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New Age. Psychology. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:A psychologist and best-selling author gives us a myth-busting response to the self-help movement, with tips and tricks to improve your life that come straight from the scientific community. Richard Wiseman has been troubled by the realization that the self-help industry often promotes exercises that destroy motivation, damage relationships, and reduce creativity: the opposite of everything it promises. Now, in 59 Seconds, he fights back, bringing together the diverse scientific advice that can help you change your life in under a minute, and guides you toward becoming more decisive, more imaginative, more engaged, and altogether more happy. From mood to memory, persuasion to procrastination, resilience to relationships, Wiseman outlines the research supporting the new science of �rapid change� and, with clarity and infectious enthusiasm, describes how these quirky, sometimes counterintuitive techniques can be effortlessly incorporated into your everyday life. Or, as he likes to say: �Think a little, change a lot.�.… (more)
User reviews
This book was written by a scientist who decided to look into the scientific basis for the techniques recommended by the self-help industry.
There are some interesting findings from the cited scientific studies, and a lot of the techniques mentioned in this book really do seem to provide a big reward for not too much effort. I really should try some of the techniques from the chapter on happiness, as it seems as though it is easy to increase your happiness even though a large proportion of how happy you are is innate.
Another thing I have problems with is procrastination and the studies apparently show that if you force yourself to do spend just a few minutes on the task you have been putting off, a kind of subconscious 'must finish this task anxiety' takes over, so that even if you stop part-way through the task you are less likely to procrastinate when it is time to get back to it. So it seems that I should listen to my usual thoughts telling me to 'just do something' when overwhelmed by the number of tasks on my to do list at work.
I was looking forward to finding out how a pet frog could help you to convince anyone of anything, but more interesting in the end was the discovery that you can make charity boxes up to 200 percent more effective by painting them red, labelling them 'every penny helps' and placing them anywhere except Birmingham. As for motivation, the often recommended technique of visualising your desired outcome has actually been shown to be counter-productive. It seems that by visualising yourself having succeeded, you convince your subconscious that you are half-way to your goal already, so you end up making less effort.
Having watched the Derren Brown series in which he primed people over the course of a few weeks to do certain things without them even knowing that they had been selected for the show, I know how much people can be affected by things they don't even consciously notice. When it comes to creativity, something as seemingly unconnected to the task in hand as the subject of a picture on the wall can drastically increase the creativity of the ideas generated.
Many of the items in this book make a lot of sense, but I was surprised to read that people would generally rather take a £50k job where they would earn more than their colleagues over a £60k job where they would earn less than their colleagues. Surely the second job would give you more scope for pay rises as well as a higher starting salary? I guess a lot of people must be more concerned with status than I am.
The final section on Personality includes a quick and easy personality test.
My results are:
Openness - HIGH
Conscientiousness - LOW
Extroversion - LOW
Agreableness - HIGH
Nueroticism - HIGH
I borrowed this book from the library to read for a book club, but I have already bought my own copy for future reference. The subjects covered are so wide-ranging that you may well be able to donate all your other self-help books to a charity shop and never buy another one.
Which sounds like a great idea to me, but I did have some mixed feelings about the execution. Wiseman does has some decent bits of advice for dealing with certain specific situations and for altering your general approach to achieving your goals. (Examples: If you need help, ask people one at a time rather than appealing to a big group, because people in crowds tend to mill around waiting for someone else to step forward. And if you want your kids to be successful, praise them for trying hard when they do well, rather than telling them that doing well means they're smart. They'll be more likely to try hard and do well next time, too.) A lot of the self-help exercises seemed a bit contrived and gimmicky to me, though. And while altering your behavior based on ideas with some scientific support is obviously better than doing so based on ideas that are clearly wrong, a lot of the experimental conclusions here seem to be a bit iffy, offering interesting suggestive indications rather than concrete proof. The human mind, after all, is extremely complex, and altering tiny details in how you conduct experiments on it can lead to big differences in results. Wiseman does acknowledge that, but not quite as much as I'd like.
If you're interested in learning where lots of self-help books go wrong, though, or in reading about interesting, quirky little psychology experiments, this one is worth a look.
I didn't find it hugely enlightening but I was pleased to find that some of the techniques I've uncovered on my own over the years actually work, and some of the things I've suspected are baloney - actually are. Interesting and quick read, I don't remember having any big disagreements with the author while reading.
You get 4 or 5 linked studies on the various topics, most of which show that the mass market has got it wrong (The Mozart effect section is particularly damning). With 59 second fixes. A few of these are way more than 59 seconds, as you need to do them over a couple of days or weeks (That said most are 59 seconds a day).
It looks pretty useful, and really who can resist the "pet frog" technique ?
2/3 of the book is fluff - meaning that each topic is introduced by the author telling the reader where the test and research was done, followed by the details of the testing and research followed by the conclusion. nobody cares.
1/3 is practical information.
When i
My suggestion- read the book in a store or get it out of the library.
What it also does extremely well is also show how evidence and a rational approach just doesn't "feel" as good as wishing for stuff, learning super powers and being able to control other folk minds. Perhaps
If you live in the real world and would like to do it slightly better then read this book.
On Happiness
First, he talked about happiness, and getting people to like you, all based on researches and studies. Self-help books are rubbish because they are based on either common sense (which is already not too bad) or completely
Franklin effect is very useful. I always thought if I do people favors, they would like me more. WRONG. Actually, I have to ask for favors, simple and easy to do one, and people would like me more. So, it turned out I like a lot of people by giving out favors, without them liking me back because I didn't ask for favor.
There are a lot of useful tips. Like smile more and it would affect your mood. Like adding humor when negotiating and you get better result. Likability affect how successful you are in life by giving you a better chance to get the job after interview, and people like to assist you in making life easier.
