This is a book I was looking forward to for a while. The title made me think it would be right up my alley – I agree that hoping to change through sheer force of willpower is futile. You need to figure out strategies and how to build habits.
And I agree with the central premise of the book. It suggests that instead of trying to rely on will power, you should set up your environment such that it’s easy for you to succeed without willpower. An example of this would be to only buy healthy food, so that when you’re hungry and looking for a snack, the healthy stuff is all that’s available. Another example is to leave your phone at home during social engagement or while working, so you aren’t tempted to check it.
While I try to avoid being too negative in this blog, that’s about all this book has going for it. To be honest I couldn’t even finish it, because I found it so frustrating. The fundamental problem is that, for a book called “Willpower doesn’t work,” it was filled with suggestions that take a huge amount of willpower. Things like exercising every day, and quitting TV and social media, and spending a full day every month to go away on a retreat. (Plus the assumption that if we only have healthy food in the house, we won’t just order a pizza.)
If we had the willpower to do these things, we wouldn’t be reading a book called “Willpower Doesn’t Work.” So I really can’t recommend this.
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