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Willpower Doesn't Work
- Discover the Hidden Keys to Success
- Narrated by: Benjamin Hardy
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
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Summary
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 organizational 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 environments 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.
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Willpower Doesn't Work
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Owen
- 02-11-19
This book ACTUALLY changed my life!
Please just get past the first three chapters, because the moment those chapters are over, the book kicks it into high gear! The actionable steps are clear and easy to follow. They will make your life better! It helped me overcome my internet addiction and I'm not finished implementing everything in this book yet!
For the past year and a half, I have been pretty badly addicted to the internet, specifically YouTube. It has lead to me choosing watching videos over eating, going to the bathroom, and even sometimes work!
I had read many different self-help books over this period of time, mostly out of desperation. Most were interesting, few were helpful.
Finally, I decided my biggest problem was willpower, which lead me to this book. If you think about the main message of this book, it makes perfect sense. "Your environment shapes your behavior and your behavior shapes your identity." But once I properly internalised this message, I suddenly saw it everywhere! My friends, some of my family, even animals!
The steps one needs to take to turn their life around can be set up in a day. I don't feel completely free from my addiction, but I do feel like I'm moving forward every day, after over a year of being stagnant.
Thank you Benjamin. You changed my life.
12 people found this helpful
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- NRN D.
- 18-12-18
Inspiring and proactive
This is a very good book, in that give you step-by-step actions to be taken to move your business forward and how to organise yourself, it is also thought-provoking and intuitive, and that at times I thought the author was talking to me about my situation. This is definitely book one will want to listen to several times.
3 people found this helpful
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- bronzeapple76
- 09-10-19
Absolutely incredible!
Some common sense concepts but backed by the latest research from super credible sources, including the author. If you want to change your mindset AND your life, get this book!
2 people found this helpful
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- Ducarta
- 29-01-19
Highly Practical Book!
I'd there was ever a book that simultaneously educates and kicks you into action this is it.
The first step to getting the most out of this book is approaching it with a humble and honest attitude. The second step is accepting that you can change and finally if you go on implement just one of the actions suggested, you will get the value of this book back (IMHO).
Get this book right away!
2 people found this helpful
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- Jason
- 11-06-18
Must read for any entrepreneur
Great book which talk about how your environment can make you successful or just average. The author explain what kind of environment you should set up for your self if you want to learn something new, lose weight, sleep or work.
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 30-09-21
Nothing new
Basically a lot of threads from other self help books pulled together in one place, nothing really stood out for me other than “change your environment”.
1 person found this helpful
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- Janer
- 19-02-21
Simply great!
Loved it!
Narrator was sincere!
Pleasant to recieve!
Amount was fit. Good summaries. Tensity of information appears, yet is manageable.
Much love!
Thanks
1 person found this helpful
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- Nguyen Son Tung
- 06-03-20
awesome book!
it's changed me already. from waking up at 9am to 6am. I'm listening to the book again.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 11-11-19
Amazing, a must read
What an amazing book, no doubt has helped me to understand some areas where I’ve been going wrong. I’ve already put some things from the book in place and feel great. I’ll be listening to it a few more time and putting even more of its concepts in place.
1 person found this helpful
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- Gaz
- 23-10-18
Great read.
a real insight into the importance of your environment with some excellent references and ideas to change your life for the better if you decide empowered me to move house to a better area for a children
1 person found this helpful
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- mazen kasser
- 24-10-18
By far my fav book!
I will have to listen to this book every year. Lots of notes taken. Thanks
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- D. W. Knight
- 30-07-18
Your environment is what matters
As always Ben Hardy has provided sound and practical advice.
Your environment controls you... the good news is that you can control your environment.
If someone listens to this book with attention there is no way they can not improve their life.