The Willpower Instinct –> How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal (2013)

Every time I read another pop psychology book I am even more grateful for not doing my Master’s degree. I am amazed at how much money, time and number of test subjects are aimed at ‘helping’ to understand our brains.

Willpower is a magical and elusive substance that some people have while others are in severe lack. Books like this one continue to make readers feel that they can do something about it by doing x y z. If something in this book works for you then great.

As a coach and athlete, I know that the answers I have witnessed, are not about what works for the crowd. The only thing that works is finding the thing that works for you on that specific day and in that specific situation. No matter what everyone else says that works for them, if it doesn’t get you to where you want to go then throw it out. Stop wasting your time. Just accept that you are special and that is OK.

Don’t let excuses get in your way.

Here is my take on having a good training session. Try it and adapt anything you want…

• do a brain dump first
• decide what kind of training needs to be done that day while considering…
  • how close you are to performance day?
  • what you did yesterday?
  • are you recovered?
  • is it more of mental or a physical day or just a day for games?
  • how much time do you have to do it?
• prepare your session as close to ideal as possible but acknowledge that some triggers may exist
• during your session, do the best you can with what you’ve got
• after the session, evaluate how it went and track it with PROOF
  • when you track what works for you then you create the best book ever for helping you to get what you want
• and then do some quality self-care

Stop trying to make training harder than it is. Simply by getting out there and doing something (anything is better than nothing), you will naturally find what is working for you. If it is not working then stop do the same thing. Get ideas from other resources, and see if that works. Keep it simple. The only magic that you really need is doing a little something today.