Tag: Self-help

Personal Project, Willpower

The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 4

Geoff W

McGonigal, Kelly - The Willpower Instinct

Oh, shocker, I’m back to struggling again. I definitely think that the project I selected was too broad. It’s not too late to change, it but I know it’s the big one that I need to work towards all the time: getting healthy. I have, made major steps this week which is great, but I’m still wondering where I am on this project. I’m still enjoying the meditation portion from Week 1 and will keep with it at 10 minutes for now.

This week, as part of Chapter 4: License to Sin, McGonigal asked to do a lot of reflection, like in the past few chapters and it definitely hit home a bit more this week than in the past. So clearly, the incremental steps are working. The Under the Microscope section really hit home for me this week. I definitely congratulate myself for making instrumental steps but I don’t hold myself accountable; I put things off to tomorrow and let myself eat unhealthy and be lazy because I’ll make it up later; I eat more of something when it’s fat-free or low-fat, or I know I’ll be going to the gym later; And thankfully, I do know that the real-me wants to get healthier and that I HAVE to learn how to control my unhealthy urges and laziness!

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Personal Project, Willpower

The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 3

Geoff W

McGonigal, Kelly - The Willpower InstinctThings are FINALLY starting to pick up in the project and the book. I’m starting to see how my decisions (or unknown decisions) happen and when I miss them!

This week McGonigal asked readers to do two things and to think about a third. The first was to eat healthy snacks instead of junk food and to pick one thing to do different from our usual routine and do it. All while thinking about our “want power”; what it is that we ultimately want out of what we’re doing and to think about that when we struggle to accomplish our goal.

Well, not-shockingly, I failed miserably on the healthy snacks. It’s not an excuse, but phonathon started this past week and I started three 50-hour weeks and needless to say didn’t stick to my plan. I did eat mostly healthy food for lunch and dinner, but snacks I definitely did not do. I distinctly remember thinking a couple of times, oh I should get nuts or something from the vending machine and instead got chips. Fail, but I’ll keep working on it.

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Personal Project, Willpower

The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 2

Geoff W

McGonigal, Kelly - The Willpower InstinctWhat a surprise, only two weeks in and I’m already starting to lose the willpower to follow through with this project (and no the irony is not lost on me). I’m not sure if I’m struggling already because the first two weeks require passive activities or if dragging out the process of reading one book chapter-by-chapter over ten weeks is starting to get to me. Perhaps this is just the time of the year it is, but regardless, I hope it picks up after this week!

In Chapter Two: Your Body Was Born to Resist Cheesecake McGonigal asks her readers to do two things: 1) spend five minutes doing breathing exercises, reducing your breaths down to approximately three-to-four a minute (10 seconds breathing in; 10 seconds breathing out); and 2) spend five minutes practicing relaxation, so allowing your body to completely relax and not move, I guess this is different from the meditation in Week 2. On top of these two activities she recommends getting five minutes of outdoor time every day (easy peasy) and getting a good night’s sleep.

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Personal Project, Willpower

The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 1

Geoff W

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:

Books, Professional Development

Book 264: Overcoming Passive-Aggression – Tim Murphy and Loriann Hoff Oberlin

Geoff W

Talk about a rough read. The entire time I was reading this, I kept thinking back to that phrase from the 2001 movie A Knight’s Tale: “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.” Please don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t solely from this book or the last few that I’ve read that this thought process stems from, trust me. It’s something I’ve been struggling with for the past year and a half and as much as I’ve improved, I knew I was still struggling with myriad issues.

I mentioned when I wrote about Crucial Conversations that I’d had one recently and that the feedback I got hurt like hell but was something that I needed to hear. And honestly I can’t thank that person enough for having the candor to tell me what they did and spurring me to take a long look at myself. Again, don’t get me completely wrong I’ve not been hiding that I’m a horrible person, but I’ve definitely struggled for some time and after reading this I’m wondering how long I’ve been struggling and not knowing or, more than likely, not admitting it.

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