Discover the science of willpower through the extraordinary stories of people who overcame impossible odds.
'Explore the remarkable life of Christy Brown, a man who transformed adversity into opportunity. Despite physical limitations due to severe cerebral palsy, Brown demonstrated the p...
In The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship: Part One, I shared how I built a content business focused on the science of willpower—and the toll it began to take on me. This is the second...
This blog was started eight years ago. Because of it, I can no longer use my hands to navigate my phone, drive a car, or type the words you are reading right now. This is my true s...
Acquiring SkillsI arrived in New York City like I’m sure many have before me.A little optimistic, a little scared, and a lot overwhelmed.But, although this was my biggest rodeo, it was not my firs...
Establishing Habits“I am a millennial, computer scientist, book author, standing on a TED stage, and yet I’ve never had a social media account.” - Cal NewportI was shocked when I saw Cal Newport’s ta...
Acquiring SkillsThe clock was ticking and I was in agony…I had just begun a new “time-restricted eating” habit where I could only eat between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM.I change up my diet plan a...
It was the beginning of 2018 and I believed that I was on the cusp of 'the next big thing.'After nine months of hard work, I had built a platform called Educo with TED Talk speaker...
Establishing HabitsThe date on my calendar was approaching and my fear was growing… Weeks earlier I had told my mentor and friend, Bill Eckstrom, about the project I was working on to help profession...
All my life, I've struggled with over-promising...and under-delivering.4 months ago I decided to put an end to that.I was going to stop talking – and focus all my energy on action....
Acquiring Skills“You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.” – L Ron Hubbard.In 1953, science-fiction writer L Ron Hubbard set out on a mission – cr...
It can feel like you’re drowning.No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, no matter what productivity strategies you try; you just can't seem to find enough hours in the...
The clock was ticking…And I was up against it.I had just begun calling experts to sell them on the Educo platform, and I hadn’t had much success yet.I was nervous.I was awkward.I w...
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.That's what former Marine, Erik Therwanger, told me about the approach to leadership that he learned in the Marines.It's also the foundation of his...
Millions of years ago, humans were weak and vulnerable creatures.Compared to other mammals, we weren't strong...We weren't fast...We didn't have sharp teeth...We couldn't fly...So...
If there is one thing I’m sure of, it’s that right now you have a problem on your mind. You’re not alone. We all have problems.And like most people, I often think I'm alone in deal...
Overcoming LimitsFilmmaking isn’t about the little details, it’s about the big picture!” – Johnny Depp, portraying Ed Wood. A.K.A the worst filmmaker of all time.All my life I've been a big picture...
You know the feeling. That feeling in your gut that makes you want to avoid pushing yourself. Staying within your comfort zone feels good. Life outside of it is scary.It's complica...
Finding Your PurposeOur mission in starting Educo Community was simple – create a platform where expert ideas could be heard.But in a noisy world how do you define who is an “expert”?Knowing full well...
Virginia Tech psychology professor, Scott Geller, and I cover the topics in his latest book: 'Life Lessons from Psychological Science.' We discuss how his ideas apply to our lives,...
In this episode of the Educo Community Podcast, I speak with the founder of Think Great, Erik Therwanger.We discuss what it takes to be a great leader, how to respond to crises, an...
Today I am joined by Shauna Shapiro. Shauna is a professor, author, and internationally recognized expert in mindfulness. She has over 20 years of studying meditation in Thailand,...
For the fourth episode, I want to share with you a podcast interview I did about a year ago when I had just come up with the idea that would turn into Educo Community as it is toda...
In the third episode of the Educo Community podcast, Dr. Regan A.R. Gurung and I discuss how to improve your self-awareness, deal with difficult emotions in the right way, and how...
In the second episode of the Educo Community podcast, Dr. Scott Geller and I discussed the power of psychological science, humanism, and how we can improve our lives by actively ca...
In the first episode of the Educo Community podcast, Bill and I discussed his personal story with growth, what it really means to push your comfort zone, and how he and his team co...
<span...
<span id='selection-m...
<span...
<span...
Establishing HabitsImagine that you and I went back 100 years to a time when cars were first made available to the average person. It's an exciting time.This disruptive change in technology has given...
There is nothing special about me.Throughout school, I was a B student...I was never talented at sports...And my English teachers would laugh if they knew I made a living from writ...
