In 1813, Humphrey Davy–a prominent British scientist, and a member of the Royal Society–damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride.
It was perhaps the luckiest accident in modern human history...
Read More"People don’t realize Star Wars is actually a soap opera and it’s all about family problems – it’s not about spaceships."
Said George Lucas soon after watching Star Wars Episode VII in an interview with Charlie Rose. This was the first time he'd put Star Wars in someone else's hands, and he felt like it had been abused.
“There were two things that have been abused from the original release of Star Wars.
Read MoreDestin Sandlin thought the task would be simple.
One of his friends had created something he called, “a backwards bike.”
The backwards bike concept is very basic:
I’ll never forget that moment.
I had been studying the biographies of successful people for years trying to find the key factors that led them to greatness. I found things that were pretty obvious indicators of success—dreaming big, setting goals, working hard, and so on.
But these alone could not be the answer I was looking for.
Read MoreWhack!!
Jim Stockdale was taking yet another beating from his captors in the Hanoi Hilton—one of the most brutal prisoner-of-war camps during the Vietnam War.
Just hold on for 5 more minutes…
Read MoreCarl Hart woke up to screams from his parents’ room.
His father had come home from having an affair and his mother chose to retaliate by boiling maple syrup and flinging the burning hot liquid at him.
She then bolted out the front door into the streets of Miami and fled in a car before the man could get revenge of his own. Carl and his sisters were grateful that she managed to escape, because if he caught her, he would’ve killed her.
Read MoreNew Year’s resolutions….more than half of us make them, but only 8% of us achieve them!
That’s right. 92% of us fail our resolutions for the New Year – and I was no stranger to that list of failures.
But rather than scorn humanity for our lack of follow-through, I wanted to learn what exactly those 8% of successes did differently than the rest of us.
Read MoreImagine that you arrive at the office tomorrow stressed and tired.
You're worried about the responsibilities of the upcoming week, and the New Year is looking like it is going to be hectic.
Then your boss comes into your office and offers you a promotion. The promotion will come with a $5,000 increase in salary, but it will also require even more work and responsibility.
Read More“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their choice of field.” – Vince Lombardi
In 1959 Vince Lombardi finally got the chance he had worked all of his life for; to become the head coach of a National Football League (NFL) team.
The problem was that the team he was going to coach was the Green Bay Packers.
Read MoreIt was a beautiful Saturday in early September and I was in total bliss.
I was at a lake house, my friends were all around, and we were simply relaxing - enjoying the last days of summer. Then a rush of panic came over me as I realized the truth of the situation.
This was all a lie. In reality, I was doomed.
Read MoreI’ll never forget that feeling.
It was a strange mixture of both fear and excitement as I was officially setting up a site that would be known as “Willpowered” on September 22nd, 2014.
I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no idea if anyone would care what I had to say or if I would just be writing as a means of putting my research into practical terms.
Either way, it was day one, and I had a blank canvas in front of me. A blank canvas that I would have to fill with something that I hoped people would actually like.
Read MoreThey were shocked to hear the news.
The hotel maids – all who claimed to be the furthest thing from habitual exercisers – were given the statistics about how many calories they were burning compared to actual habitual exercisers.
Compared to a desk job, hotel maids actually get a lot of exercise. They are constantly moving. The scrubbing, vacuuming, and walking from room-to-room isn’t exactly "intense". But over the course of an 8-hour day, the calories add up.
In fact, they add up to about 900 calories burned every single day!
Read MoreAs an adult, learning a new language is one of the hardest things to do.
Your brain will always tempt you to do what is easiest and stick to the language you know and understand fluently.
However, improving your English speaking is also incredibly valuable!
It can help you advance in your career.
Allow you to understand more books, music, movies and TV shows.
Help you travel to more places and communicate effectively.
And many more!
That is why you must summon the willpower to immerse yourself in the language and truly master it.
Read MoreThe sun was beating as I was nearing the end of the Spartan Race in Monterrey, California.
Okay, I’ve got to be somewhere near the top 15.
Over 6000 participants showed up to take on the course that was a full 13 miles of mountain terrain and obstacles. Several obstacles included having to carry heavy bags and buckets up extremely steep hills.
Read MoreWhen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a mere 7 years of age, he began performing his music in the capitals of Europe.
He would dress up like a court minister and his sister like a princess play music to bedazzled audiences that happily paid to see the youngsters display their marvelous talents. [1]
They drew such large crowds that it was Wolfgang and his sister who supported the family – not their father Leopold who was a court musician and instructor.
Read MoreIn 1997, Michael Dell – founder of Dell Computer – was asked what he would do if he were the head of Apple.
“What would I do? I’d shut it down. And give the money back to the shareholders.” [1]
Apple had seemingly lost all hope. Since kicking its founder, Steve Jobs, out of the company in 1985, it had been through the wringer of CEOs that just did not understand what made Apple special.
But in 1997, with Apple seriously considering selling off its assets, the board offered the original founder his rightful position as head of the company once again.
Even with Steve Jobs back at the controls, things did not look promising.
Read MoreDuring one of his many serious contemplations about suicide, Eric Clapton was saved by only one thought.
If he killed himself, he would no longer be able to drink. [1]
He had brief periods of addiction with coke and heroin, but neither of them were as important to him as his relationship with alcohol. After several times in which he seriously thought about ending his life, however, he finally checked himself into rehab.
After completing rehab, he remained sober for several years before one summer day.
Read MoreAll seemed lost for Lisa Allen.
She was overweight, unemployed, clinically depressed and addicted to both alcohol and cigarettes. Her husband had just left her for a younger, more attractive woman and she began stalking the two of them; contemplating violent action.
To make matters even worse, she was standing on over $10,000 in debt without any means of repaying it. Even before her life was completely in shambles, she had never held a job for more than a year.
She had absolutely nothing going for her in her life.
Read Moree could hardly hold his excitement in. His father was going to come home with 5 year-old Ray Bourque’s first ever pair of ice skates.
Then he laid his eyes on them. They were used, they were old, but they were his! He could hardly contain his excitement.
Growing up in a poor neighborhood, in an apartment building with siblings stacked from floor to ceiling, he was just so grateful that his father was able to give him skates at all.
He was not going to let them go to waste.
Read MoreAt 24 years of age, Mark Cuban was far from what many would call a success.
“I was living in a 3-bedroom apartment in Dallas. I didn’t have my own bedroom. I slept on the couch or floor depending on what time I got home. I had no closet. Instead I had a pile that everyone knew was mine. My car had the usual hole in the floorboard, a ’77 FIAT X19 that burned a quart of oil that I couldn’t afford every week.”
Until that point, Cuban had been working exclusively in the service industry. His prospects were poor and he was essentially coasting through life. That all changed when Cuban landed a job with Your Business Software – the first retail software store in Dallas.
Read More
Willpowered was founded on one idea - Help people win the mental battle. All of our products and services are designed based on scientific evidence to help you overcome mental obstacles on the way to achieving your dreams.
