A short podcast micro-chapter by Brian Johnson (Areté +1° #257) advising that to increase willpower you should "play offense" by removing temptations from your environment rather than relying on in-the-moment self-control. Johnson cites Roy Baumeister’s view that willpower exemplars avoid exposure to temptations (e.g., don't buy sugary cookies). The episode also promotes Johnson’s book Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential, lists shipping/pre-order dates and tiered pre-order bonuses (ebooks, audiobook, limited edition coin, VIP boxes, event tickets), and gives ordering links and options.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Arete One Degree, a micro chapter from our new book, Arete Activate youe Heroic Potential. This is another micro chapter from the fifth objective on Self mastery. I'd say this objective in forging antifragile confidence are my favorites. Here's the idea. You want willpower? Play offense, not defense. Most of us wonder how we can have more willpower in those moments of temptation. But Roy Baumeister, the world's leading expert on willpower, tells us that the people who use their willpower wisely don't actually use it to deal with that many temptations. When we chatted, Roy told me that willpower exemplars play offense with their willpower, not defense. How? Let's say you don't want to eat sugary cookies anymore. Good decision. By the way, the way to play offense is simple. Never buy the tempting cookies again. You want to, as Tom Rath says, buy your willpower at the store so you don't need to use it at home. The less effective defensive strategy? Buying those cookies and then trying not to eat them. When are you most likely to eat that junk food? Answer when you feel the worst and your willpower is at its most depleted state. Of course, then that's how you play offense, not defense. Think about one of your bad habits now. Think about how you could play offense with your willpower to create an environment where you're simply not exposed to that temptation. You got it. Fantastic. Go run your offense and win the ultimate game hero. I hope you enjoyed that. Arete One Degree from my new book, Arete, activate your heroic potential. The book will be shipped on November 14, right before Black Friday. In time to make it the perfect holiday gift, perhaps. I wanted to let you know that we have some special giveaways if you think you might like to pre order the book, and even more goodies if you think you might want to give the book away this holiday season. Here's the deal. Pre order one copy and get a free advanced reader copy of the ebook today. Pre order three copies and get a free advanced copy of the ebook and the audiobook and a limited edition Arete coin that we'll send to you. Pre order 10 copies of the book. Bless you and get all of that plus an autographed advanced hardcover reader copy sent to you immediately inside the fancy Arete VIP box, which is packed with other goodies including this Arete T shirt, a heroic t shirt, and 10 free annual heroic memberships for your gift recipients. You'd be able to give them a book and a year's worth of Heroic for free. If you pre order 25 copies, you'll get all that plus a free ticket to our launch event party in Austin November 10th through 12th. And you'll get a personal voice memo. Thank you. And a high five from me if you're feeling inspired to order over 50 copies of the book. We've been blessed to have a lot of CEOs and corporations do that. We'll give you a huge discount. Just let us know all of this you can learn more about at Heroic U.S. book. Heroic U.S. book of course you can order the book on Amazon. Barnes and Noble Independent bookstores will be everywhere you can buy a book, Hudson's Airport stores, et cetera. And let us know of course when you've done that and purchased a copy or three or ten or more if you feel inspired to do so at Heroic Us Book. I appreciate you and I hope you love the book. I'm super excited about it, super proud of it, and I hope it helps you and your families transform your lives.
