DrStraw referenced in a previous post that people sometimes don't do what's good for them. Maybe they should be out exercising for their health, for example, but instead watch TV or something because it is easier to do.

Doing what is best for you even when it's not easy seems to require willpower.

What do you think? Do you have willpower? If you do, how did you get it?

_________________
be immersed

No, or I wouldn't post on here.

At least not in the off-topic forum. And I'd definitely stay away from arguments if I had willpower.

_________________
Occupy Babel!

I have some, but I still procrastinate a lot. What is good for me isn't always what I want to do.

Im not sure that I agree with the premise that having willpower equates to doing what is good for you. When I first learned the game I played and studied it for hours at a time. That certainly required a lot of willpower because there were certainly many other things I could have and should have been doing and many of them would probably have been better for me than hiding away with a go book and board.

Having said that, I will say that, yes, I do have willpower. I probably could not have reached 5 dan without it. But fortunately I have reached a point in my life where I don't have to exercise it as often as I used to have to.

_________________
Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I guess there's no secret to having willpower, right? "Just do it", as they say...

_________________
be immersed

Practice seems to help? When I make myself do something hard, for a while it's easier to do other things similar. For example, I recently stopped drinking soda and coffee on weekdays, and it seems like, since then, I can easily turn down other things.

_________________
Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

By the way, DrStraw... Why would other things have been better than hiding away with a go book and board?

_________________
be immersed

Willpower can be used for useless pursuits, but it seems necessary for many worthwhile ones.

I wish I remembered more details, but I think there was a study that had people exercise willpower for a few weeks on something (good posture, perhaps) and then tested them on apparently unrelated tasks afterwards--they showed more willpower than the control group.

_________________
Occupy Babel!

I think I have more willpower than most people. I've stuck to an exercise regimen (with some changes, e.g. to make time for my kids when they were born) for 20 years now. And I tend to finish software projects that I start...there's a lot of people who start great projects then run out of steam before it's done.

But I also procrastinate too much. Like by posting here when I should be working.

I don't have will power, I am totally at the mercy of the whims of the universe

I just do what's best for me in the long term. For example last year I quit my job out of the blue because I am not progressing as I had wanted. After that I headed down the contracting/temping/locuming route inorder to find the job I wanted. After about 6 month I got one. Having some willpower made the whole thing eaiser. It helps to block out the negative voices.

I not sure whether you call that willpower or risk taking or both. I think part of it is deciding what to do and just doing it regardless. It also helps to calculate the risks of each action beforehand and playing Go definately helps with that.

I don't remember. It was 35 years ago.

_________________
Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Do you have any regret now?

_________________
be immersed

the answer is simple - no

_________________
长考出臭棋.

No I don't have - need to get to 1p but I can't

_________________
Stefany, web programmer

I've been reading a couple of books that talk about this very thing. They both claim that willpower is not enough for difficult change. Both authors suggest that the logical part of the brain gets overwhelmed easily and then gives way to the emotional part of the brain which then leads us down the path of least resistance. It is fascinating to read about as it affects a lot of what we do, including go. After reading these books, I think that there is a logical part (exercise is healthy for me) and an emotional part (I like exercising because I get to go with my friends) that leads to real success.

So, for go, we know studying tsumego is good for our game, but unless we find a way to bring some positive emotional aspect to it we are likely to do it much less than we should.

In case anyone is interested, the books are "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt and "Switch" by Dan and Chip Heath.

_________________
RazorBrain


- Another One Bites the Dust
- BOOK REVIEW: How Not To Play Go
- Finally, a DGS Client for the iPhone

GoChild does this with happy kids' voices saying "Hen Hao!" when you get a problem right

This is kind of interesting to me. Have you found a positive emotional aspect for studying tsumego? If so, what is it - or what brought it about?

_________________
be immersed

I've been thinking about this aspect of learning that you've brought up a little bit, and I've been trying to relate it to my own experience.

It seems to me that, in my experience, actions that are based on emotion give me immediate satisfaction - satisfaction in the present.

But actions that are methodical and determined by logic sometimes do not give me immediate satisfaction, but give me satisfaction when I look back on them later.

For example, if I hate exercise, but I force myself to do it because of a logical idea that's telling me that it's good to do, the next day - or even right after I'm done exercising, I think to myself, "Wow. I did a lot of exercise. I feel good about myself, now!". Or, if I don't do the "logical" thing to do, eg. I don't exercise when I think I should, I later feel, "Wow. I did not have much self-control there."...

Typically if I find something emotionally gratifying in the present - about something I'm doing in the present - it's because I'm not doing what I am "supposed to be doing" from a "logical" perspective... Does this sound consistent with how other people feel?

_________________
be immersed