The Science of Willpower

Secrets for self-control without suffering.

by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.

Why Leaders Have More Willpower, and More Willpower Failures

By Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. on January 24, 2012 in The Science of Willpower

In my Science of Willpower course, we talk about willpower as a strength that can be trained. I encourage people to think of themselves as willpower athletes. Try doing something harder than you're used to; dig in to your determination and motivation; trust that by training, the difficult will become easier. Read More

We look at willpower and

Submitted by Jordan on January 26, 2012 - 8:45pm.

We look at willpower and hunger where I work. There are some intersting things. For example, using willpower reduces blood sugar, which makes hunger worse. What we've also seen is that as satiety increases, willpower gets stronger (at least as far as food is concerned). It's like the old adage, never go to the supermarket when hungry. It's interesting to note that leaders have more willpower than others.