“59 Seconds” – Book Review
“Think a little, Change a lot !!!
from Now Think About It.com 9/10 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz
Why? In “59 Seconds”, Richard Wiseman becomes England’s version of Malcolm Gladwell (a famous British-Canadian journalist for The New Yorker magazine bestselling author & speaker) in somewhat of an abbreviated format [but it takes more like minutes & hours – than 59 seconds]. When challenged by a friend to come up with self- help concepts, that could be digested and/or applied in a minute, he accepted and “59 Seconds” is the result.
Long, but Rich. Although 329 pages long, the book is well-formatted, very easy-to-read & blows-away many “myths” that have plagued or confused us for decades, centuries, or forever. Concise & clear, the book is not easy to put down. And the book is not thin on substance. Referencing 1000’s of academic studies – from many different internationally-recognized educational institutions – Richard convincingly, corrects culturally fixed, but errant ideas regarding very important human issues:
· Happiness – how to be happy and how it helps you to get what you want in life.
· Persuasion – why rewards don’t necessarily help and big words don’t work. Usually it’s doing it for a good cause.
· Motivation – why & when (+) thinking sometimes fails. You need more. That more is usually a passion for what you’re doing, because you believe in it.
· Creativity – why Brainstorming don’t always work & Intuition is often better. Use it and you’ll keep getting better at it.
· Attraction – why good looks, high pay, a big bank balance & lavish living might make you less desirable. People may feel threatened by you.
· Stress – why Venting doesn’t help (a Volcano usually does more damage than good) Write it out and that may release your anger. Dogs can help !!! You can talk to them and they will listen and still love you un-conditionally.
· Decision Making – why 2 heads are not always better than one. Sometimes, only you fully understand the situation. You can’t expect another to give you good advice, if they don’t totally understand.
Teriffic Tid-bits. The book is full of well-researched, clearly-illustrated brief tid-bits for self-improvement, which are easy to grasp & apply. In fact, there are personal exercises sprinkled throughout the book to help jump-start the needed changes.
Humor. The book is nicely seasoned with humor and his points – though academically substantiated – are never dry & boring. After reading, most of your time will be spent applying and enjoying the benefits of new ways to deal with old problems.
Quote from the book: “Author 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, humor & the paranormal. He is frequently quoted by the media and his research has been featured on over 150 TV programs across the world.” Richard is also the author of “Quirkology: How to discover the Big Truths about small things”.
Comment: Now Think about It.com and tell us !!! [LoL]