Is Willpower Really Like A Muscle? ft. Roy Baumeister

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Professor Roy Baumeister wrote the book on willpower... literally! Professor Baumeister is the author of Willpower: Rediscovering The Greatest Human Strength. He's spent his entire career studying self control, where it comes from, how to control it, and how to improve it. "Willpower" is one of my favorite books and today we dove in deep. We talked about the infamous "Marshmallow Experiment" from Stanford University, as well as Roy's own Radish Cookie experiment, which furthered his hypothesis that willpower is actually a finite resource, like gas in a car. I was particularly interested in hearing his thoughts on how to improve our self control and improve our willpower, and turns out there are several things you can do! Be sure to check out Roy's book on Audible like I did and let me know what other books you'd like me to read down below!

Buy the Professor's book here

Intro: 0:00

What is willpower? 0:30

What traits lead us to success? 5:07

What benefits are there? 10:07

Marshmallow and Radish Experiments 11:34

Ways to improve your self control 17:05

Is self control genetic or learned? 22:07

How meditation helps 23:50

iPhones harming our willpower 26:11

Avoidance As A Coping Mechanism ! 28:26

Decision Fatigue 32:06

How to fight against decision fatigue 37:26

Reproducibility Crises & Critique 41:11

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-Doctor Mike Varshavski

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** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **