“FEW PEOPLE think of life as a creative experiment. Most of us are so busy with routines that we take life for granted. We expect an endless routine of work, a hectic social life each weekend and two weeks’ vacation each year. I trust that the readers of this book will derive from it a new interest in life, a zest for doing what needs to be done, and a technique to live with joyous enthusiasm. “Looking at life from an inspired viewpoint you can see those things which are on the side of greatness and cease resisting the petty and the unimportant. Life is a process of intelligence. It always acts intelligently. Problems are the result of living life unintelligently. “The universe is actually a mental system. Its primary nature is the process of ideas becoming form. Every fact in your world is also an idea in your mind. To get new things in your world you must have new ideas in your consciousness. Few people do enough abstract thinking to create new ideas in their minds. They continually think about what they already know and have known for years. This explains the monotony of their lives. “Select the idea of some new experience you want and then think it without ceasing. Mind will deliver to you everything you need in order to accomplish your demonstration. This is far from being impossible. The great, the wise, and the true have proven this to be so. You have done it and so have your friends. You may not have thought of the process as being either spiritual or psychological. You intuitively knew a new idea. Your thinking in terms of this idea caused something to happen in your experience. “This book has been written for that large section of today’s population which is spiritually liberal and psychologically aware. Those bound by traditional beliefs will cast it aside. It is my desire that thousands will be helped and healed by reading these pages.”—Raymond Charles Barker

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned. Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

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Over a decade ago, a landmark ten-year study by the MacArthur Foundation shattered the stereotypes of aging as a process of slow, genetically determined decline. Researchers found that that 70 percent of physical aging, and about 50 percent of mental aging, is determined by lifestyle, the choices we make every day. That means that if we optimize our lifestyles, we can live longer and “die shorter”—compress the decline period into the very end of a fulfilling, active old age. Dr. Roger Landry and his colleagues have spent years bringing the MacArthur Study’s findings to life with a program called Masterpiece Living. In Live Long, Die Short, Landry shares the incredible story of that program and lays out a path for anyone, at any point in life, who wants to achieve authentic health and empower themselves to age in a better way. Writing in a friendly, conversational tone, Dr. Landry encourages you to take a “Lifestyle Inventory” to assess where your health stands now and then leads you through his “Ten Tips,” for successful aging, each of which is backed by the latest research, real-life stories, and the insights Landry—a former Air Force surgeon and current preventive medicine physician—has gained in his years of experience. The result is a guide that will reshape your conception of what it means to grow old and equip you with the tools you need to lead a long, healthy, happy life.

INSTANT TOP 10 BESTSELLER • New York Times • USA Today • Washington Post • LA Times “Debunks the idea that aging inevitably brings infirmity and unhappiness and instead offers a trove of practical, evidence-based guidance for living longer and better.”—Daniel H. Pink, author of When and Drive SUCCESSFUL AGING delivers powerful insights: • Debunking the myth that memory always declines with age • Confirming that "health span"—not "life span"—is what matters • Proving that sixty-plus years is a unique and newly recognized developmental stage • Recommending that people look forward to joy, as reminiscing doesn't promote health Levitin looks at the science behind what we all can learn from those who age joyously, as well as how to adapt our culture to take full advantage of older people's wisdom and experience. Throughout his exploration of what aging really means, using research from developmental neuroscience and the psychology of individual differences, Levitin reveals resilience strategies and practical, cognitive enhancing tricks everyone should do as they age. Successful Aging inspires a powerful new approach to how readers think about our final decades, and it will revolutionize the way we plan for old age as individuals, family members, and citizens within a society where the average life expectancy continues to rise.

"Identifies dozens of myths, bad models, and unhelpful metaphors, replacing some with twenty-first century research and revealing gaps where research needs to be done ... Links the origins of theories about change to the history of ideas and suggests that the human sciences will provide real breakthroughs in our understanding of people in the twenty-first century ... Change fundamentally involves changing people's minds, yet the most recent research shows that provision of facts may 'strengthen' resistance ... will help you build influence, improve communication, optimize decision making, and sustain change"--Jacket.

Introducing the first book in a powerful new series, The Tarcher Master Mind Editions: Essential Books of Inspiration, Instruction, and Motivation. What mind can conceive, man can achieve. Our decisions impact every area of our lives. Making better decisions means living a better life. But how can we develop the habit of making great decisions? Every noteworthy achievement the world has ever seen was born with a single thought; and every great man who ever lived has been a man of decision. Raymond Charles Barker's The Power of Decision reveals this principle of success and illustrates the process of choice that all of us must take-and that all of us are capable, this very second, of taking-to change our lives and make our dreams come true. Indecisive people are failure prone, and Dr. Barker examines this basic truth while exploring the decision-making process in the individual, and the role of the subconscious mind in either abetting or thwarting each of our conscious decisions. He provides specific steps to shift the balance of decision-making power in your favor, and he brings to light the constant, ever-present power of will to change a situation- and yourself-for the better. Picking up The Power of Decision is the moment; and reading it is the decision that will change your life forever.