Download/stream this 1-hour radio interview on the NPR show “The People’s Pharmacy with Joe and Terry Graedon” (Original Broadcast: 1/1/12)
About the show:
At the start of a new year, many of us resolve to adopt a healthier lifestyle. We plan to quit smoking if we haven’t already; or we intend to get into a regular exercise routine, give up junk food and lose weight. Why are New Year’s resolutions so easy to make–and so hard to keep?
If we only had more willpower, we think, perhaps we wouldn’t give in to temptation so easily. Can we exercise willpower like a muscle to make it stronger? Find out how self-control works and how to make it work for you. And have a happy and healthy new year!
Guest: Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is an award-winning psychology instructor at Stanford University and a health educator for the School of Medicine’s Health Improvement Program. Her psychology courses for professionals and the public (including The Science of Willpower and Living Well with Stress) are among the most popular in the history of Stanford’s Continuing Studies program. She is the author of Psychology Today’s “Science of Willpower” blog. Dr. McGonigal’s latest book is The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It.
