Tag Archives: failure

The Willpower Instinct

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The Willpower Instinct by Dr. Kelly Mcgonigal is a great primer on how to make a change or climb a mountain. Mcgonigal covers the latest research on what it takes to set a goal and achieve it. There are so many surprising ideas in this book regarding more effective ways to get to the top of your mountain. Here are some of my favorites…

1) Plan for Failure –
To prevent the emotional high of setting the goal and the crash of having to implement the goal, researchers have found that people who plan for failure are less likely to give up when the first setback comes. Planning for failure isn’t self-doubt–it’s determination.

2) Getting Distracted From Our Goals is Due to a Lack of Meaning –
“We live in a world of technology, advertisements, and twenty-four hour opportunities that leave us always wanting and rarely satisfied. If we are to have any self-control, we need to separate the real rewards that give our lives meaning from the false rewards that keep us distracted and addicted,” writes Mcgonigal in the book. The key to a determined mindset is to focus on the meaning of the goal. When we get distracted, we need to remember the rewards and stay in the game.

3) Practice Willpower –
Like most things in life, stronger willpower comes from practice. Willpower is a skill that can be learned. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Like a weak muscle, we run out of willpower when we aren’t working it.
This book is like your willpower personal trainer. I really enjoyed its helpful, practical advice. The Willpower Instinct is well researched and friendly, a refreshing approach to setting and achieving goals.

 

What’s worked for you in sticking with your goals?

Is it a Passion? 6 Steps to Find Out

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We interviewed 500 of the most successful people in the world about their passions — from Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson to Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey.
There are at least 6 ways they all expressed using to figure out whether they were truly passionate about something or not:
1. The Flow Experience: You lose all track of time…well, then you’re doing something that has triggered a passion. Where did that hour go?!
2. Irritation: It may seem odd to look at something uncomfortable as a window into passion, but it definitely can be. The reason something annoys you is because it violates something that you love, and you can often find a passion on the other side of irritation.  Think about it–there are so many things in the world that could upset you, but you choose very specific things to feel annoyed about. Take a look at your next irritation and see if there’s a rainbow on the other side of it.
3. Fatigue: If you’ll still do it when you’re tired, it’s a passion.
4. Failure: You bounce back from setbacks quickly when they happen to one of your passions. And you’ll probably scrap yourself off the payment and start doing it again despite failure!
5. Free:  I’m not suggesting that you work for free, but when you’re engaged in something you’re passionate about, you don’t need money to motivate you.  You’re probably putting in more effort than you’re charging for and you might even volunteer to do it.

 6. Bore People:  When you ask someone about their passion, they will rant and rave for much more time than is politically correct.  You’re at that cocktail party, and this guy is go on and on about his passion, and your eyes are glazing over…you’re looking at your watch and planning somehow to escape.  Well, that’s passion. You will do it despite the status it gives (or doesn’t give you!)