The Willpower Paradox
Compelling article from Scientific American arguing that willpower doesn’t work as well as we collectively seem to think it does.
[One group] was basically putting their minds into wondering mode, while the [second group] was asserting themselves and their will. It is the difference between “Will I do this?” and “I will do this.”
The results were provocative. People with wondering minds completed significantly more anagrams than did those with willful minds. In other words, the people who kept their minds open were more goal-directed and more motivated than those who declared their objective to themselves.