Bystanders affects
Kitty Genovese was stabbed and killed in UK, with by standers watching but give no assistance to this poor woman. This incident triggered studies on how people behave and how they could turn away from person that need assistance.
Studies shown when there are only one individual, the person would feel more responsible toward the person in trouble. But if there are a lot of other people around, the responsible become diffused and it is less likely to have anyone who would come forward to help the person in need.
So, in case you need help. Target on a single person who might offer you help, and turn this person from a bystander into a real human being.
Positive thinking bullshit
Think positive might not lead to success. I know that already. What I didn't know, and learned from the book, is that when persons visualize, they put less affords into achieving their goals, that make the results less likely to be positive.
So, Professor recommend that we think of a goal, make plan, tell some friends about it, and then write down the progress and give some interim rewards for achievement.
Tell friends about your goal not only lessen your chance of backing out, but also lead to friends helping you. Also, give interim rewards would motivate your intermediate success to achieve your goal.
Double think
The concept is introduced by 1984 novel, but it works to improve the chance of achieving goals.
First, visualize and write down the positive reward of achieving your goal.
Then, visualize and write down the obstacle in achieving this goal.
Don't stop here. Write down a second positive reward of achieving your goal followed by further obstacle.
Then elaborate on each point. It is making a person think of the positive reward while facing the reality of how to go about achieving goal, and it works.
Losing weigh or cut down on drinking
I don't need to do either. I dislike dieting, and I dislike getting drunk so I don't drink much.
But this chapter goes on and on about eating habit that I already had that help a person to eat less.
First, persons actually don't know how much they really eat. Study shows that person would ask this question, "Have I finish my food in front of me?"
So, if you put less food in front of a person, this person would eat less.
The same goes for drinking less. Study shows that a person would judge how much is in a drink by the depth of the drink. So, if the glass is tall and thin, then this person would be fooled into thinking there is more to the drink than it is. Even bartenders would do this. Study show that bartenders tend to pour 20% more drink into fat wide glass than tall thin glass.
Good to know.
On Losing weigh
On reduction of food in take. The advise is to slow down your eating.
But this book recommend another speed that based on study.
Eat at a normal rate at the start, and low to half the eating rate on the second half of your meal.
I do that a lot. I usually feel hungry when I eat, so I eat at more normal fast rate. But then, my urge to talk during a meal kicks in, and I start to slow down to half speed. This speed is the best for a person who want to lose weight by eating less.
Also, placing food out of arm reach would reduce the chance of snaking. No wonder I snake so much. I have them all at arm length. Another good to know fact.
Woman breasts affect on man's brain
The part about women breasts and men brains, speed dating tips and all that, would worth the value of buying this book if he or she managed to get a date out of it.
Drinking experiment
Giving 2 groups of persons, and gave them tests to do to see if they have symptoms of being drunks. Both groups show symptoms even if only one group is drinking and persons in the second group are only drinking non-alcoholic drinks. Why? If you believe you are drinking, your mind and body could be tricked into acting drunk.
Good Advise for couples
Good advise for couples. The excitement is gone from relationship? No problem. Just tied your wrists and feet with each other and run some obstacle, you will feel much better about each other afterward.
Also, there is no love at first sight. But prolong staring into another person eyes would generate the feeling of love and affection. Should try it some time.
Relationship advice
This chapter talks about opposite couples relationships. I do wonder if it works the same way with not so typical relationship, the only kind I know.
Positive and negative comments, if comments ratio is 5 to 1, with 5 positive outweigh 1 negative, then the couple is more likely to stay together.
It only reinforce the understanding of human, that most could not take criticism even if it is true.
Decision Making and How to tell a person is lying
Only a few pages each. If you think and think over a decision, and might regret a decision made, even your decision could be the best, you are still going to get anxiety over it.
Tell me something I don't know.
For telling lies, I've watched "Lie to Me" and already know the basic.
Big Five
Big 5 personality. Pretty good to get to know yourself.
Not something new.
Index and Ring fingers ratio
This is pretty interesting. I read it somewhere else, but didn't realize how much this finding is supported by research.
So, if your Index finger is longer, is more masculine.
If you really like to know about tips to happiness, but only have 59 seconds to read. Skip to the Conclusion and all 10 best advise is there for you to take up.
For best result. Read the whole thing. It is really a nice read.
Here are the highlights of what interested me:
Techniques that work:
• Write things out – both when you’re unhappy and when you’re happy. If you want to be happier, write what you are thankful for for a few minutes every day.
• Write if you want to change– set your goals and keep a journal
• Go for experiences (and share them with many others) but not for possessions. (Unless they are books, of course :)
• Give and help people and ask them to help you!
• If you’re prone to losing wallets, put a picture of a smiling baby behind the plastic cover. 35% of those wallets were returned beating the wallets with a happy family, a puppy and an elderly couple respectively.
Techniques that don’t work:
• Visualization may backfire since we may get frustrated with a huge discrepancy of the ideal we want to attain and the reality
• Positive thinking- does not lead to solving problems
• Trying not to think about something (As Dostoyevski observed in Winter Notes on Summer Impressions , ‘Try to pose yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you’ll see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute)
• More money- people whose life basic needs are covered, don’t get happier with more money.
• Gossiping about others- in a funny psychological paradox people will assign the traits you’re criticizing to you, so say positive things about other people.
I just picked this up based on his Quirklogy book which heartily I recommend. This book is for those who want a quick tips or has found nothing else has worked. It's not a book for psychology buffs or those with difficult problems. It did though give me the brilliant term "social loafing" making it utterly worth reading.
OK, some of the stuff might be presented in a slightly watered-down fashion and perhaps exaggerated, but one can always go check.
The catchy title is just an excuse for a