Handling SetbacksThere is no worse state of mind than desperation.You forget your values.You compromise your principlesYou make big sacrifices with equally big consequences.You become so focused on...
You're probably familiar with the saying, 'Hit two birds with one stone.'But imagine for a second that this saying was your reality. Imagine you were trying to hit two birds with o...
Overcoming LimitsWhen we look at the great entrepreneurial examples in history one name is sure to be on the list — Henry Ford.Ford is synonymous with the invention of the automobile, but why?Did h...
There are two things I'm sure everybody reading this has experienced at some point:Failure & Guilt.Everybody has tried... Everybody has failed...And everbody has felt guilty about...
As you may know by now, I have a deep passion for 3 things:Scientific facts...Technological resources...And helping individuals achieve whatever greatness they seek.Since starting...
On November 4th, four days prior to Election Day, President Obama sat down with Bill Maher to discuss some pressing issues the country faced. *Note: I'm just using this as an examp...
Facts.When I was a teenager, there were few things I feared more....Not because of school work, but because they were a reminder that I *was not the person I aspired to be.*
A must-read if you're looking to make massive change and/or become a master of your craft!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Review by Katrina Ravazzi
If you liked Robert Greene's Mastery, or Malcolm Gladwell's Blink you're going to LOVE The Will Of Heroes!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Review by Ben Austin
Game-changing, life-improving scientifically-backed success!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Review by Chris Paredes
Listen to the Audiobook of The Will of Heroes on Audible
The hotel maids – all who claimed to be the furthest thing from habitual exercisers – were learning how many calories they were burning on a daily basis.
I don't believe it...I thought as I hit my kick starter goal of $12,000 in November of last year. Only a few days earlier, everything seemed hopeless.I was two-thirds of the way th...
Acquiring SkillsAt 24 years of age, Mark Cuban was far from what many would call a success.“I was living in a 3-bedroom apartment in Dallas. I didn’t have my own bedroom. I slept on the couch or f...
Becoming GrittyOver the last 6 years, I have deliberately put myself in 'no retreat' situations. I have moved to a new city, I have set a hard deadline, or signed up to do something out of my com...
Finding Your PurposeIn 1813, Humphrey Davy–a prominent British scientist, and a member of the Royal Society–damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride. It was perhaps the luckiest a...
If you, with mind untroubled,Would flourish, day-by-day,Let each day of the sevenFind coffee on your tray.It will your frame preserve from every maladyIts virtues drive afar la! la...
Finding Your PurposeThere are two categories of people in this world: hedgehogs and foxes.The fox knows a great many things. He is cunning and smart. He is fast and sneaky. He is willing to try a lot...
0 0 1 104 595 Willpowered 4 1 698 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:'Table Normal'; mso-tstyle-rowband-si...
In 1979, Howard Putnam, CEO of Southwest Airlines, faced an extremely difficult decision—how should he run the company in a newly deregulated market. Other airlines were scrambling...
Becoming Gritty'Have I told you that story about how Charlie Parker became Charlie Parker? Parker's a young kid, pretty good on the sax. Gets up to play at a cutting session… and he (screws) it u...
Acquiring SkillsThe notecards in my hands were soaked and shaking...I was about to do my first pitch to a room of investors in my entrepreneurial career. As the clock ticked down to my turn to spe...
Another morning… another day where feel like I can do nothing but stare blankly at the computer screen.It’s time for me to continue working on the manuscript that has been the culm...
Last week, I sat down with Ben Austin, the founder of Stop Start Do and the host of the Unleash Your Inner Genius Podcast!We talk about the keys to mastering willpower, the best ha...
Overcoming LimitsAre you a good problem solver?If you believe you are, think about a problem that’s currently stressing you out.It could be with work, relationships, anything. But it must be realis...
I’m a writer without the use of his hands…what am I going to do?Those were my thoughts as the doctor put my wrist into a splint. For the next month, I wouldn’t be able to type.Bein...
'People don’t realize Star Wars is actually a soap opera and it’s all about family problems – it’s not about spaceships.' Said George Lucas soon after watching Star Wars Episode VI...
Every once in a while you get that sweet, “AHA” moment. You have found the solution to your problem, and suddenly it seems like a New World of possibilities is now open. It feels g...
