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The Psychology of Willpower

How to strengthen your willpower

How to overcome temptation and distractions

The role of motivation in willpower

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The Psychology of Willpower

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How You Read

Even though reading is better than a lot of other activities, you can still do it poorly or for poor reasons.

To be a great reader, it is not enough that you read, it’s also how you read. The following strategies by no means are a complete list, but if you implement even a couple of them, I’m comfortable guaranteeing that you’ll not only be a better reader but a better person too.

Stop reading books you aren’t enjoying
Keep a commonplace book
Reread the masters
Ask people you admire for book recommendations
Don’t just learn from your own experience
Get out of a dry spell

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4. Ask people you admire for book recommendations

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s line was “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”

If a book changed someone’s life — whatever the topic or style — it’s probably worth the investment. If it changed them, then it will likely at least help you.

208 reads

“We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application — not far far-fetched or archaic expressions or extravagant metaphors and figures of speech — and learn them so well that w...

SENECA

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5. Don’t just learn from your own experience

Humans have been fighting and dying and struggling and doing the same things for eons. To not avail yourself of their knowledge is arrogant and stupid.

Too much depends on you for you to learn solely by experience — you must also learn by the experiences of others. Drink deeply from history...

192 reads

If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you’re functionally illiterate.

GENERAL JAMES MATTIS

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6. Get out of a dry spell

The path to wisdom is long and circuitous with twists and turns, ups and downs, highs and lows. Maybe you’re in the middle of a low right now, or you’re at the very bottom of the valley. This can be a scary place to be, because it can feel like you’ll be stuck there forever. It can be impossible ...

159 reads

2. Keep a commonplace book

Take the time to type out quotes and passages from great books to feel great writing come through you.

For example, craft a “commonplace book” — a collection of quotes, ideas, stories and facts that you want to k...

279 reads

Far too many good brains have been afflicted by the pointless enthusiasm for useless knowledge.

SENECA

221 reads

3. Reread the masters

You were in high school when you read The Great Gatsby for the first time. You were just a kid when someone tell you the story of Odysseus.

The point is: You got it, right? You’ve already read them or learned about them, so you’re done, right?

We cannot be content to simply p...

222 reads

1. Stop reading books you aren’t enjoying

Life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy reading. My rule is 100 pages minus your age — so if you’re 30 years old and a book hasn’t captivated you by page 70, stop reading it.

That way, as you age, you have to endure crappy books less and less.

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