The Willpower Instinct

There are many times - mostly when I am eating something horrible for me- that I wish I had more willpower.  There have been time I have had great willpower- for many years I didn't drink pop or eat any desserts or chips.  And then, I started eating those things again, and again and again.  Once I started, I didn't stop. I wish I could get back to not eating all the junk.  There are other things I wish I had more willpower about, too. Like shopping.  

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal is a book that I read in just a few days, but could use the advice in it for years.  There are suggestions in it for controlling your desires - breathing techniques, being one example.  And, there is a great deal of scientific information about willpower, meaning I don't feel quite as guilty since there is an actual biological reason that willpower may fail as McGonigal explains dopamine and its release.

While this won't eliminate my struggles to make good food choices, or to save money instead of spend it, the book was informative without being dry and boring.  There are plenty of suggestions for improving willpower and I have plenty of opportunities in my own life to test them out.