Acquiring SkillsIn 1846, the head doctor of Vienna General Hospital had a crisis on his hands—1 in 6 women were dying of childbed fever. [1]The risk of death was so bad, in fact, that women were c...
I want to introduce you to two people–Christopher and John.Each of them regularly consumes a particular substance that he truly enjoys. Christopher regularly consumes substance F a...
Three hundred and fifty miles of pain and suffering.That’s what Joe De Sena and his three teammates were looking at as they approached the starting line of the 2001 International R...
Acquiring SkillsAs I read the words, I felt sick to my stomach…“20 years of research on willpower may have just been debunked.”They were referring to the concept of “ego-depletion” which I often r...
PerseveringDestin Sandlin thought the task would be simple.One of his friends had created something he called, “a backwards bike.”The backwards bike concept is very basic:When you move the ha...
Alison Cebulla's journey into the darkness of methamphetamine addiction. How she started, why she continued, and how she was able to overcome it!
Acquiring SkillsFrightened for her life, Alison Cebulla jumped out of the way of the car rolling toward her. Then she looked up…“The car was actually just parked there,” she told me. “It wasn’t mo...
Hitler would ADORE you! My heart was pounding as I opened the email with that as the subject. It was the first email I received after posting this article explaining the psychology...
Acquiring SkillsHow did we get to this? I thought as violence erupted in my home town of Chicago. Donald Trump was hosting a rally on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago and protes...
Handling SetbacksDone!I had officially completed The Will of Heroes, and I felt incredibly proud of the accomplishment.But as I moved onto the acknowledgements and citations I realized just how muc...
Handling SetbacksI couldn’t believe my eyes. The towers that stood as a symbol of the iconic New York City skyline were up in flames. People were jumping out of windows…The streets were filled with...
I’ll never forget that moment.I had been studying the biographies of successful people for years trying to find the key factors that led them to greatness. I found things that were...
Whack!! Jim Stockdale was taking yet another beating from his captors in the Hanoi Hilton—one of the most brutal prisoner-of-war camps during the Vietnam War. Just hold on for 5 mo...
Imagine sitting at a poker table with cameras and lights in your face, millions of people watching you live on ESPN, and the chance to win $2 million. The pressure is on.Oh, I forg...
Carl Hart woke up to screams from his parents’ room.His father had come home from having an affair and his mother chose to retaliate by boiling maple syrup and flinging the burning...
It is hard to summon your willpower to do what you know you should. It is even harder to do that when you are dealing with a chronic illness. But, as with everything else in life,...
The evidence was clear: cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines are so addictive that they are deadly.In many experiments, researchers found that lab rats with access to these drugs woul...
Overcoming LimitsWham!!It felt like I was just hit by a truck. My head crashed hard on the field and was throbbing in pain. It was my first football practice since moving to the United States from...
*Published by Danny Flood on http://www.openworldmag.com/Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS Welcome to an exciting episode of the OpenWorld pod...
The test was simple. The participants, all non-exercisers with the goal of adding workouts to their weekly routine, were asked to write down how many hours they planned to spend in...
New Year’s resolutions….more than half of us make them, but only 8% of us achieve them!That’s right. 92% of us fail our resolutions for the New Year – and I was no stranger to that...
Imagine that you arrive at the office tomorrow stressed and tired. You're worried about the responsibilities of the upcoming week, and the New Year is looking like it is going to b...
It’s that time of year again!A time when many of you will spend your days with friends, family members, and feasts. To most, it is a time to cut back on your daily routines and enj...
“It’s not about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.” – Rocky Balboa
Since the day he entered this world, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was surrounded by music.His father, Leopold Mozart, was a musical instructor and filled the Mozart home with new studen...
“Stay hungry, stay foolish” – Steve JobsSteve Wozniak could not believe his eyes as he looked at his computer screen. His keyboard actually worked! For the first time in history, s...
His heart was racing, his hands were sweaty and he knew this was going to be his one chance to impress the great Michael Jordan. He was not going to let this opportunity slip.
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their choice of field.” – Vince LombardiIn 1959 Vince Lombardi finally got...
“This is it!”Thought a young Warren Buffet as he picked up a book that would change his life forever.Until that point, Warren Buffet was far from what many would consider a future...
