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59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute Paperback – December 28, 2010

by Richard Wiseman (Author)

4.2 1,573 ratings

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An easy-to-use, concise guide to changing your life in under a minute, backed by cutting-edge scientific research.

Bestselling author and psychologist Richard Wiseman had become increasingly frustrated with the self-help industry and its snake-oil treatments. Here, bringing together a remarkably diverse range of scientific data, he has crafted a no-nonsense response to their ineffectual programs. Filled with tips and tricks that come straight from the latest scientific journals and his own original research, Wiseman outlines the new science of "rapid change" and describes with clarity and infectious enthusiasm how these quirky, sometimes counterintuitive techniques can be effortlessly incorporated into your everyday life.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a self-help book, but with a difference: almost everything in it is underpinned by peer-reviewed and often fascinating research."
— New Scientist

"For all those who are tired of the usual self-help formula--homespun anecdotes, upbeat platitudes, over-the-top promises--Richard Wiseman's 59 Seconds is just what the PhD ordered."
— The Wall Street Journal

"Seemingly perfect for this age of short attention spans and instant gratification."
— The Chronicle Herald

"At last, a self-help guide that is based on proper research. Perfect for busy, curious, smart people."
— Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Enigma

“Wiseman is a brilliant name for a psychologist, and this book proves the professor is not misnamed. . . . [59 Seconds] contains dozens of fascinating and useful nuggets, and they all have science on their side.”
— The Independent

About the Author

Richard Wiseman is based at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom and has gained an international reputation for research into offbeat areas of psychology, including deception, humor, and luck. He is the author of The Luck Factor, Quirkology, and numerous other books. A passionate advocate for science, Wiseman is well-known for his media appearances, high-profile talks, live demonstrations, and mass-participation studies. Wiseman also regularly acts as a creative consultant for print, broadcast, and new media.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Self-help exposed,

Sophie’s question, and the

potential for rapid change

DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE an important aspect of your life? Perhaps lose weight, find your perfect partner, obtain your dream job, or simply be happier? Try this simple exercise. . . .

Close your eyes and imagine the new you. Think how great you would look in those close-fitting designer jeans, dating Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, sitting in a luxurious leather chair at the top of the corporate ladder, or sipping a piña colada as the warm waves of the Caribbean gently lap at your feet.

The good news is that this type of exercise has been recommended by some in the self-help industry for years. The bad news is that a large body of research now suggests that such exercises are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, harmful. Although imagining your perfect self may make you feel better, engaging in such mental escapism can also have the unfortunate side effect of leaving you unprepared for the difficulties that crop up on the rocky road to success, thus increasing the chances of your faltering at the first hurdle rather than persisting in the face of failure. Fantasizing about heaven on earth may put a smile on your face, but it is unlikely to help transform your dreams into reality.

Other research suggests that the same goes for many popular techniques that claim to improve your life. Attempting to “think yourself happy” by suppressing negative thoughts can make you obsess on the very thing that makes you unhappy. Group brainstorming can produce fewer and less original ideas than individuals working alone. Punching a pillow and screaming out loud can increase, rather than decrease, your anger and stress levels.

Then there is the infamous “Yale Goal Study.” According to some writers, in 1953 a team of researchers interviewed Yale’s graduating seniors, asking them whether they had written down the specific goals that they wanted to achieve in life. Twenty years later the researchers tracked down the same cohort and found that the 3 percent of people who had specific goals all those years before had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97 percent of their classmates combined.

It is a great story, frequently cited in self-help books and seminars to illustrate the power of goal setting. There is just one small problem—as far as anyone can tell, the experiment never actually took place. In 2007 writer Lawrence Tabak, from the magazine Fast Company, attempted to track down the study, contacting several writers who had cited it, the secretary of the Yale Class of 1953, and other researchers who had tried to discover whether the study had actually happened. No one could produce any evidence that it had ever been conducted, causing Tabak to conclude that it was almost certainly nothing more than an urban myth. For years, selfhelp gurus had been happy to describe a study without checking their facts.

Both the public and the business world have bought into modern-day mind myths for years and, in so doing, may have significantly decreased the likelihood of achieving their aims and ambitions. Worse still, such failure often encourages people to believe that they cannot control their lives. This is especially unfortunate, as even the smallest loss of perceived control can have a dramatic effect on people’s confidence, happiness, and life span. In one classic study conducted by Ellen Langer at Harvard University, half of the residents in a nursing home were given a houseplant and asked to look after it, while the other residents were given an identical plant but told that the staff would take responsibility for it. Six months later, the residents who had been robbed of even this small amount of control over their lives were significantly less happy, healthy, and active than the others. Even more distressing, 30 percent of the residents who had not looked after their plant had died, compared to 15 percent of those who had been allowed to exercise such control. Similar results have been found in many areas, including education, career, health, relationships, and dieting. The message is clear—those who do not feel in control of their lives are less successful, and less psychologically and physically healthy, than those who do feel in control.

