I’m preparing to have hip surgery. Half a year ago, the hip specialist told me that the M.R.I. showed I had an impingement, which means the ball of my femur that goes into the socket of my hip is too big. Now, only a few days after Christmas, I must have surgeons shave part of my bone off and hopefully rid this problem for good. As with any major surgery or life-changing event, there are fears and concerns. From past experience, if there is no way to alter the outcome, there is no reason to dwell on these events. It is better to focus instead on the things that you can control.
Dwelling Gets You Nowhere
There are always going to be things that don’t go your way. Your clients don’t pay you, your landlord kicks you out, your girlfriend cheats on you. They all suck. The future can be even worse. If you are going to get kicked out, your boss is going to fire you, or mortgage payments start to pile up. [Click here to continue...]
On a daily basis, I witness my roommates consistently making wrong decisions even when they know what is “right” and make excuses about their actions. These are not weak or incapable individuals, but their lack of willpower has always somewhat interested me. Indeed, the vast majority of the population knows what activities are healthy or enriching for their mind or body and yet they ignore them anyway. Until fairly recently I was not a whole lot better, either. Last summer I spent nights drinking with friends and wasted countless hours in the hangover that followed. I tried to eat right, but I had no motivation to cook or the willpower to consume the foods I needed.
Willpower is More Tangible Than You Think
The term “willpower” is often used in an abstract way to define an ability to resist certain urges. I never considered a scientific approach to willpower until I learned about research performed by Kelly McGonical at Stanford [Click here to continue...]