Last week, I sat down with Houston Truong of The Trading Edge to talk about Willpower in the world of Finance.We talk about Warren Buffett's willpower, The Will of Heroes, and much...
PerseveringIt was a beautiful Saturday in early September and I was in total bliss.I was at a lake house, my friends were all around, and we were simply relaxing - enjoying the last days of s...
I lost focus once...never again
With 1 day left, my principles were tested....
In order to finish strong, you need to fight through the middle.
The end is never the end. A new chapter awaits...
My video tribute thanking all of you for the unbelievable support!
The clock was passing 5pm Chicago time…and I didn’t have anything left in me.I slept from 1am - 5am last night, and spent the entire day reaching out to new people, reading about n...
'At some point, everything's gonna go south on you and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work.'- Matt Damon, The...
Overcoming Limits5am… time to get started on the new day and start my new plan of reaching out to others!But this time, my focus was on helping them, not helping myself. Here is how each point in t...
The day was moving along like usual. Wake up at 5...healthy breakfast...meditation...and - as planned - eat my frog and reach out to others.But no matter how many times I do it, or...
I feel like my whole life has built up to this moment. It is truly make or break time.I have spent the last 5 years researching the science behind how normal people used their will...
It has been called the hardest competition on the planet. The Insight Race Across America, also known as RAAM, is a 3,000-mile non-stop bike race from one end of the United States...
“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted...
Growing up in rural Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger had little chance of achieving fame or fortune. He lived in a tiny village called Thal where children were groomed to follow in t...
In 2001, Joe DeSena, the founder of The Spartan Race, was in a car accident that ripped his hip out of his socket. After his injury, the first 4 doctors he met with said that he wo...
Her mother prayed for good news as she sent 3-year old Temple Grandin to a speech therapist. Diagnosed with autism, Temple was thought to be incapable of learning language. In the...
David Blaine didn’t know how much longer he could last. He had been encased in a block of ice in the middle of Time Square for a full 55 hours and was literally going crazy.“I star...
Handling SetbacksIt was a simple a train ride from Manchester to London to most of the passengers on the train, but for one passenger, it would be the spark that would change the world of literatur...
“I was just a quiet girlfriend who was told to sit down and shut up.” – Michel’le ToussaintIn 2014, Andre Young (AKA Dr. Dre) had the biggest payday of any musician in history when...
When he was 12 years old, Kobe Bryant was about to give up basketball forever.He just completed his summer basketball camp and was going home a disgrace. He thought it would be the...
I’ll never forget that feeling. It was a strange mixture of both fear and excitement as I was officially setting up a site that would be known as “Willpowered” on September 22nd, 2...
In April 1994, Bill Gates completely cut himself off from his work, his friends, and even his family for an entire week.This was part of an annual ritual that he called his “Think...
Overcoming LimitsHave you ever felt like an outsider?Perhaps you were sitting alone at the cafeteria in high school looking over at the “cool kids’ table'. Maybe your friends were laughing at an in...
They were shocked to hear the news.The hotel maids – all who claimed to be the furthest thing from habitual exercisers – were given the statistics about how many calories they were...
As an adult, learning a new language is one of the hardest things to do.Your brain will always tempt you to do what is easiest and stick to the language you know and understand flu...
All the two Israeli men could do was hope.Hope that the judge would hear their cases thoughtfully and free them to return to society as reformed convicts.Each case was the same:The...
“All men have the will to win. But it’s the man who has the will to prepare who’s going to win.” – Bob KnightIn 1975, the legendary college basketball coach, Bob Knight, led his In...
The sun was beating as I was nearing the end of the Spartan Race in Monterrey, California. Okay, I’ve got to be somewhere near the top 15. Over 6000 participants showed up to take...
Procrastination is a writer’s greatest enemy.We have the almost cruel fate of having a blank canvas on which to paint every day. We do not have a 9-5 working schedule. We don’t hav...
What fuels our willpower?That was the question on researchers minds as they tested the impact of a healthy breakfast on high school students. They split the students into 3 groups...
In 1896, two brothers named Orville and Wilber Wright had a preposterous idea.“What if we could be the first ones to create manned flight?”There was no reason to believe that the b...
How can this be?The researchers thought. They were testing to see whether people who were half way to completing their overall goal would be more likely to finish it if they were f...