A few years ago I was having lunch with a friend named Sophie. Sophie is a bright, successful thirtysomething who holds a senior position in a firm of management consultants. Over lunch Sophie explained that she had recently bought a well-known book on increasing happiness, and she asked me what I thought of the industry. I explained that I had serious reservations about the scientific backing for some of the techniques being promoted, and described how any failure to change could do considerable psychological harm. Sophie looked concerned and then asked whether academic psychology had produced more scientifically supported ways of improving people’s lives. I started to describe some of the quite complex academic work in happiness, and after about fifteen minutes or so Sophie stopped me. She politely explained that interesting though it was, she was a busy person, and she asked whether I could come up with some effective advice that didn’t take quite so much time to implement. I asked how long I had. Sophie glanced at her watch, smiled, and replied, “About a minute?”

Sophie’s comment made me stop and think. Many people are attracted to self-development and self-improvement because of the lure of quick and easy solutions to various issues in their lives. Unfortunately, most academic psychology either fails to address these issues or presents far more time-consuming and complex answers (thus the scene in Woody Allen’s film Sleeper, in which Allen’s character discovers that he has awakened two hundred years in the future, sighs, and explains that had he been in therapy all this time he would almost be cured). I wondered whether there were tips and techniques hidden away in academic journals that were empirically supported but quick to carry out.

Over the course of a few months I carefully searched through endless journals containing research papers from many different areas of psychology. As I examined the work, a promising pattern emerged, with researchers in quite different fields developing techniques that help people achieve their aims and ambitions in minutes, not months. I collected hundreds of these studies, drawn from many different areas of the behavioral sciences. From mood to memory, persuasion to procrastination, resilience to relationships, together they represent a new science of rapid change.

There is a very old story, often told to fill time during training courses, involving a man trying to fix his broken boiler.
Despite his best efforts over many months, he simply can’t mend it. Eventually, he gives up and decides to call in an expert. The engineer arrives, gives one gentle tap on the side of the boiler, and stands back as it springs to life. The engineer presents the man with a bill, and the man argues that he should pay only a small fee as the job took the engineer only a few moments. The engineer quietly explains that the man is not paying for the time he took to tap the boiler but rather the years of experience involved in knowing exactly where to tap. Just like the expert engineer tapping the boiler, the techniques described in this book demonstrate that effective change does not have to be time-consuming. In fact, it can take less than a minute and is often simply a question of knowing exactly where to tap.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor; 11/28/10 edition (December 28, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307474860
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307474865
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #520,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #162 in Evolutionary Psychology (Books)
- #595 in Popular Applied Psychology
- #11,402 in Personal Transformation Self-Help

Customer Reviews:
4.2 1,573 ratings

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Richard Wiseman

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Richard Wiseman is Britain's only professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology and has an international reputation for his research into unusual areas including deception, luck, humour and the paranormal. He is the psychologist most frequently quoted by the British media and his research has been featured on over 150 television programmes in the UK. He is regularly heard on Radio 4 and feature articles about his work have appeared prominently throughout the national press.

Photo by BDEngler (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Kristin J. Arnold

59 Seconds: Read a short section and then try it out!

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015

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I can't remember who told me about this book, but I am insanely grateful this book is on my bookshelf. Aha! That's one thing you can do is to "develop the gratitude attitude." That's quick and easy to do. Less than 59 seconds, as a matter of fact.
What I find to be most interesting is the WHY. For each topic, Wiseman shares a number of fascinating research experiments (both his own and ones done by others) and then offers a number of specific suggestions on how to make it work in your own life.
The first time, I read it from cover to cover. I found that it's better the second time around where you pick it up, read a section, then put it down, and try it out. Some of of the suggestions I don't really need (e.g.how to build instant rapport on a first date) but are interesting, nevertheless. Some of my favorite stories or suggestions?
- Musical Chairs. "There are two schools of thought relating to group dynamics and creativity. One believes in not changing team membership, arguing that people then feel more comfortable with one another and so are happier to suggest the kinds of weird and wonderful ideas that are the hallmark of creativity. In contrast, the other point of view holds that it is better to generate new patterns of thinking by constantly mixing up the membership." Which is better? Weisman cites a study conducted by Charlan Nemeth and Margaret Ormiston at the University of California that concludes mixing it up is better.
- Choose the Middle Way. If you want to increase your chances of making a good impression in a meeting, sit toward the middle of the table. Psychologists Priya Raghubir and Ana Valenzuela analyzed episodes of the TV game show, The Weakest Link, and found that the contestants in the center of the semi-circle won the game more frequently than those on the extremities. (Reminds me of the presidential primary debates!)
- The Most Reliable Cues to Lying. Pay attention to the words that people use. "Liars tend to lack detail, use more "ums" and "ahs," and avoid self-references ("me,” "mine," "I"). In addition, people are about 20% less likely to lie in an email than in a telephone call, because their words are on record and are more likely to come back and haunt them!"

