Willpower and Glucose

One of the best books that I read this year is "Willpower" by Roy Baumesiter and John Tierney. The book is about that old-fashioned idea of inner strength and grit and fortitude but these two social scientists explain the biology, psychology and science of how that works.

What I love about this book is that the ideas are practical and helpful and if you have been exposed to a twelve-step program you will recognize these ideas.  I love that because our "founders" knew what worked before we knew the science of any of it.

I'm attaching below a link to a YouTube video where author Roy Baumeister gives a fifteen minute talk about the ideas in the Willpower book. He talks about the relationship between willpower and glucose. Yeah, sugar.

You may remember that early AA's were told--and it's in the Big Book--that if you felt a craving for a drink you should eat a piece of candy! And we thought, "Oh what an old-fashioned idea--candy--who does that?"

And you know who does? social scientists who know that a teaspoon of sugar can restore enough willower to resist a more dangerous craving.

Crazy smart those old AA guys!

Take a look at Baumeister here on Youtube:



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