When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a mere 7 years of age, he began performing his music in the capitals of Europe.He would dress up like a court minister and his sister like a prince...
In 1997, Michael Dell – founder of Dell Computer – was asked what he would do if he were the head of Apple.“What would I do? I’d shut it down. And give the money back to the shareh...
My knee was scraped, my elbow was bruised and all I wanted to do was give up.Most kids in my neighborhood didn’t know how to ride a bike anyway. My training wheels weren’t so bad....
During one of his many serious contemplations about suicide, Eric Clapton was saved by only one thought.If he killed himself, he would no longer be able to drink. [1]He had brief p...
Drew Carey looked at the huge stack of paper on his desk, the hundreds of emails in his inbox, and the dozens of voicemails on his phone.He just couldn’t do it - how was he suppose...
All seemed lost for Lisa Allen.She was overweight, unemployed, clinically depressed and addicted to both alcohol and cigarettes. Her husband had just left her for a younger, more a...
“What am I doing wrong?!”Thought the world-class missionary and linguist, Daniel Everett.He had been sent deep into the heart of the Amazon jungle to teach Christianity to a tribe...
e could hardly hold his excitement in. His father was going to come home with 5 year-old Ray Bourque’s first ever pair of ice skates.Then he laid his eyes on them. They were used,...
t was January 2014 and I was in complete agony.One week earlier I had set a new diet plan for myself. I was slowly starting to climb the ranks of the Spartan Race and I needed some...
It was 10 hours into the Ironman Triathlon. Kara, a first-time Ironman Triathlete, felt so close to the finish yet she still had so far to go.She had completed the 2.4 miles of swi...
I was standing in the gym in early February, 2013. It was empty.A month before I could hardly move there were so many people. All of them with enthusiasm. All of them with ambition...
At 24 years of age, Mark Cuban was far from what many would call a success.“I was living in a 3-bedroom apartment in Dallas. I didn’t have my own bedroom. I slept on the couch or f...
The year was 1519 and Hernán Cortés, with some 600 Spanish soldiers, had landed on a vast inland plateau called Mexico.The Spanish conquistador and his men were about to embark...
“Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be.” – Warren BuffetMy childhood room was lined with posters of them. Michael Jordan Wayne GretzkyArnold Schwa...
Carol is in one of the most universally dreaded positions - she is about to give a public speech.Her palms are sweaty. She can feel her knees trembling. She begins to look down on...
What is the key distinguishing factor in willpower success and failure?Why do I have willpower some days and not others?Is there a difference in willpower between men and women?Wil...
“Sleep?! Sleep is for people who are broke. I don’t sleep. I have an opportunity to turn a dream into a reality.” – Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson I think about that quote every time I a...
The clock has just struck 5pm on Wednesday and Susan takes a look at her gym bag.'Ugg. There is no way I'm going to be able to make it to the gym tonight.'Susan is on an 8-week exe...
The walk to the gym. It was a walk I had been doing for over 2 and a half years as I had been training for the Spartan Race. In my first race in October 2012, I finished in 334th....
'Can we help students who are struggling in class turn things around by helping to boost their self-esteem?' It seemed like a good idea in theory. After all, there is a correlation...
'Why don't these people get it?!'Thought researchers who were studying a group of non-exercisers who were trying to set up a habitual exercise routine. The participants had been as...
Where would you be today if you saved just $1/day every day since you graduated from high school? (Assuming a 2% interest rate)If that was 10 years ago, you’d be $5807 richer.If th...
“These people must be saints!”Thought Roy Baumeister, one of the top researchers on the science of willpower. He and his colleagues were researching people in Germany and the Nethe...
Stanley is currently undergoing one of the toughest challenges to our willpower imaginable – he is on a diet. He has been struggling to get his weight down for years. Always making...
Willpowered Day 1 Task List: - Establish principles that I will not break under any circumstancesThat is what I penned in my journal on September 26th as I was about to embark on t...
Let me introduce to you William.William is a smart, quiet, introvert with a dry sense of humor and a generous spirit. He’s 20 years old, a college student and has never been very g...
“I quit my job and I’m going to start a blog where I write about and teach the science of willpower.” How would your friends and family react to that statement? Yeah, mine too. Bla...
