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erika_is_reading 's review for:
The bottom line is that this is worth reading, but (a) it could be 100 or 150 pages instead of 274, and (b) it is not worth paying full price for. (She could have written a 300 page version, with citations to and meatier discussion of the research, especially the neurological research, but that is not the book she wrote. She turned her lectures from a 10-week course into a book, and the ideas in that course could have been communicated in 100 pages.) Do the claims in this book seem credible? Yes. Are they surprising and counter-intuitive, leading the reader to question prior assumptions about how willpower works? Yes. Does she offer concrete suggestions in light of the research she describes? Yes.
The biggest takeaways for me, personally, were: (1) that people who are distracted are more likely to give in to temptations; (2) that regular meditators have more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, as well as improved attention and self-control; (3) that visible temptations trigger a surge of dopamine, making it harder for the prefrontal cortex to do its job; (4) low blood sugar levels predict a wide range of willpower failures; (5) that anything we think is going to make us feel good, i.e., the promise of reward, floods us with dopamine, hijacking our attention, and many addictive behaviors – like checking email and Facebook regularly – are precisely this “reward seeking” (but never getting) behavior fueled by stead flow of dopamine; and perhaps most importantly, (6) “If you think that the key to greater willpower is being hard on yourself, you are not alone. But you are wrong. Study after study shows that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control.” Oh, and (7) restricting a food automatically increases your craving for it.
Yes, actionable suggestions throughout and at the end of every chapter. But the book is a step too far removed from the underlying science to be completely comfortable for me, the writing feels slippery and casual in places, and boy oh boy is it repetitive.
The biggest takeaways for me, personally, were: (1) that people who are distracted are more likely to give in to temptations; (2) that regular meditators have more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, as well as improved attention and self-control; (3) that visible temptations trigger a surge of dopamine, making it harder for the prefrontal cortex to do its job; (4) low blood sugar levels predict a wide range of willpower failures; (5) that anything we think is going to make us feel good, i.e., the promise of reward, floods us with dopamine, hijacking our attention, and many addictive behaviors – like checking email and Facebook regularly – are precisely this “reward seeking” (but never getting) behavior fueled by stead flow of dopamine; and perhaps most importantly, (6) “If you think that the key to greater willpower is being hard on yourself, you are not alone. But you are wrong. Study after study shows that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control.” Oh, and (7) restricting a food automatically increases your craving for it.
Yes, actionable suggestions throughout and at the end of every chapter. But the book is a step too far removed from the underlying science to be completely comfortable for me, the writing feels slippery and casual in places, and boy oh boy is it repetitive.