43 people found this helpful

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Massimo Pigliucci

Good book despite the obscure title

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2010

Verified Purchase

You'll have to read the author's explanation at the beginning for why this book is rather obscurely titled. Nevertheless, the basic idea is very good: as we all know, there is a lot of junk to be found in the "self-help" section of bookstores. Which is too bad, considering that psychological and cognitive science research is advancing steadily and discovering all sorts of things that work (or don't work) when it comes to modifying human behavior and improve our lives. Wiseman takes on obviously pertinent topics, such as happiness (whatever that is), persuasion, motivation, creativity, attraction, relationships (obviously), stress, decision making, parenting and personality. In each case he goes back to the primary literature and presents the reader with what actually works, as opposed to what self-appointed self-help gurus tell you works (often without a trace of evidence, seemingly pulling notions our of their behind). The Mozart effect to turn your child into a genius by simply listening to music? Sorry, doesn't work. Releasing stress by kicking and screaming? Bad idea, it only makes you more angry. Playing hard to get on dates? Counterproductive. And so on and so forth. It's an invaluable book full of actually useful advice, even though at times it reads a bit too much like a list. If you can, catch the author give a live talk, it will be both informative and entertaining.

15 people found this helpful

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Warren G

A wonderful 'mash-up' of the most helpful psychological findings. Highly recommended!

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is an absolute must read! What Dr. Wiseman has done is put together some of the most helpful findings that have come out of the field of Psychology. It is just as Simon Singh's blurb on the front cover says: "At last, a self-help guide that is based on proper research. Perfect for busy, curious, smart people." The subjects are Happiness, Persuasion, Motivation, Creativity, Attraction, Relationships, Stress, Decision Making, Parenting and Personality. Each Chapter is very straightforward - the research, the findings and then what you should remember - it's really very easy to read.

I have given this book 5 stars because of the shear breadth of information Dr. Wiseman was able to put into it. He has distilled and packaged most of the crucial information you might find in some of these books: Happiness: The Science behind Your Smile , Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) , Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Revised & Expanded Edition) , How We Decide , Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game , The Art of Seduction , Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average , Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior or Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are . I really thought this book was the most helpful of this entire lot of books - highly recommended!

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Prakash

Highly recommended

Reviewed in India on February 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

Excellent survey of scientific work and great summary of tips. Well organised! Now I have more follow up books to read on :)

Winston C.

Very insightful book

Reviewed in Canada on October 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book is very science based and constantly makes references to studies done to back up its claims and techniques. This is a very different kind of self help books. I would recommend people to check this book out.

One person found this helpful

THE Apple

Fun facts for everyday life

Reviewed in the Netherlands on February 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

The book is a compilation of great tips backed with the corresponding scientific research, it also debunks many urban legends that we tend to believe.

Ralf Pauer

Change what you learned before and many new things!

Reviewed in Germany on February 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

Richard Wisemand's book is a firework of studies about of the human brain and behaviours.
You will get very condensed advises on many many topic, well founded and argued, but very short and to the point.

What makes it different: It makes a lot of rules we learnd from other books and older studies obsolete or comes to a new conclusion.
Like about the best way to give praisal to a child? How to do it in a motivating way?
What does it change, if you defined a clear plan for your life at the age of 20 or you didn't?

A lot of things i knew alreay from other books, thats true. And it was not easy to read, as it is very packed with information. Short chapters, which end, when you just started to enjoy it .. maybe to much content to make it a nice read.

But i marked the most intereting parts for me and now i get quickly the facts out, which catched my interest , when reading it for the first time ... it's a book to re-read ...

Have fun!

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Book's Good; Kindle Layout is Poor

Reviewed in Australia on February 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

I liked the book, but the Kindle download is just one giant document. It's not seperated into chapter's or anything. So I have to bookmark all the chapters so I can come back to them!
Apart from that, I'm very happy about the well researched, self help!

One person found this helpful

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