Sophia Rose reviews: Mindful Willpower: Powerful Mindful Practices to Increase Self-Control, Get Motivated, and Build Good Habits by Samara Serotkin, PsyD

Happy Tuesday, what better way to start the day than with a self help review from Sophia Rose. See why she recommends this helpful book.
Enjoy!

Mindful Willpower: Powerful Mindfulness Practices to Increase Self-Control, Get Motivated, and Build Good Habits by Samara Serotkin, PsyD

Self Help, Health

Publisher:  Rockridge Press

Published:  12.22.20

Page:  147

Rating: 5

Format: eARC

Source:  Callisto Publishing

Sellers:  Amazon

Add To: GoodReads

GoodReads Blurb:

Find the strength to achieve your goals—strategies for building willpower with mindfulness

It’s not easy to make big, lasting changes to your habits, but Mindful Willpower can show you the way. This simple, actionable guide will help you reclaim your sense of self-control with practices based on mindfulness—the act of fully experiencing just one moment at a time. Whether you’re trying to eat healthier, save money, get organized, reduce your screen time, or anything else that takes a bit of mental fortitude, you’ll find the tools you need to clear space in your mind and commit to success in this book.

Develop your willpower gradually and sustainably with:

Healthy habits—Explore a variety of exercises for using mindfulness meditations to disengage from bad habits, replace them with better ones, and stay focused on the lasting changes you want to make in your life.
Fast and easy techniques—Practice quick, mindset-altering exercises for controlling impulses, managing procrastination, delaying gratification, and more that you can use no matter where you are.
Research-based advice—Discover a concise overview of the psychology and science behind willpower, so you can understand exactly how and why these strategies work.

Get focused, build better habits, and increase your self-control with Mindful Willpower.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Around the holidays each year, I find myself making excuses, falling into previous bad habits, and losing the drive to make and keep good goals.  But, the new year approaches and I get a renewed sense of self and goals so I look about me for motivational books with practical means to jump start me once again.  I don’t expect a miracle and I do genuinely expect that it will be hard work to make changes, but my positive, hopeful mindset is the first step to rewarding growth toward my goals.

 

With all that in mind, I usually reach for organizational, health, or nutrition books, but this one caught my eye.  It’s not that I had never heard of or practiced this concept, but I simply hadn’t given it due consideration.  Taking a deliberate approach to willpower and self-control does sound like a foundational need to attack those habits I mentioned earlier, so I gladly reached for Mindful Willpower.

 

I appreciated the author’s approach by first defining the purpose of the book, the history of Mindfulness meditation, the definitions of Mindfulness, willpower, and self-control, etc.  She went on to show the research and science behind it and how the brain and neural system respond to this practice and how they respond to the opposite- stress and indulgence.  From there, the book flows into the practical issues that Mindfulness Willpower can and will tackle- finding focus, bad habits, procrastination, instant gratification, and emotions before concluding with a resounding final chapter on making Mindfulness Willpower part of everyday life.  Resources and references are available.

 

As to the author’s writing style on the subject, she is engaging and provides examples and stories to make sense of what she is teaching and what it looks like in daily life.  She draws on experiences as a counselor and life coach.  Each chapter is rounded out with the takeaway points from the chapter and exercises for practice.  The exercises are empowering rather than defeatist in that they are not complicated and just need the participant to gumption up.

 

I really appreciated the points about being intentional because bad habits happen when a person is not looking.  The practice of staying in the moment is at the core of it all and that hit home quickly because I am the type who flits from thought to thought and task to task when I am stressed or not taking care of myself. Though, in general, I am what the author describes as a ‘marathoner’ (plot out tasks ahead) rather than a ‘sprinter’ (energize to do it all in one go near the deadline).

 

Pressing onward from the gratifying lessons of this book, I hope to use repetitive chore times as moments to be Mindful and to work at staying on task in thought and action.  This easy-to-read practical guide is one I can highly recommend.

 

My thanks to Callisto Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

About the author:
Samara Vachss Serotkin, Psy.D. is a psychologist, personal coach, and mindfulness meditation teacher based in Seattle, WA. She is the author of Mindful Willpower: Powerful Mindfulness Practices to Increase Self-Control, Get Focused, and Build Good Habits. Dr. Serotkin has over twenty years' experience providing direct care to clients in a wide variety of settings. Her passion for helping clients leverage mindfulness skills to create lasting behavior changes have led to partnerships with multiple organizations focused on helping people take better care of themselves and the bodies they live in.

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

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GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose