59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot

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'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.

I heard the author on NPR and was very interested in the book 59 seconds. Mr.Wiseman is very intelligent and highly entertaining speaker. I was hoping the audio book is narrated by him. Not so. When I listened to the book, Mr.Cowley put me to sleep at once with his monotonous and colorless voice. This is not how a book should be narrated. Bad choice of narrator! Buy paper edition instead.

Not bad, not great. Lots of old stuff here presented in a rather structured way: 59 Second Exercises. I think that Malcolm Gladwell and Johah Lehrer do a much better job of articulating some of the background and original research of these concepts. I may return to the book again and perhaps there will be more but for now, it's just above average.

This is an attempt to to filter myth from fact in the murky self-development arena. Some good information and bs debunking makes it worth the time.

But the narrator... this guy redefines the meaning of "slow talker". I had to set the speed to 1,5x (some parts 2x) to be able to go through the book.

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

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.

Exactly what to do, and why.

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.

Yes, it has some interesting tidbits that are useful.

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

Great listening. I was glad to hear about the actual studies in which they gave even the placebo group results. Also, I am studying psychology in college right now and this really hits the spot of my interest. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I have referred to the research results as I talked about everyday things to different people.

Although 59 seconds has an interesting topic, it misses the stated objective ' think a little, change a lot'. The book tries to come up with as much as possible myth-busting ideas about the human psychology, but lacks structure. Therefore, it doesn't appear to be much more than that the author just collected various ideas and put one after the other without logic or coherence.
I stopped listening after idea 15 and 2 hours gone...

I love this book! It is full of great ideas that you can use immediately to improve your life. Based on scientific studies, it gives 100's of easy strategies to improve many areas of your life; from relationships to motivation, happiness, parenting, and diet. I've listened to this book 3 times, and each time I have more ideas I can use in my life. It's not a new age feel good book, but a treasure chest full of practical, scietifically proven strategies for a better life.