 回应 5 Evolution doesn’t give a damn about happiness itself. Look for how retailers and marketers try to trigger the promise of reward. Under the Microscope .g. shopping. and dropping guilt makes you stronger. Willpower Experiments • Dopaminize your “I will” power challenge. For your willpower challenge. pause and think about why you were “good. but will use the promise of happiness to keep us struggling to stay alive.. Willpower Experiments • Dopaminize your “I will” power challenge. The next time you find yourself using past good behavior to justify indulging. Mindfully indulge in something your brain tells you will make you happy but that never seems to satisfy (e. Notice when wanting triggers stress and anxiety. and online time-wasters). Under the Microscope • What gets your dopamine neurons firing? What unleashes that promise of reward that compels you to seek satisfaction? • Neuromarketing and environmental triggers. If there’s something you’ • Neuromarketing and environmental triggers. Notice when wanting triggers stress and anxiety. Does reality match the brain’s promises? 2013-06-16 23:43:40 回应 6 CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Feeling bad leads to giving in. aim to reduce the variability of your behavior day to day. snack food. so we chase satisfaction from things that do not deliver. and wooing. working. • The stress of desire.” not whether you deserve a reward. Look for how retailers and marketers try to trigger the promise of reward. • Test the promise of reward. If there’s something you’ve been putting off.• To revoke your license. • A tomorrow just like today. remember the why. What do you turn to when you’re feeling stressed. praying or attending a religious service. or from other sources. The next time you’re stressed out. or down? • What’s terrifying you? Pay attention to the stress of what you hear or see in the media. Do you respond to a willpower failure with guilt and self-criticism? • Resolving to feel good. ask yourself what future rewards you put on sale each time you give in to temptation or procrastination. and imagine a specific plan of action for not giving in. • Lower your discount rate. getting a massage. and spending time with a creative hobby. When you are tempted to act against your long-term interests. listening concrete steps to fix your behavior? Willpower Experiments • Stress-relief strategies that work. meditating or doing yoga. spending time with friends or family. Do you use fantasies of your future self to fix your feelings now. 7: CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Our inability to clearly see the future clearly leads us into temptation and procrastination. try one of the stress-relief strategies that really work. Before the time is up. Predict how and when you might be tempted to break your vow. frame the choice as giving up the best possible longterm reward for resisting temptation. The next time you’re stressed out. Under the Microscope • How are you discounting future rewards? For your willpower challenge. such as exercising or playing sports. going outside for a walk. reading. • Forgiveness when you fail. • Optimistic pessimism for successful resolutions. • Precommit your future self.• The promise of relief. online. hoping that a future you with more willpower will show up? • Are you too farsighted for your own good? Do you find it more difficult to indulge than to resist temptation? Willpower Experiments • Wait ten minutes. Institute a mandatory ten-minute wait for any temptation. Take a more compassionate perspective on your setbacks to avoid the guilt that leads to giving in again. such as exercising or playing sports. listening to music. reading. praying or attending a religious service. • Are you waiting for future you? Is there an important change or task you’re putting off. more than you take concrete concrete steps to fix your behavior? Willpower Experiments • Stress-relief strategies that work. try one of the stress-relief strategies that really work. Create a new . anxious. • When setbacks happen. bring to mind the competing long-term reward of resisting temptation. Under the Microscope • Investigate ironic rebound. Is there something you try to avoid thinking about? Does suppression work. making both willpower and temptation contagious. To avoid catching other people s willpower failures. 8: CHAPTER SUMMARY The Idea: Self-control is influenced by social proof. spend a few minutes at the beginning of your day thinking about your goals. Go public with your willpower challenges. AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO GET MORE OF IT Willpower Experiments • Feel what you feel. is it true that outlawing something increases desire for it? THE WILLPOWER IX S TIK C T: HOW SELF-COXTROL WORKS. WHY IT MATTERS. • Meet your future self. • Catch sef-control. but don’t believe everything you think. everyone else is doing it! Do you use social proof to convince yourself that your willpower challenge is no big deal? Willpower Experiments • Strengthen your immune system. Under the Microscope • Your social network. Can you enlist others in a willpower challenge? 9: CHAPTER SOEVLARY The Idea: Trying to suppress thoughts. emotions. • Who are you most likely to catch something from? Who are your “close others”? Are there any behaviors that you've picked up from them. or do the thing you most want to avoid. Create a future memory. When an upsetting . and imagine how proud you will feel when you succeed at them. or just imagine yourself in the future.default. write a letter to your future self. Do other people in your social circle share your willpower challenge? • Who are you mirroring? Keep your eyes open for any evidence that you are mirroring other people s behavior. Ask yourself: What would this willpower wonder do? • The power of pride. or that they have caught from you? • But Ma. • Make it a group project. or motivate your future self with reward or threat. When you need a little extra willpower. make it more difficult to reverse your preferences. bring a role model to mind. or does trying to push something out of your mind make it come back stronger? • What’s on your Most-Wranted list? In your experience. and cravings backfires and makes you more likely to think. feel. notice it and how it feels in your body. stay with the physical sensations and ride them like a wave. When an urge takes hold. Remind yourself of the white-bear rebound effect. When a craving hits. neither pushing them away nor acting on them. • Surf the urge. . • Accept those cravings-just don’t act on them. and imagine the thought dissolving or passing by.thought comes to mind. notice it and don't try to immediately distract yourself or argue with it. Then turn your attention to your breathing. and remember your goal to resist.