“Uh Dad, Green Bay isn’t even a city on this Map.”“Don’t worry, when I’m done with that team, it will be.”That’s what the legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, told his daughter when he...
In the summer of 1990, Joanne Rowling – better known for her pen name J.K. Rowling – was on a train from Manchester to London when an idea came out of nowhere.“I could see Harry ve...
“What can I do I set myself up for success?”A simple question that was asked by one of the subscribers to Willpowered.My answer – it’s all about getting the morning routine right.T...
One day in Bentonville, Arkansas, Sam Walton sat down for breakfast with a friend. Despite his wild success as the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam lived a very simple lifestyle. This incl...
Our greatest fear isn't failure...it's failure in public.That is why venturing outside of our comfort zones is so scary. We set ourselves up for critics, ridicule and embarrassment...
“There is NO WAY I can do this.”Those were my thoughts as I looked at the course load at the beginning of my 4th Spanish class in University. I knew the value of learning multiple...
The town was Framingham, Massachusetts – a simple place in the Northeastern United States with a population of approximately 68,000. It is a lovely town with a mix of old colonial...
“We have done it!” Thought James Olds, “we have found the happiness center of the brain!'The year was 1953. Olds and fellow psychologist Peter Milner had been stimulating various a...
“I have 30 days of oxygen.”That was what I told myself at the beginning of February. I had enough money to live for another 30 days and that was it. I was broke.When I started Will...
“I’ve done 20 Ironman Traithlons, who needs this?”Said Joe DeSena, founder of The Spartan Race, as he was in the middle of doing the Utah Ironman Triathlon. Joe is renowned for pus...
The experiment could be called a form of torture. Psychologists Claire Adams and Mark Leary invited young women who were watching their weight into the laboratory and actually enco...
Are you a hedgehog or a fox?In a famous essay by Isaiah Berlin, the 20th century philosopher divided the world into 2 categories of people: Hedgehogs and Foxes. [1]The fox knows a...
Establishing Habits'Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.'In sports, as in life, some people begin life with a head start. They are born with more talent, more money, more connections...
How many things are you able to do at once?Most people believe that they are extremely good at multi-tasking. We believe that we can watch a movie, do productive work and carry on...
“I don’t need this.”That’s what I told myself in 2011 when I had decided that I was going to officially end any relationship with physical exercise. I was convinced that I no longe...
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle.Success is a lot of small things done well, day after day.What seems like an overnigh...
In the mid-1990s, the San Francisco 49ers were having a basketball game between the 49ers team of the 1980s and the team of 1990s. It was a great pleasure for the fans to see their...
Establishing HabitsIt was Tuesday and Jim was talking to me about his cat again. This time... he was pretty worked up. Apparently “Smokey” had been behaving badly and had clawed his favorite couch. J...
At 21 years of age, Jonah Hill exploded onto the Hollywood scene. His lead role in the comedy Superbad not only made audiences laugh, but also turned him into one of the most belov...
“A fool doth think himself wise. But a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” – William ShakespeareIn 1846, Vienna General Hospital had a crisis – 1 in 6 women who came into the hos...
Growing up in rural Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger had very little chance of achieving fame or fortune. His parents were poor and his father was set on Arnold joining the military,...
Solve this puzzle as quickly as you can: A man purchases a baseball bat and a ball for $1.10. The bat cost $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Recently, I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Lindsey Stutheit of Ditching Dumb. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview as she asked some great questions about willpower, goa...
In 1949, 19 year-old Warren Buffet picked up a book that he claimed changed his life. Security Analysis, written by Benjamin Graham, helped shape Warren Buffet’s investing philosop...
In 1994, George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, realized something profound. Special effects technology was now at a point where he could finally create his vision for what he always...
In the legendary tale, The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus is a man of great strength.He takes on many challenges throughout his travels. He fights a cyclops, sails through treacherous...
She may be the most popular pop star on the planet.Over the last several years Katy Perry’s music has filled concert venues, MP3 players and radio stations across the world. It see...
There it is. That slice of cheesecake on the dessert cart that seems all so tempting. Despite your goals of health and fitness, it feels like your entire body is willing you to say...
It was 4am on January 6th, 2014. On this day, Chicago was hit by what was called the “Polar Vortex” where northern cities across the United States were hitting record low temperatu...
