Are you struggling to take control of your life? If so, then “Willpower Doesn’t Work: Discover the Hidden Keys to Success” by Benjamin Hardy can help you get moving in the right direction. The premise is that there is nothing wrong with you if your willpower seems to be in short supply. Hardy ties almost everything back to people’s environments: He asserts that the only way to overcome bad habits and addictions is to take control over your personal setting. This book covers a wide variety of struggles. The topics include weight loss, financial success, and addiction recovery.

Hardy explains and expands upon the existing research on willpower. However, the reading remains accessible is to a wide audience: He uses only limited jargon, which he defines right away. Hardy relates most of modern people’s struggles to their addictions to technology, cheap and easy food, and stimulants like caffeine. He points out that the world has changed drastically in the past couple hundred years. You will discover the five parts necessary to make “committed decisions” and even more detail about how to fulfill each part. The idea is for you to no longer need to rely on willpower to reach your goals.

Indeed, Hardy calls out the vilifying of environments found in most self-help books. He sees environment as a tool instead. Readers get real-world examples of external factors influencing character development. The author refers to his experiences as a researcher as well as those in his personal life that inform this work. He never claims that circumstances control people entirely. Instead, he challenges the concept of free will as a standalone concept. His research shows that each individual can change the contexts surrounding them in various ways. That is, you can achieve the greatness that you dream about if you take control of the factors that shape your behaviors.