Say you want to start going to the gym or practicing a musical instrument. How long should it take before you stop having to force it and start doing it automatically? The surprising answers are found in Making Habits, Breaking Habits, a psychologist's popular examination of one of the most powerful and under-appreciated processes in the mind. Although people like to think that they are in control, much of human behavior occurs without any decision-making or conscious thought. Drawing on hundreds of fascinating studies, psychologist Jeremy Dean busts the myths to finally explain why seemingly easy habits, like eating an apple a day, can be surprisingly difficult to form, and how to take charge of your brain's natural "autopilot" to make any change stick. Witty and intriguing, Making Habits, Breaking Habits shows how behavior is more than just a product of what you think. It is possible to bend your habits to your will -- and be happier, more creative, and more productive.

If you’ve ever wondered why you do the things you do or wished you knew the secret to quickly and effectively revamping your habits, this is the book for you! Making Habits, Breaking Habits (2013) unlocks the science behind the daily habits which control our lives and how they’re formed. Through this critical exploration, Jeremy Dean sheds new light on our choices, revealing our tendency to become habit zombies and offering empowering suggestions for breaking the cycle through the conscious formation of healthy habits. Do you want more free book summaries like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. DISCLAIMER: This book summary is meant as a preview and not a replacement for the original work. If you like this summary please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book on QuickRead and want us to remove it, please contact us at [email protected].

The cofounder of the Stanford d.school introduces the power of design thinking to help you achieve goals you never thought possible. Achievement can be learned. It’s a muscle, and once you learn how to flex it, you’ll be able to meet life’s challenges and fulfill your goals, Bernard Roth, Academic Director at the Stanford d.school contends. In The Achievement Habit, Roth applies the remarkable insights that stem from design thinking—previously used to solve large scale projects—to help us realize the power for positive change we all have within us. Roth leads us through a series of discussions, stories, recommendations, and exercises designed to help us create a different experience in our lives. He shares invaluable insights we can use to gain confidence to do what we’ve always wanted and overcome obstacles that hamper us from reaching our potential, including: Don’t try—DO; Excuses are self-defeating; Believe you are a doer and achiever and you’ll become one; Build resiliency by reinforcing what you do rather than what you accomplish; Learn to ignore distractions that prevent you from achieving your goals; Become open to learning from your own experience and from those around you; And more. The brain is complex and is always working with our egos to sabotage our best intentions. But we can be mindful; we can create habits that make our lives better. Thoughtful and powerful The Achievement Habit shows you how. “The Achievement Habit is a masterpiece in describing how to think creatively and fulfill your life’s ambitions.” —Paul Hait, entrepreneur and Olympic gold medalist

Detailed summary and analysis of The Power of Habit.

In leadership as in life, only practice makes perfect. Habits are powerful, and The Leader Habit offers a simple, original approach to dramatically improving even our weakest areas. Routines quietly undergird large portions of what we do and how we function. Habit formation can speed success in the workplace as well--even in complex areas like leadership. Leadership training expert and bestselling author Martin Lanik spotlights 22 essential leadership abilities, breaking them down into a series of small, learnable behaviors. In The Leader Habit, you will find: Compelling evidence on how habits shape our lives, and how leadership is simply a series of habits Content based on original research that looks at 795 leaders across the globe, identifying 22 essential leadership skills and 79 micro-behaviors that make up those skills Simple exercises to turn effective leadership behaviors into ingrained habits, along with clear cues that tell you when to practice each A Leader Habit Quiz that assesses 6 personality traits and points to behaviors that you’ll find most rewarding Tips for staying motivated, avoiding procrastination, and sustaining progress The book's simple formula focuses on developing one skill at a time: sell the vision, delegate well, innovate often, empower others, overcome resistance, build strategic relationships, focus on customers, listen actively, negotiate effectively, and more. Many of us aspire to great leadership by consuming books and training. However, unless you intentionally reinforce the right behaviors, results are fleeting. The Leader Habit builds the "muscle memory" to turn leadership skills into lasting habits.

Why do we get so embarrassed when a colleague wears the same shirt? Why do we eat the same thing for breakfast every day, but seek out novelty at lunch and dinner? How has streaming changed the way Netflix makes recommendations? Why do people think the music of their youth is the best? How can you spot a fake review on Yelp? Our preferences and opinions are constantly being shaped by countless forces – especially in the digital age with its nonstop procession of “thumbs up” and “likes” and “stars.” Tom Vanderbilt, bestselling author of Traffic, explains why we like the things we like, why we hate the things we hate, and what all this tell us about ourselves. With a voracious curiosity, Vanderbilt stalks the elusive beast of taste, probing research in psychology, marketing, and neuroscience to answer myriad complex and fascinating questions. If you’ve ever wondered how Netflix recommends movies or why books often see a sudden decline in Amazon ratings after they win a major prize, Tom Vanderbilt has answers to these questions and many more that you’ve probably never thought to ask.

Torture in Abu Ghraib prison. Corporate fraud. Falsified records at Veterans Administration hospitals. Teachers pressured to feed test answers to students. These scandals could have been prevented if, early on, people had said no to their higher-ups. Ira Chaleff discusses when and how to disobey inappropriate orders, reduce unacceptable risk, and find better ways to achieve legitimate goals. He delves into the psychological dynamics of obedience, drawing in particular on what Stanley Milgram's seminal Yale experiments-in which volunteers were induced to administer shocks to innocent people-teach us about how to reduce compliance with harmful orders. Using vivid examples of historical events and everyday situations, he offers advice on judging whether intelligent disobedience is called for, how to express opposition, and how to create a culture where citizens are educated and encouraged to think about whether orders make sense. --