The self-help shelves are full of guides on weight loss, health, happiness, and self-improvement. But sometimes the most life-changing ideas and advice are found in the science section.
As a health psychologist, it's my job to help people make difficult changes. I learned early on that it was easier to change people's attitudes and behaviors with a fascinating new finding than with platitudes or pleading. The right study doesn't just convince you that you should do something. It gives you a whole new way to understand yourself and the world around you.
For example, when I show my Stanford students videos of an addicted rat willing to be electrocuted for its next fix, they report back that remembering this image gives them the willpower to resist temptation. Pictures of how the brain responds to bargains helps shopaholics understand their need to buy; studies showing the importance of self-compassion for weight loss convinced dieters to stop calling themselves fat, lazy, and hopeless.
And in my experience, it's these "A-ha!" insights that give us the inspiration and motivation to make a change for good. That's why I wrote "The Willpower Instinct" (Avery, $26.00)- to give people enough "A-ha!" moments to tackle any challenge.
Whatever your new year's resolution, there's a science-help book for you.
In this list of 11 books, you'll get great advice mixed in with the funniest, most fascinating stories and studies science can provide.
Since retiring in October of 2011, I have been trying, after a lifetime of 60+ hour weeks, to get healthy, both mentally and physically. As a voracious reader, I naturally turned to the bookstore for help. I read Dr. Ratey's "Spark" and Dr. Kessler's "The End of Overeating" and have been implementing their suggestions.
I saw your book in Barnes & Noble and read it in a weekend. I am now going back through it in detail, making notes, and using your information to enable myself to get healthy. Knowledge is empowering and your work is giving me the "how" to link with their "what" to achieve my goals.
Thank you very much for your help.
Couldn't help but offer that sometimes the science of self-awareness is the most powerful and profound as it relates to positive change in one's life. In that effort you might find this piece of work very interesting www.thebookIAM.com
Best!