Gratitude, compassion and pride - not willpower - hold the secret to achieving your goals

Using cutting-edge research, world-leading psychologist David DeSteno shows you how gratitude, compassion and pride are far more powerful than grim determination and self-denial in achieving your goals. Whereas willpower is quickly depleted, our prosocial emotions - the feelings that enable us to build effective social bonds - become stronger the more we use them. Even better, they're contagious.

· Cultivating gratitude, compassion, and pride leads to better cardiovascular health, immune function and sleep
· Students who feel proud of their work will work 40% harder and longer than others
· Empathy and compassion are the best predictors of team success

Our prosocial emotions evolved specifically to help us resist immediate temptations in favour of long-term gains. But they can also be adapted to strengthen our bonds with our own future selves - who will benefit most from the grit we need to succeed in life.