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Willpower - John Tierney | Intangibles 007
By Steve Berg August 7, 2017
On This Episode:
Today we speak with journalist and author John Tierney (Twitter), who co-wrote the book “Willpower” with psychologist Roy Baumeister. John also writes for The New York Times and The City Journal, with a focus on science and social psychology.
Show Notes:
● The quality of willpower and how it is essential for founders to have when they’re faced with the many challenges a new company must overcome
● The things someone can do to increase their willpower, and how they can “strengthen” it like a muscle
● The evolution of self-help books, and what this says about society as it is today
● How self-esteem, intelligence, and self-control all contribute to success - and how they all correlate to one another
● How scientists have been able to measure willpower and how they’ve discovered that it can be depleted
● How improving self-control in one area of your life (ie. having better posture) can “spill-over” to having self-control in other areas
● The famous Stanford marshmallow test, and what it was able to show the correlation between self-control and success
● The 8 laws that govern willpower (and that help you improve it):
1) Know your limits
2) Practice willpower
3) Eat
4) Avoid the “planning fallacy”
5) Create to-do lists with specific and doable actions
6) Track, measure, and monitor your willpower
7) Focus on one thing at a time and eliminate the unimportant
8) Conserve your willpower
● What decision fatigue and ego-depletion are, and how they affect willpower
● Why drinking lemonade can help your self-control
● How procrastination erodes willpower
● How to recognize the quality of self-control in other people
Mentioned:
Intangibles: A podcast about traits, behaviors, and qualities that entrepreneurs can cultivate to be successful. Find us on the web at www.intangiblespodcast.com
Antecedent Ventures: An enterprise-focused, seed-stage venture firm in NYC. You can find us at www.antecendent.vc
Dentons Venture Technology Group: Operating as a boutique within the world’s largest law firm, the venture technology group runs with hard-charging tech entrepreneurs to drive growth through strategic business, finance, and legal advice from Silicon Valley to New York, to London, Berlin, Hong Kong, and beyond. Learn more at www.dentonsventurebeyond.com
Willpower: John Tierney and Roy Baumeister’s book discussing willpower, self-control, and how to master these two qualities in your life