Willpower doesn’t work (at least not how you think it does.)

I love hearing my friend Benjamin speak about habits, goals, and psychology. He is one of the most-researched, best writers on these topics, and every time we talk, I learn something new.

Benjamin is an organizational psychologist and bestselling author of Willpower Doesn’t Work.

His work is viewed by millions of people monthly and featured on Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Cheddar, Big Think, and many others. He is a regular contributor at Inc. andPsychology Today. 

From 2015 to 2019, his email list grew to nearly 400,000 people (without paid advertising) by blogging on Medium.com.

In this conversation, Benjamin explains why willpower isn’t the most effective way to change habits, what works instead, and how our personalities aren’t permanent. Get ready to take notes because I sure did!

When you change your context, you change yourself.

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show notes

• Why willpower doesn’t work (6:30)

• The difference between push motivation and pull motivation (7:25)

• Why it’s so important to align your identity with your goals (9:05)

• What decision fatigue is and how to avoid it (13:08)

• How to use psychological flexibility for your self-development (16:05)

• How to shape your environment to support positive change (20:38)

• What self-signaling is (28:05)

• What journaling can help you do (31:12)

• The power of focusing on one outcome (36:45)

You want your identity matched with your goals.

links mentioned in this episode

• Willpower Doesn’t Work
• Spiritual Roots of Human Relations
• The Continuous Atonement
• The Compound Effect
• Jack Canfield
• Gabby Bernstein
• Stephen R. Covey
• Adam Grant

follow benjamin

• Website

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