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The Willpower Circuit By Jonah Lehrer

Decent Essays

Willpower What is the secret to being successful in life? The secret is willpower; willpower plays a major role in life. It can either be a bad or a good influence on your life; it all depends on what you chose. What is willpower? Willpower sort of like temptation. It is the strength of will to carry out one’s decisions. For example, let’s say that you are at work, and you are extremely tired, and want to go home, but you don't. That's willpower, determination. You could easily walk out, drive home and quit your job but you didn’t because you told yourself no. How does willpower affect your life? Willpower is determination. Whatever your will is. In source one, “The Willpower Circuit” written by Jonah Lehrer, is about an experiment that Walter Mischel did. He invited a four-year old student into a small room and made her an offer; she could eat one marshmallow immediately or wait fifteen minutes and have two marshmallows. Mischel told the child that if she rang the bell he would come back and she could have the one marshmallow, but that meant she wouldn't get her second marshmallow. Some of the children used strategies to distract themselves from the temptation of …show more content…

The children that resisted the temptation of eating the marshmallow were more likely to be successful in life (Source 1). However, in Source 2, written by Sarah Kliff, a similar experiment was conducted; two adults promised a child that they could have two marshmallows later if they waited. One adult was lying about giving the child a second marshmallow while the other wasn't. Researchers, in Source 2, say that if a person lives in an environment where promises always get broken and outcomes are unreliable, then the most rational response for the child would be to eat the marshmallow right away (Source

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