February 23, 2012
Why Willpower Isn’t Enough, and How to Augment It
Saint Paul and Oscar Wilde didn’t have very much in common, but there was at least one hard fact of human nature that each acknowledged, in his own way. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul observed, “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.” Wilde dismissed the same universal weakness with a quip in one of his plays: “I can resist anything but temptation.”
All of us fight the battle St. Paul referred to, and all of us yield to temptations to act in ways we wish we wouldn’t. The question is, why? Why can’t we simply program ourselves to live a noble life, only doing what’s best for us?
Spitzer Center Executive Director Jim Berlucchi addressed these questions in two recent interviews on the Catholic radio show, Kresta in the Afternoon. The topic is highly germane to the work of the Center because it involves a critical hurdle in moving to higher levels of happiness and virtue. As Berlucchi explained in one interview …
“We make our resolutions with our conscious mind. Our conscious mind does four things: It perceives, associates, evaluates and decides. But our subconscious mind is where we have our habits, our attitudes, and our self image. So unless we understand and address our subconscious mind, we are doomed to failure in terms of making resolutions and changes.”
The first interview, taped January 5, was called, “Why New Year’s resolutions don’t work and what you can do about it.” It's the first audio file embedded below.The second interview (and second file) was taped January 21 and entitled, “Willpower is not enough. How to help yourself and others make a positive change.” If the audio files aren’t displaying on your browser, or if you prefer reading to listening, here’s a link to a PDF of both interviews.
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Last changed: Feb 03 2011 at 12:11 PM