It was the summer of 2012 and a professional athletic trainer named Rob was hired to train the USA basketball team that would be playing in the Olympics in London. He had the oppor...
“Doing is better than perfect.” – Facebook Company MottoThere you sit. You have the goal in front of you, but you are not quite sure how you need to proceed. You have visualized wh...
The moviegoers all agreed – the popcorn smelled delicious!158 participants had been invited to attend a post-lunch matinee at a local movie theater and give their rating of it on a...
The clock was ticking down as the UCLA Bruins were about to defeat the Seattle University Redhawks in the round of 16 game of the 1964 NCAA basketball tournament. The Bruins came i...
The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s serves as one of the most historic movements in the United States of America. African Americans, who had never been treated as equa...
In 1970, psychologists Walter Mischel and Ebbe B. Ebbesen invited a group of 4-year olds into a laboratory for what may have been the toughest test of their short lives. They sat d...
In 2009, a man named Joe DeSena founded a company called 'Spartan Race'. Spartan Race is an obstacle course that is typically run in trails where runners must climb up ropes, crawl...
It’s that time of year again.A time when we make time for friends, family and feasts. To most, it is a time to cut back on our daily routines, relax and enjoy the great cooking, ho...
The coaching staff of a high school cross-country running team recently got together for dinner after winning its second state championship in two years. 'I don't get it,' said one...
“He might be the world’s best ultra-endurance athlete” –The New York TimesIn 2004, a man named Jure Robic won the Insight Race Across America for the 2nd year in a row. The race, c...
They are two men at the very top of their professions. One is the head of the one of the largest technology companies in the world and is personally valued at over $33 billion doll...
Breaking a promise to our friends, to our family, or to our boss seems almost unfathomable. We will go to almost heroic lengths to not let them down. We want them to know that they...
“Humans are remarkably weak and vulnerable creatures.” - Robert GreeneAs the top of the food chain, it is hard for us to imagine that for millions of years humans were weak and vul...
Just how important is breakfast?That was the question on researchers minds as they were conducting various studies on self-control. We have been told over and over again just how i...
“What have I done to deserve this?!”Said Amanda Palmer as a frat boy tried to shove his head into her crotch. Palmer, an up and coming musician, was spending her days as a living s...
“This time is going to be different.”Those are the first words we tell ourselves when we set a goal and plan to change our behavior. It does not matter if that behavior change was...
There are never enough hours in the day.We can never seem to find the time to accomplish everything we want to on our to-do lists. Whether those things are work-related, family-rel...
Overeating is a harder addiction to break than addiction to heroin. [1]That's right, heroin. Dr. David Ludwig and his associates, came across this finding when testing the reward c...
Imagine you have been sent back thousands of years to pre-civilized society. All of your modern-day comforts are gone. Your goals of losing weight, becoming more productive and lea...
It was 35 degrees fahrenheit in the morning of October 27th, 2012. My friend and I were headed to a rural area outside of Chicago to try out this new thing called a “Spartan Race”....
When Charles Duhigg wrote his best-selling book, The Power of Habit, he made a bold claim.“There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you get the habits right.” [1]Few of us would arg...
The painting above is the earliest published work of a teenaged Leonardo da Vinci. His mentor painted most of the work, but instructed Leonardo to paint the angel that is gesturing...
It has been called the most difficult language to understand on the planet. In the second half of the 20th century, Missionaries have gone deep into the jungle of the Amazon to try...
“Sit in this corner until you can stop thinking about a white bear.” Said the older brother of a young Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist. Several hours later the brother returned t...
For 2 weeks every year all across America, there is an epidemic of self-control loss. It happens to some of the best and brightest minds we have. It happens to those who will be le...
Imagine you have just won the lottery. You have two options about when you will get your cash payout. If you wait 3 years, you’ll get $50 million dollars, but if you wait 6 years,...
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark TwainI don't know about you, but I doubt Mark Twain is actually advoca...
Imagine you are a participant in a study on willpower. You arrive to the laboratory having fasted for the last 12 hours, so your body is in dire need of some nourishment.Before you...
“Who needs this?”Said Joe DeSena, founder of The Spartan Race, as he was in the middle of doing an Ironman Triathlon in Utah. Joe is renowned for pushing his body to the limit, but...
