So my mission is to look at the people who got high self-control, the high trait self-control,

and try to understand what are they doing? What actions are they engaging in to bring about the good

outcome? Because I don't think it's magic. I don't think it's just like they're born with high

self-control and therefore they don't do anything and all of a sudden they get all the good stuff

later in life like longevity, health, etc. They see the world differently and they engage in actions in accordance

with how they view the world. You can start reflecting on your goals and start asking yourself,

how do these goals align with my personal values to get an autonomy? How does it connect with other

people for relatedness? And how do I feel a sense of

like competence and mastery and self-efficacy from me? So kind of rethink it. So if you ever

found yourself staring down a piece of chocolate cake or a cookie or some yummy treat knowing

you kind of really shouldn't indulge, but feeling almost

powerless to resist its siren call. Or how about hitting the snooze button one too many times?

Instead of dragging yourself out of bed for that planned early morning workout, I know I have been

there more times than I can count. We set these ambitious goals for ourselves, but then our willpower

or self-control seems to crumble in that moment of truth. Why is summoning up self-control so

fiendishly difficult sometimes? What if I told you that much of what we think about willpower and

self-discipline and self-control, is turned on

its head by cutting-edge research. My guest today has been at the forefront of upending our

assumptions about self-control through groundbreaking studies, and his surprising findings reveal that

maybe, just maybe, we've been thinking about this whole willpower thing all wrong.

So my guess is Michael Inslet, a professor at the University of Toronto who has been upending our

assumptions about willpower and self-control through his research in his work and play lab.

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