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

stochita reviewed The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal

Review of 'The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

While I expected this to be a motivational book that I would give back to Audible for a refund, I got in exchange a neuroscience class while running on a treadmill. Learning about the process that go in our brains while we decide (or not) to make a certain choice, or when we agree on resisting the temptations of eating that big chocolate muffin, makes it fascinating. As much as we think that we fully lead our lives, it would be interesting to flip the pages of those book and understand how generations and generations of evolution lead us to crave sugar, certain actions or why we cannot stop doing something, once started.

I would say to not let ourselves be driven wrongly by the title, as I was. I would recommend it to everyone. Even though I am usually not very fond of the format of putting a course …

zhliu0124 reviewed The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal

Review of 'The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

It's a useful books. Some ideas changed my mind. But the book is too rumbling.

Pentapod reviewed The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal

Review of 'The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Despite the self-helpey sounding title this book is actually based on a 10-week academic lecture series the author gives. It's an examination of the neuroscience behind why we do things, or don't do things, and how our brains don't actually always work the way we think they work. While there are lots of interesting examples and tips that you could use in a self-help effort, that's not the focus of the book as much as just understanding the way our cognitive biases work and that we don't even actually know why we do many of the things we do. I listened to this as an audiobook and found it a very interesting listen and a good high-level overview of the subject.