The Will Power Instinct is a self-help book written by famous author, Kelly McGonigal. Kelly is a health psychologist and lecturer in Stanford University. Based on scientific research, facts and stories Kelly McGonigal has explained the importance of will power and has offered best strategies to develop will-power. The book has 10 chapters with one idea each. Kelly has given and practical suggestions at the end of each chapter to overcome cravings, break old addictions, handle procrastination, improve self-control and manage stress.
Key Points from the book
The prefrontal cortex is an important part in the brain that controls our self-control, intelligence, communication, memory and problem-solving ability. It has three regions that carry out the jobs of “I will”,” I won’t”, and “I want”. “I will” power helps you to start and continue with stressful and difficult tasks. “I won’t” power holds you back from craving. “I want” power controls your goals and desires. Willpower connects these three powers to achieve your goals.
With meditation your brain develops better focus, self-awareness and will-power. With regular meditation your brain becomes fine-tuned willpower machines. It increases the blood circulation of prefrontal cortex which in turn improves self-control. People who are healthy, happy, have better relationships exhibit better will power. It has been observed that 20 minutes of slow breathing practice on daily basis activates prefrontal cortex, reduces cravings and releases stress.
Stress and reduced sleep can lead to low self-control. Stress stimulates the fight-or-flight response in your brain that defends yourself from upcoming dangers and make you happy. Stress shifts your brain into a reward seeking state. This results in craving for whatever substance or activity that your brain considers as reward. Gambling, shopping, over-eating, video games, binge watching, browsing are least effective ways to release stress. Exercise acts as a mood enhancer and stress buster. It’s not about long-term exercise but even a 5 min work out also proves to be effective. Kelly says, ““A short practice that you do every day is better than a long practice you keep putting off to tomorrow.” Any form of exercise like yoga, dance, walk, gardening, team sports or even playing with kids can do a lot of wonders.
Self-awareness is essential to gain self-control. It is the ability to understand what we are doing and why we are doing. This quality helps us to reconsider anything before doing otherwise our brain always chooses the easiest task. According to psychologists most of the people make choices in autopilot mode, like food related decisions, lifestyle decisions, money spending and time spending. With fast paced lives and constant distractions self-awareness is not taken seriously. It has been found in research that distracted people find it difficult to overcome temptations. Distracted shoppers are tempted to buy discounted products and they end up buying more than required or planned.
Self-forgiveness also improves will power and guilt produces the opposite results. It has been shown in various studies that self-criticism leads to less motivation and poor self-control. It causes depression and drains “I will” power and “I want” power. Whereas, self-compassion during stress and failure gives better motivation and self-control. A study was conducted at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, in which procrastination of students for the full semester was tracked. Many students procrastinated their study for the first exam. Researchers observed that students who criticized themselves for procrastinating their study, more likely procrastinated for the next exam also. Students who were self-compassionate on their personal failure learnt from the experience and performed better in the next exam.
These were some of the key takeaways from the book. The book explains the realism of our will power in a scientific way. It has amazing stories and case studies that makes it even more interesting. The book will help you to make long-term positive changes in your life. Overall, a good book.