Neuroscience of Change with Kelly McGonigal

Proven hacks to embed positive habits

Is there an aspect of your life that you would benefit from changing? For example; watching less Netflix, exercising more, checking your phone less, connecting with nature more. These changes involve dropping old habits or creating new ones. Unfortunately, our noble goals can be harder to realise than we would like. Many people struggle to covert positive change into lasting behaviours. If you’ve had this experience, you're far from alone.

Setbacks and the need to get back-on-track are part of the change process. However, when we fall back into old habits feelings of failure can arise, triggering self-criticism and self-doubt. Science tells us that this response trips us into a downward spiral of shame, pain or fear. Here’s the rub - when we are upset our brain is not good at making decisions and we seek instant relief, even if it means engaging in the habits we are trying to quit.

But there is hope; you can mentor yourself and re-train your brain so that you back yourself and stay on track.

In this episode of the Leadium podcast, Sharon Longridge interviews Dr Kelly McGonigal, a neuroscience expert, health psychologist, and lecturer at Stanford University. She is the worldwide best-seller The Willpower Instinct, and her TED Talk How to Make Stress Your Friend has garnered almost 25 million views.

Kelly explains how to harness the three aspects of willpower and self-compassion to align our behaviours with our deepest goals and values. A key element to achieve this is to focus on self-compassion in place of shame or guilt. Kelly shares evidence that even small changes can snowball into big victories.

What we cover

• Willpower and goals - getting clear of what we want and who we are
• The three aspects of willpower - the 'I want, I won't, and I will' powers
• Stress and demotivation - why stress steals our progress
• The cost of self-criticism - how it corrodes motivation
• Harnessing self-compassion - acknowledging what it means to be human
• Letter of self-compassion practice - awakening your compassion instincts
• Making change social - finding bigger-than-self goals and teaming up

Resources

• Connect with Kelly McGonigal at http://kellymcgonigal.com/  
• Kelly McGonigal: How to Make Stress Your Friend - TEDGlobal 2013
• IG: @kellymariemcgonigal
• Twitter: @kellymcgonical