Snackz logo
The Willpower Instinct

Kelly McGonigal

290 Pages
2013

The Willpower Instinct

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

Penguin

Below is just an AI summary! If you really want to learn something:

โšก Free 3min Summary

The Willpower Instinct - Summary

The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal explores the science behind self-control, combining insights from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine. Based on her Stanford course, the book explains what willpower is, how it works, and provides practical tools to enhance self-control for achieving various goals like weight loss, reducing procrastination, and increasing productivity.

Key Ideas

1

Willpower as a Biological Function

Willpower is not just a virtue but a mind-body response that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep. This shifts the perspective from seeing willpower as an inherent trait to understanding it as a developable skill.

2

The Limits of Self-Control

Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Overexerting self-control can lead to negative health outcomes. This helps understand why we sometimes fail to maintain self-control and how to manage it more effectively.

3

The Role of Temptation and Stress

Temptation and stress can hijack our brain's systems of self-control. The book provides strategies to train the brain for greater willpower, emphasizing self-forgiveness and self-compassion in boosting self-control.

FAQ's

The Willpower Instinct focuses on understanding the science behind self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve various aspects of our lives. It combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine to explain what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters.

Kelly McGonigal suggests that willpower can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep. She emphasizes that willpower is a mind-body response that can be developed and strengthened, rather than an inherent trait.

The Willpower Instinct offers strategies to train the brain for greater willpower, including the importance of self-forgiveness and self-compassion. These strategies help in overcoming common obstacles to maintaining self-control by addressing how temptation and stress can hijack our brain's systems of self-control.

๐Ÿ’ก Full 15min Summary

Understanding and managing willpower, through scientific insights and personal experimentation, can enhance self-control and help achieve personal goals.
0:00 / 1:36

Willpower is essentially our capacity to manage our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It's something that many of us grapple with, whether it's trying to resist temptation, break away from harmful habits, or steer clear of procrastination. By delving into the science of willpower, we can bolster our self-control. Often, the issue isn't a lack of willpower, but rather misunderstandings about it. By understanding how we typically fall short when it comes to willpower, we can better support ourselves and sidestep pitfalls. For instance, those who believe they possess the most willpower are often the ones most prone to losing control. Knowing oneself is crucial.

This knowledge is drawn from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, and it helps to clarify the boundaries of willpower. It also provides strategies grounded in research to help us succeed. This information can be beneficial to everyone, helping us to achieve objectives like enhancing our health, managing stress, and improving our careers or relationships.

You're encouraged to carry out "willpower experiments" by applying these concepts to your own life. It's most effective to gradually introduce one new strategy each week. By transforming into "willpower scientists" and scrutinizing our behavior with a sense of curiosity, we can identify what uniquely works for us. As we acquire new self-control skills, we gain the power to chase after what is most important to us.

Enjoyed the sneak peak? Get the full summary!

Explore Books

Unbroken

Unbroken

A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand

497 Pages
2010
Homecoming

Homecoming

Diane Dakers

115 Pages
2014
All of Me

All of Me

How I Learned to Live with the Many Personalities Sharing My Body

Kim Noble

394 Pages
2012
A Scandal in Bohemia

A Scandal in Bohemia

Seven Sherlock Holmes Stories

Arthur Conan Doyle

88 Pages
1981
The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite

The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite

Lind, Michael

224 Pages
2020
Ascension

Ascension

Nicholas Binge

365 Pages
2023
The City of Falling Angels

The City of Falling Angels

John Berendt

534 Pages
2006
The Pleasures of Philosophy

The Pleasures of Philosophy

A Survey of Human Life and Destiny

Will Durant

446 Pages
1967
And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

180 Pages
1982
Holy Silence

Holy Silence

J. Brent Bill

159 Pages
2016
Othello

Othello

William Shakespeare

136 Pages
1883
Thank You for Leaving: Learning to be okay with saying goodbye | A new book by one of Indiaโ€™s highest selling authors - Rithvik Singh

Thank You for Leaving: Learning to be okay with saying goodbye | A new book by one of Indiaโ€™s highest selling authors - Rithvik Singh

Singh, Rithvik, Singh, Rithvik

200 Pages
2025
The Last Letter

The Last Letter

TikTok made me buy it: The most emotional romance of 2023 from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Fourth Wing

Rebecca Yarros

405 Pages
2022
Radical Focus

Radical Focus

Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results

Christina Wodtke

254 Pages
2021
Moonwalking with Einstein

Moonwalking with Einstein

The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Joshua Foer

341 Pages
2011
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief

Rick Riordan

400 Pages
2025
Crocodile on the Sandbank

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Miss Marple crossed with Indiana Jones!

Elizabeth Peters

289 Pages
2011
Story of a Heart

Story of a Heart

Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle that Saved a Child's Life

Rachel Clarke

256 Pages
2024
The Echo of Old Books

The Echo of Old Books

A Novel

Barbara Davis

0 Pages
2023
They Called Us Exceptional

They Called Us Exceptional

And Other Lies That Raised Us

Prachi Gupta

289 Pages
2024
Rosie and the Friendship Angel

Rosie and the Friendship Angel

Lucinda Riley, Harry Whittaker

57 Pages
2022
Along Came a Spider

Along Came a Spider

(Alex Cross 1)

James Patterson

454 Pages
2017
The Cost of Hope

The Cost of Hope

A Memoir

Amanda Bennett

241 Pages
2012
No Way to Behave at a Funeral

No Way to Behave at a Funeral

A Tale of Personal Loss through Suicide

Noel Braun

251 Pages
2018
The Rise of Tiger Claw (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

The Rise of Tiger Claw (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Nickelodeon Publishing

117 Pages
2016
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The Infographics Edition

Stephen R Covey

413 Pages
2016
Sunset

Sunset

--

638 Pages
1926
What Matters Now

What Matters Now

How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation

Gary Hamel

308 Pages
2012
The Enlightened Sex Manual

The Enlightened Sex Manual

Sexual Skills for the Superior Lover

David Deida

117 Pages
2007
The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed

The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed

The Definitive Book on Value Investing

Benjamin Graham

642 Pages
2009

Let's find the best book for you!

Get book summaries directly into your inbox!

Join more than 10,000 readers in our newsletter

Snackz book

Discover the Snackz AI catalogue

Snackz logo

The right book at the right time will change your life.

Get the books directly into your inbox!

โœ… New Release

โœ… Book Recommendation

โœ… Book Summaries

Copyright 2023-2025. All rights reserved.