It may be the most competitive event on the planet.Every 2 years we see athletes from all over the world converge on one city to compete in the Olympic games. They do it for pride....
The test was simple. The participants, all non-exercisers with the goal of adding workouts to their weekly routine, were asked to write down how many hours they planned to spend in...
As humans, we all have our vices – mine is blueberry muffins. The delicious blend of sweet pastry and fruit is enough to make my mouth water even as I write this. While at a local...
What is the effect of physical exercise on a person’s willpower?That’s the question researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney were trying to find out. There are, of course, man...
“I’m going to start working out. I’ll start by going to the gym every Wednesday.”A friend of mine told me those words 2 years ago. He didn’t go to the gym on a regular basis, and w...
In a previous post I wrote about the real reason that positive thinking and self-belief works. Belief goes beyond consciously thinking that you will be able to do something. True b...
In a previous article, I wrote about how willpower is a muscle. And like all other muscles in the human body, it can get exhausted from overuse, but it can also be strengthened thr...
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University had a simple question.Can we help students who are struggling in class turn things around by helping to boost their self-esteem? The...
The students arrived in the laboratory in a nutrition-depleted state (they were hungry!). Each one of them was instructed to fast prior to the experiment in which they were about t...
“Say no to drugs.”We’ve all heard those words. Whether it was from our parents, our teachers or TV advertisements. However, saying “no” to temptations – whether they be as serious...
It’s Sunday night. You’ve just had a fun, relaxing weekend and you’re planning the week ahead. You have a cool, focused vision of how the week will pan out. You’re going to eat bet...
It’s 6:30am in the morning in Beijing and Michael Phelps wakes up to what will be his 3rd gold medal performance of the 2008 Summer Olympic games. He goes through his normal routin...
There it is. You feel a rush of excitement as you see that thing that you promised you would give up. It may be a slice of cheesecake, a glass of wine, or a cigarette, but whatever...
Rest days are crucial to recovery. Whether your goal is physical or mental in nature, a rest day can help you recharge your batteries, avoid burnout, and allow you more clarity and...
“Who is successful here and why?”That’s the question that Angela Duckworth, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has been asking for over 10 years. Her goal was to det...
“What time is it?” David Blaine asked a bystander at his Frozen In Time expedition in Time Square. “It’s 2pm” the man responded.“Jeez, that means I still have 8 hours left in here!...
Charles Garfield looked around the room at his new job. There was a certain buzz in the air that wasn’t there before. His new team was achieving great results on a regular basis. P...
“Know Thyself.” - Scribes of DelphiImagine you have just been hired as CEO of a Fortune 500 company. You’re excited about all of the changes and improvements you can make for the c...
Every year, thousands of alcoholics check themselves in to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in order to get over their addiction. They do this because, despite having a relatively low sci...
“You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”Few would argue with the fact that we are like our friends. After all, it’s hard to spend time with someone who has a...
“Mind over matter” I don’t believe in quick fixes. I believe in small, almost un-noticeable, wins compounded on a daily basis that eventually lead to spectacular results. However,...
Fake it ‘till you make it.You’ve heard that saying before. Whether from a blog, a mentor, or a friend offering advice. The saying means well. After all, when we’re going into a hig...
Heroes remind us of what is possibleHeroes are not just for kids. We all have heroes in our lives. It may be a sports star, a business leader or even our own parents. We all have a...
It was February 2013. The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers were about to take the field of the Super Dome to play for the greatest prize in the game of football –The Lombar...
It’s Tuesday at 7am. Susan, an account manager for a brokerage firm, takes a look at her calendar for the day. She sees that huge presentation for one of her firm’s top clients at...
What is willpower, really? We talk about the concept a lot in passing, always wishing that somehow we could have more of it to summon in certain situations. Recently, researchers h...
After a live performance put on by one of the masters of comedy, Jerry Seinfeld, a young comedian came up to his dressing room. He asked him, “What is your secret to success?”Seinf...
“Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin Mornings are amazing. Mornings are the best time to be productive. Why? Because you can spe...
The promise of happiness is all around us. It’s found in windows at the mall, restaurant menus, TV advertising, everywhere. Advertisers and marketers are always shouting“wear this...
Talk to Willson for personalized advice based on the principles in these articles.
Talk to Willson