Video: Self-Control is the Key to Success: John Tierney and Roy Baumeister on Willpower

 ”Self-Control is the Key to Success: John Tierney
and Roy Baumeister on Willpower” Produced by Jim Epstein. About one
hour. 

Originally released on February 10, 2014. Original writeup is
below:

“There are two qualities that correlate with success,” says
New York Times journalist John Tierney. “One of them is
intelligence and the other is self-control. And so far researchers
haven’t figured out what to do about intelligence, but they have
rediscovered how to improve self-control.”

Tierney spoke at an event sponsored by the Reason Foundation on
January 28, 2014 at New York City’s Museum of Sex. He was joined by
Roy
Baumeister, the Francis Epps Eminent Scholar in psychology at
Florida State University, and the co-author with Tierney of

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.

Baumeister and Tierney discussed the importance of willpower in
determing our success in life and offered tips for improving our
self-control. The conversation touched on laboratory experiments
that show how willpower can be depleted (6:20); the effect
of glucose levels on self-control (10:15); how to
make good on your New Year’s resolutions (16:30); why
dieting undermines self-control (20:45); how to
make an effective to do list (22:30); Tierney
and Baumeister’s experience meeting David Allen, author of Getting
Things Done (24:30); why it’s a
good idea to weigh yourself every day if you’re trying to shed
pounds (25:30); the role
of genetics in determining a person’s willpower (31:00); why
self-help literature rarely emphasizes willpower (33:00); the victim
mentality and Alcoholics Anonymous (35:20); willpower
and crime (38:50);
procrastination as a tool for getting things done (47:20); and
willpower and evolution (51:45)

About 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Shot and edited by Jim Epstein.