59 Seconds

Think a Little, Change a Lot

By: Richard Wiseman

Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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”.

©2009 Richard Wiseman (P)2009 Random House

One of the best

I found this book refreshingly interesting and am glad I came across it. Very motivating, very nicely written and read. One of the best.

Good reading!

At first I did not know what to expect because I was guessing "this will be another motivational book, where magic is the key" but no, it is about getting the best of every minute of the day, still it is a book to listen and listen and re listen as many times as possible to get the whole point, because some ideas are kind of not so credible at first, but yes they work.

THE book for self-help seekers

I first heard of Richard Wiseman through the skeptical podcasts and blogs I frequent. And true to the skeptical point of view, this book is based on EVIDENCE. Indeed, evidence is front-and-centre right from the start. Every behavioural suggestion and piece of advice is backed by an experiment (a refreshing change from The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle). That's what separates this book from all the other self-help woo that's out there. Lots of books make claims that sound intuitive, but reality can often be very counter-intuitive. And this book has lots of examples. Here's one: praising children for their ACHIEVEMENTS can actually inhibit their progress by making them anxious about failure, while praising children for their EFFORT encourages them to work hard and challenge themselves. Hmmm!

This audiobook is SO good, I went and bought the hardcover too.

I was blind but now I can see

This book has LOTS of interesting studies. That’s what a lot of these self improvement books are lacking everything is scientifically backed up. Although I think the application of these studies could be tweaked it’s good to be aware of them for the next book I read. 10/10 recommend to people who are into psychological studies.

Interesting book - boring performance

The book is useful and full of interesting facts but the performance it is very boring making the book hard to follow.

Good information, some redunance of others

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it has some interesting tidbits that are useful.

Any additional comments?

Probalby better if done in 10 minute incriments. The book has a lot of

Self improvement techniques that actually work

A real breath of fresh air in the self improvement genre. The author writes about proven, supported with research, self improvement techniques that actually work. Along the way, he debunks a lot of the happy talk self-improvement myths that permeate the self help literature. Informative and entertaining and highly recommended.

not bad.

the narrator was a bit dull but the content was good most memorable moment is take your kids for effort and have plants in the office to increase happiness and creativity. One thing I didn't like was when surveys were asked because the way to get results on the surveys was not doable on audible

Wrong format for this book

I'm a huge fan of Richard Wiseman but I made a mistake buying the audible version of this book. There are a large number of self assessment quizzes which are close to impossible to do while listening to the book and driving at the same time. Also, each chapter has a summary that is 59 seconds worth of actionable advice but you need to dog ear those pages and refer to them before going to work in the morning. Can't dog ear a page in an audible book, can you? It would be nice if the quizzes or the 59 second sections came in a PDF file - a technique used well by Tina Fey's "Bossypants". So this book loses one star for that.
Richard Wiseman is a very entertaining speaker. So it is very surprising that he doesn't narrate his own book. Wiseman's impish humor shows up only rarely in this book but even those rare moments are lost in another person's voice. So I take another star off because of that.
I will probably buy this book in paperback some time in the future, probably at a conference where he is speaking.

Instantly useful--bought in paper after listening

What made the experience of listening to 59 Seconds the most enjoyable?

This is full of usable nuggets. I listen while driving, and was constantly bookmarking.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I will consciously not buy another book read by this narrator.
His inflection, tone, pace and rhythm is so pedantic and distracting that only the value of the words kept me listening.

There are many quizzes, and they were thoughtlessly read verbatim, i.e. Question one: and then the words, "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Neither agree or disagree", "Agree", "Strongly agree."
It's possible no one could repetitively read that ten times in a row, chapter after chapter, without stimulating mindless waiting for the next section.

This should have been modified for ears.
If you've already purchased this, push through. The content is worth it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Exactly what to do, and why.

Any additional comments?

There are so many usable action items that I bought a hard copy for easy reference, and to loan. Last week I used something I learned to stimulate a new exercise for a workshop I teach every month, and for the first time, they got it! They got it! My cheeks were sore from grinning for three days! Brilliant, usable information.