How did "willpower" ever come to mean the opposite of using the brain?

Kelly McGonigal is a Stanford professor who teaches the most popular course at the university - on willpower.

She's talking about the same thing as this article, and she's using the word "willpower" in the same way.

I know, I get it - people use that word to mean "blind, unthinking almost addiction level pushing to achieve a goal at all costs."

But that's not what it used to mean.

It's like when I hear people say "Dieting never works" and then say, "Instead of that, just choose whole foods, add more plants," etc

That's a diet!!! I know, they mean "crazy eating patterns where you leave out whole food groups.

So yes, please intelligently develop your will and you'll have a very easy time with sleep, exercise, food, and whatever else you want to learn (meditation, calculus, foreign languages, etc)