The entire Internet seems to uniformly endorse an optimistic, feel-good-about-yourself philosophy of life: If you put in the effort, you can achieve anything you want and be the best. Although that's a great philosophy to adopt, I feel like spitting all of you in the face today with a little bit of truth: You can't achieve anything you want in life Don't worry, I won't criticize your life philosophy by pointing out the platitude that even an infinite amount of focused training won't be enough … [Read more...]
To Achieve Your Goals, Monitor Your Progress!
"What gets measured gets managed." Is it true? In their meta-study (2016), Harkin and his colleagues analyzed 138 scientific studies to find out whether people who monitored their goal progress were in fact more likely to attain their goal than those who didn't. The results were positive: Monitoring goal progress promoted goal attainment. The more often the progress was monitored, the more likely the goal was attained. Why? Because monitoring your progress helps you identify where … [Read more...]
Rumination & Worry Fuck up Your Body
Do you often ruminate about the past or worry about the future? The death of a friend, the girl that broke up with you, the lady you want to date, the money you're not sure you're going to make, the presentation tomorrow,… We know that rumination and worry are bad. Nothing good ever comes from it. As a human being you can't live in the present moment all the time, no matter how enlightened the old man trying to sell you that idea looks like. You can't live in the present moment when your … [Read more...]
Jocko Willink on Willpower Fatigue
I recently listened to a discussion about willpower fatigue on the Jocko Podcast (check it out! it's a goldmine of masculine wisdom). You can watch the debate between Jocko and Echo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhYOoh-bNOI Jocko argues that exerting your will's power doesn't fatigue it, while Echo advocates the muscle metaphor of willpower. Let's take a closer look at their arguments. Jocko's Perspective 1) Willpower Momentum According to Jocko, using willpower propels you in … [Read more...]
What Is Fatigue? Muscles, Willpower, and Mental Toughness
What is fatigue? Fatigue is a state of weakness. Muscle fatigue is the temporary physical inability to use one's muscles optimally. Willpower fatigue is the temporary mental inability to self-regulate (control oneself) optimally. The Strength Model The strength model of willpower fatigue claims that willpower relies on a common and limited energy source that can be temporarily depleted. According to the glucose depletion hypothesis, this energy source is glucose. The depletion of … [Read more...]