Book Summary - Willpower Instinct

creation date: 2013-11-07, latest update: 2014-07-14

Self-controls come from prefrontal cortex. Resisting instinct from brain stem.

Instinctual self (brain stem) always act first. We need to change directions after that. Therefore it's important to keep tabs of moment of decisions.
Heart rate variability is the best proxy for willpower reserve. You can increase it by destressing (exercise, sleep, meditation). Quick boost by breathing slowly (5 times/min).
Willpower is like a muscle. Keep pushing to grow stronger. Find strong wants power, use it at your weakest.
Sin/Virtue. Don't justify good/bad behavior as moral accounting. Remind self that a misstep today will be repeated in future behavior. (Making decisions have more weight)
Desire/Reward loop. Dopamine drives us to seek reward, whether the actual reward is there or not. Slow down. Notice the promised vs actual. Use it to your advantage. This might be key to your happiness engineering.
We're only human. Forgive yourself when willpower failures happen. It's the feeling of shame and guilt that will break you.
Predicting how and when you might be tempted increases the chance that you will stay on track.
Wait 10 minutes for any temptation - a strategy to hold back the Beast and bring out the Wise. "Surfing the urge". The urge as a wave in the ocean. It would build in intensity, but ultimately crash and resolve.

A mind trick that makes future rewards less enticing than the present.
Reverse trick - Act as if you've already obtained future rewards, and will lose it if you go for instant gratification at present.

Limit your options. Burn down your ship. Try the following:
1. Make choice well in advance. - pack healthy lunch, sign up for training etc.
2. Make it difficult to relapse - Put alarm far away.
3. Motivate future self - wager money for success.

We always think too highly of future self, treating him as entirely another person. Start thinking of him as having even LESS endurance than the current you.

Auto-mimic others action. This is why we have empathy and can be influenced by social group.

Follow whatever is considered the group's "normals". Religion. Tradition. Politics.
Use social proof (imagined) to appeal to our emotions. Easier than rational arguments because it directly affect the Beast (System 1), not the Wise (System 2).
Shame is more effective for weak/distanced temptations, Pride is more effective for strong emotions.

Suppressing thoughts has an opposite effect. Don't think about something --> think about it. Try to sleep --> can't sleep.
Solution: Let any thought flows through you, feel what you feel, but don't believe it.
Dune : Bene Gesserit's Litany Against Fear.