Personal Project, Willpower

The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 1

McGonigal, Kelly - The Willpower InstinctSo this first week was super simple. On top of other things that were going on this week I wasn’t sure if it was the best week to start, but better now than never. I had two experiments for the week: notice every decision you make related to your willpower challenge and five-minute brain-training medication.

The first wasn’t as difficult as the second. I’m actually pretty aware of when I start to delay and procrastinate. I did, however, notice that it starts even earlier than I thought. I start making excuses not to go to CrossFit almost 24 hours in advance. I slowly start making minor excuses and then follow through. I’m interested to see what will happen in chapter two. As for the meditation I found it nice. Every day got easier and easier and I’m wondering if I should extend it to more than five minutes. The basic premise is to concentrate on your breathing and when you find yourself drifting away (which I often did, depending on when I meditated) you bring yourself back. I definitely noticed a difference each day and the five minutes which felt like forever at first got shorter and shorter each time.

Next up, Chapter Two: Your Body Was Born to Resist Cheesecake. I’m not so sure about this one based on the title, but we’ll see what’s next.

Check out last week’s Introduction post below:

12 thoughts on “The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 1”

  1. I’m already planning to cop out of running tomorrow… there are other reasons than poor will power but it’s a contributing factor. Why is it that putting off running is hard, but planning for extensive cheesecake sounds very easy?

    1. It is! I’m wondering when we’ll get to the “fixing” part or the facing it head on, but the little steps I’m taking right now are pretty interesting.

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