Kelly McGonigal Quotes & Sayings
Enjoy the top 36 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Kelly McGonigal.
Famous Quotes By Kelly McGonigal
We think about our future selves like different people. We often idealize them, expecting our future selves to do what our present selves cannot manage. — Kelly McGonigal
The biggest enemies of willpower: temptation, self-criticism, and stress. ( ... ) these three skills - self-awareness, self-care, and remembering what matter most - are the foundation for self-control. — Kelly McGonigal
He loves productivity seminars because they make him feel so productive - never mind that nothing has been produced yet.) — Kelly McGonigal
According to the American Psychological Association, the most effective stress-relief strategies are exercising or playing sports, praying or attending a religious service, reading, listening to music, spending time with friends or family, getting a massage, going outside of ra walk, meditating or doing yoga, and spending time with a creative hobby. (The least effective strategies are gambling, shopping, smoking, drinking, eating, playing video games, surfing the Internet, and watching TV or movies for more than two hours. — Kelly McGonigal
Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets better at math. Ask your brain to worry, and it gets better at worrying. Ask your brain to concentrate, and it gets better at concentrating. Not — Kelly McGonigal
Self-awareness: the ability to realize what we are doing as we do it, and understand why we are doing it. — Kelly McGonigal
The is a secret for greater self-control, the science points to one thing: the power of paying attention. — Kelly McGonigal
Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self-awareness. — Kelly McGonigal
For most of us, the classic test of willpower is resisting temptation, whether the temptress is a doughnut, a cigarette, a clearance sale, or a one-night stand. When people say, "I have no willpower," what they usually mean is, "I have trouble saying no when my mouth, stomach, heart, or (fill in your anatomical part) wants to say yes. — Kelly McGonigal
Even in the Stone Age, the rules for how to win friends and influence people were likely the same as today's: Cooperate when your neighbor needs shelter, share your dinner even if you're still hungry, and think twice before saying "That loincloth makes you look fat." In other words, a little self-control, please. — Kelly McGonigal
Meditation is not about getting rid of all your thoughts; it's learning not to get so lost in them that you forget what your goal is. Don't worry if your focus isn't perfect when meditating. Just practice coming back to the breath, again and again. — Kelly McGonigal
A short practice that you do every day is better than a long practice you keep putting off to tomorrow. — Kelly McGonigal
My favorite definition of the mindful path is the one the reveals itself as you walk down it. You cannot find the path until you step on to it. — Kelly McGonigal
Research shows that people who think they have the most willpower are actually the most likely to lose control when tempted.1 For example, smokers who are the most optimistic about their ability to resist temptation are the most likely to relapse four months later, and overoptimistic dieters are the least likely to lose weight. Why? They fail to predict when, where, and why they will give in. They expose themselves to more temptation, — Kelly McGonigal
When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage. — Kelly McGonigal
As Deb Lemire, president of the Association for Size Diversity and Health, says, If shame worked, there'd be no fat people. — Kelly McGonigal
A tired operator and an energized monitor create a problematic imbalance in the mind. As the monitor searches for forbidden content, it continuously brings to mind what it is searching for. Neuroscientists have shown that the brain is constantly processing the forbidden content just outside of conscious awareness. The result: You become primed to think, feel, or do whatever you are trying to avoid. — Kelly McGonigal
Feeling burdened rather than uplifted by everyday duties is more a mindset than a measure of what is going on in your life. — Kelly McGonigal
When we're stressed, our brains persistently mis-predict what will make us happy. — Kelly McGonigal
We wrongly but persistently expect to make different decisions tomorrow than we do today — Kelly McGonigal
We all have the tendency to believe self-doubt and self-criticism, but listening to this voice never gets us closer to our goals. Instead, try on the point of view of a mentor or good friend who believes in you, wants the best for your, and will encourage you when you feel discouraged. — Kelly McGonigal
Mindset 1: Stress Is Harmful. Experiencing stress depletes my health and vitality. Experiencing stress debilitates my performance and productivity. Experiencing stress inhibits my learning and growth. The effects of stress are negative and should be avoided. Mindset 2: Stress Is Enhancing. Experiencing stress enhances my performance and productivity. Experiencing stress improves my health and vitality. Experiencing stress facilitates my learning and growth. The effects of stress are positive and should be utilized. — Kelly McGonigal
People come up with resolutions that don't reflect what matters most to them, and that makes them almost guaranteed to fail. — Kelly McGonigal
When your mind is preoccupied, your impulses - not your long-term goals - will guide your choices. — Kelly McGonigal
Self-compassion-being supportive and kind to yourself, especially in the face of stress and failure-is associated with more motivation and better self-control. — Kelly McGonigal
Go after what it is that creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows. — Kelly McGonigal
Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort. — Kelly McGonigal
Case in point: Warnings on cigarette packages can increase a smoker's urge to light up. A 2009 study found that death warnings trigger stress and fear in smokers - exactly what public health officials hope for. Unfortunately, this anxiety then triggers smokers' default stress-relief strategy: smoking. Oops. It isn't logical, but it makes sense based on what we know about how stress influences the brain. Stress triggers cravings and makes dopamine neurons even more excited by any temptation in sight. It doesn't help that the smoker is - of course - staring at a pack of cigarettes as he reads the warning. So even as a smoker's brain encodes the words "WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer" and grapples with awareness of his own mortality, another part of his brain starts screaming, "Don't worry, smoking a cigarette will make you feel better! — Kelly McGonigal
The intelligent want self-control; children want candy. - RUMI — Kelly McGonigal
[ ... ]while we all have the capacity to do harder things, we also have the desire to do exactly the opposite. — Kelly McGonigal
Though our survival system doesn't always work to our advantage, it is a mistake to think we should conquer the primitive self completely. — Kelly McGonigal
The development of willpower -I will, I won't and I want- may define what it means to be human. — Kelly McGonigal
You can deal with stressful life experiences with strength from past ones. — Kelly McGonigal
We need to separate the real rewards that give our lives meaning from the false rewards that keep us distracted and addicted. Learning to make this distinction may be the best we can do. — Kelly McGonigal