Gratitude, compassion and pride = success

By Kelly Sargent

I DON'T know about you, but I'm constantly trying to will-power my way through life. It's a heck of a lot of work! 

​No one would sensibly argue in favor of abandoning the use of reason and our executive functioning skills that include mental control and self-regulation, but Northeastern University psychology professor David DeSteno believes that harnessing the power of gratitude, compassion and pride will lead to greater success in life than force of will alone. 

The below article based on his book, Emotional Success, is from The Atlantic.

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Better Than Willpower
A new book argues that reason and perseverance aren’t enough. Instead, three emotions are the secret to getting things done.

By Olga Khazan
January 18, 2018 

Willpower, reason, and executive-functioning skills all seem like ingredients in the recipe for success. So why, then, have so many of us already abandoned our New Year’s resolutions, and it’s not even February yet?

According to Emotional Success, a new book by the Northeastern University psychology professor David DeSteno, it’s because we’re going about pursuing our goals in the wrong way.

Instead of putting our noses ever closer to the grindstone, he advocates relying on so-called social emotions—gratitude, compassion, and pride—to get things done. These emotions, he says, naturally encourage self-control and patience.

They do so by combating people’s tendency to value the present over the future. When we feel grateful, compassionate toward ourselves and others, and proud of our abilities, the struggle to work hard for future rewards becomes, well, less of a struggle.

Click here to read the entire article from The Atlantic.