‘Benjamin Hardy is one of the leading voices on well-being and productivity. Willpower Doesn’t Work is an insightful guide to help us thrive in today’s world’ Arianna Huffington
If you’re relying on willpower alone to help you lose weight, improve your relationships or achieve more at work, you’re doomed to fail. The environment around us is far too powerful, stimulating, addicting and stressful to overcome it through sheer determination. Willpower, grit, being positive – basically, all the tools you’ve been told are the keys to creating lasting change in your life – are insufficient in this high-paced, information-overloaded world we live in. The only way to stop just surviving and learn to truly thrive in today’s world is to proactively shape your environment.
That’s the premise of Willpower Doesn’t Work, by organisational psychologist and Medium’s most-read self-help guru Benjamin Hardy. Building on copious existing research, as well as his own experience of growing up in a broken family afflicted by addiction and drug use, Hardy explains how people can change their lives on every level by making small, impactful changes in their environment like:
* Creating ‘enriched environments’ – using tougher challenges and self-imposed deadlines to force yourself to rise to the occasion.
* Growing into your goals – using radical personal accountability to keep yourself on target and on track.
* Becoming the teacher – stepping into a leadership role (even before you think you’re ready) to accelerate your skills.
* Rotating your environments – getting out of your rut by literally changing your physical surroundings throughout the day or week.
From simple steps like removing things that conflict with your values from your environment (like junk food, junk media, even junk people), to incorporating new tools (like fasting or adding ‘positive triggers’ to your world), these lessons make it possible to consciously shape your surroundings so you can lead a more productive and happier life. Hardy leans on his own story of making the decision to foster three young children to illustrate how any shift, no matter how huge, can become ‘the new normal’ if you support that change with a productive environment.
If you’re relying on willpower alone to help you lose weight, improve your relationships or achieve more at work, you’re doomed to fail. The environment around us is far too powerful, stimulating, addicting and stressful to overcome it through sheer determination. Willpower, grit, being positive – basically, all the tools you’ve been told are the keys to creating lasting change in your life – are insufficient in this high-paced, information-overloaded world we live in. The only way to stop just surviving and learn to truly thrive in today’s world is to proactively shape your environment.
That’s the premise of Willpower Doesn’t Work, by organisational psychologist and Medium’s most-read self-help guru Benjamin Hardy. Building on copious existing research, as well as his own experience of growing up in a broken family afflicted by addiction and drug use, Hardy explains how people can change their lives on every level by making small, impactful changes in their environment like:
* Creating ‘enriched environments’ – using tougher challenges and self-imposed deadlines to force yourself to rise to the occasion.
* Growing into your goals – using radical personal accountability to keep yourself on target and on track.
* Becoming the teacher – stepping into a leadership role (even before you think you’re ready) to accelerate your skills.
* Rotating your environments – getting out of your rut by literally changing your physical surroundings throughout the day or week.
From simple steps like removing things that conflict with your values from your environment (like junk food, junk media, even junk people), to incorporating new tools (like fasting or adding ‘positive triggers’ to your world), these lessons make it possible to consciously shape your surroundings so you can lead a more productive and happier life. Hardy leans on his own story of making the decision to foster three young children to illustrate how any shift, no matter how huge, can become ‘the new normal’ if you support that change with a productive environment.
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Reviews
To get things done, we don't need willpower, only the power to begin doing it. Benjamin Hardy explains that mindfulness of context is more important, and that by consciously shaping your context, you have the greatest opportunity for personal growth
I am fascinated by all things performance. Everything Benjamin Hardy writes challenges me to stretch a little further and dig a little deeper
Benjamin Hardy is one of the most read writers on Medium.com for good reason. He accomplishes something rare: the ability to blend practical actionable advice with a compelling voice. You're always better for having read something he's written
Benjamin Hardy leaves you feeling inspired - like you have no choice but to commit to what you believe you should do
As Seneca once said, 'Life without a design is erratic.' Benjamin Hardy is one of my favorite young writers because he shows interesting and effective ways to organize and design our lives so that we can live and be how we wish
If you want to get more done, don't worry about willpower - focus on motivation. Challenging the dominant view of self-control as a muscle, Benjamin Hardy reveals that productivity is really about clarity and commitment
In an age when few people think deeply about life, Benjamin Hardy is the exception. Read this book if you want to be better
Benjamin Hardy is one of the leading voices on well-being and productivity. Willpower Doesn't Work is an insightful guide to help us thrive in today's world
Uncommonly thoughtful: that's what I think of when I read Benjamin Hardy's work. Get this book and you'll better understand how to be who you truly want to be