Will Power Is Like a Limited Resource

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Our culture emphasizes the energy drain around will power, how using a lot of mental energy reduces will power. What i found fastenating is your in your book, is that we may actually be buying into this more than we should. How? There's been a lot of research that seemed to show that a will power is like a very limited resource. But much like the research on stress, this hadn't really questioned whether our expectations for shaping that response were too high.

From time to time, I’ll run across creative ways people are using apps I like. It often prompts me to learn more. I’ll watch some videos, read a few articles and, inevitably, what I discover is that I’ve been accessing just a fraction of what the software can do. I got that same feeling while reading award-winning science writer, David Robson’s latest book, The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World. It made me realize that I’m leveraging far fewer of my brain’s features than I could be. That means I’m missing out on a lot. For example, quicker recovery from illness and injury. Better performance from more effective stress management. And adding years to my life with more thoughtful approaches to fitness and aging. What scientists are learning about the connections between the human brain and performance is incredible. And David Robson manages to take this research and organize it into a compelling playbook for a better life. Episode Links Can You Think Yourself Young? How Thinking about ‘Future You’ Can Help You Build a Happier Life The Brain is a Prediction Machine: It Knows How Well We Are Doing Something before We Even Try Believing is Seeing: Using Mindlessness (Mindfully) to Improve Visual Acuity Ellen Langer A Placebo Can Work Even When You Know It’s a Placebo Nocebo Effect Improving Acute Stress Responses: The Power of Reappraisal Jeremy P. Jamieson Veronika Job Can You Ever Get Over a Lingering Grudge? Dr. Michael Greger and nutritionfacts.org The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.