Book description
Can you resist everything except temptation? In a hedonistic age full
of distractions, it's hard to possess willpower - or in fact even
understand why we should need it. Yet it's actually the most important
factor in achieving success and a happy life, shown to be more
significant than money, looks, background or intelligence. This book
reveals the secrets of self-control.
For years the old-fashioned, even Victorian, value of willpower has
been disparaged by psychologists who argued that we're largely driven
by unconscious forces beyond our control. Here Roy Baumeister, one of
the world's most esteemed and influential psychologists, and
journalist John Tierney, turn this notion on its head. They show us
that willpower is like a muscle that can be strengthened with practice
and improved over time. The latest laboratory work shows that
self-control has a physical basis to it and so is dramatically
affected by simple things such as eating and sleeping - to the extent
that a life-changing decision may go in different directions depending
on whether it's made before or after lunch. You will discover how
babies can be taught willpower, the joys of the to-don't list, the
success of Alcoholics Anonymous, the pointlessness of diets and the
secrets to David Blaine's stunts. There are also fascinating personal
stories, from explorers, students, soldiers, ex-addicts and parents.
Based on years of psychological research and filled with practical
advice, this book will teach you how to gain from self-control without
pain, and discover the very real power in willpower. The results are
nothing short of life-changing.
Roy F Baumeister is one of the world's most prolific and
influential psychologists. He received his PhD from Princeton in 1978
and currently is Francis Eppes Eminent Scholar and head of the
psychology program at Florida State University. He has over 450
scientific publications, and this will be his 28th book.
John Tierney writes the Findings science column for the New
York Times. His science writing has won awards from the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute
of Physics. He is the author of The Best-Case Scenario Handbook
and the co-author, with Christopher Buckley, of the comic novel God
Is My Broker. He is a frequent guest on US radio and television.
