The Willpower Instinct
How SelfControl Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It
by Kelly McGonigal
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“@rhawkins @TheAtlantic the better book on will power is the Willpower Instinct | Amazing book about willpower from Stanford psychology professor who teaches just this. Killer first point: The best way to improve your selfcontrol is to see how and why you lose control. This is a better book than the other book on Willpower here on my list, because it's more actionable, better written, better presented. Really amazing (IF you act on it!)”
Source →“@rhawkins @TheAtlantic the better book on will power is the Willpower Instinct | Amazing book about willpower from Stanford psychology professor who teaches just this. Killer first point: The best way to improve your selfcontrol is to see how and why you lose control. This is a better book than the other book on Willpower here on my list, because it's more actionable, better written, better presented. Really amazing (IF you act on it!)”
Source →“@rhawkins @TheAtlantic the better book on will power is the Willpower Instinct | Amazing book about willpower from Stanford psychology professor who teaches just this. Killer first point: The best way to improve your selfcontrol is to see how and why you lose control. This is a better book than the other book on Willpower here on my list, because it's more actionable, better written, better presented. Really amazing (IF you act on it!)”
Source →“@rhawkins @TheAtlantic the better book on will power is the Willpower Instinct | Amazing book about willpower from Stanford psychology professor who teaches just this. Killer first point: The best way to improve your selfcontrol is to see how and why you lose control. This is a better book than the other book on Willpower here on my list, because it's more actionable, better written, better presented. Really amazing (IF you act on it!)”
Source →Recommended by 6 notable people, including Nat Eliason and Derek Sivers
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 7 sources and appears in Self Discipline, Habits, and Procrastination.
Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course "The Science of Willpower," The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the new science of selfcontrol and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.Informed by the latest research and combining cuttingedge insights from psyc...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 7 sources and appears in Self Discipline, Habits, and Procrastination.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Darya Rose
“@rhawkins @TheAtlantic the better book on will power is the Willpower Instinct | Amazing book about willpower from Stanford psychology professor who teaches just this. Killer first point: The best way to improve your selfcontrol is to see how and why you lose control. This is a better book than the other book on Willpower here on my list, because it's more actionable, better written, better presented. Really amazing (IF you act on it!)”
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Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.