Product Description

In "59 Seconds", psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman presents a fresh approach to change that helps people achieve their aims and ambitions in minutes, not months. From mood to memory, persuasion to procrastination, and resilience to relationships, Wiseman outlines the research supporting this new science of rapid change, and describes how these quick and quirky techniques can be incorporated into everyday life. Think a little, change a lot. This title helps to: discover why even thinking about going to the gym can help you keep in shape; learn how pot plants make you more creative; and, find out why putting a pencil between your teeth instantly makes you happier.

'At last, a self-help guide that is based on proper research. Perfect for busy, curious, smart people' - Simon Singh, author of "Fermat's Last Theorem".

'A triumph of scientifically proven advice over misleading myths of self-help. Challenging, uplifting and long overdue' - Derren Brown.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Mail on Sunday
`Richard Wiseman offers quick and quirky techniques to help people achieve their aims and ambitions in minutes.'

New Scientist
`This is a self-help book, but with a difference: almost everything in it is underpinned by peer-reviewed and often fascinating research.'

About the Author

Richard Wiseman is Britain’s only professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology and is the author of the bestselling Quirkology. He is the psychologist most frequently quoted by the British media.

Customer Reviews

Please drink a cup of coffee before reading this review
This is an easy and enjoyable book to read - the kind that you can dip in and out of, picking up interesting tips along the way. For each topic, Wiseman discusses a number of research experiments (both his own and ones done by others) and then gives a number of concrete suggestions on how you can quickly implement these findings - although 59 seconds is often a stretch. And why the title of this review? Because one of the things I learned from reading this book was the fact that if you've just had a caffeinated drink, you are far more likely to be swayed by someone else's opinion!

The book is based on the premise that quick techniques can sometimes be surprisingly effective at helping us to change and explains (based on research studies) which ones work and which don't. Some examples that I found interesting were:
- a simple five day writing exercise that can lift your mood for several weeks (essentially a more structured gratitude diary)
- how spending money on experiences is a far more effective way to make yourself happy than spending it on things
- how punching a pillow to relieve anger actually increases your anger, while sitting quietly and thinking about how you benefited (or at least learned) from the experience has the opposite effect
- conversational techniques that can build instant rapport on a first date (the trick is to use topics that create intimacy)
- exercises to stimulate the unconscious mind that lead to better decision making
- simple tests to assess your child's emotional intelligence.

Like Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives, the book also has lots of facts that seem to have been included just because they're interesting. So we learn that people with bumper stickers are more aggressive drivers, that having a photo of a baby in your wallet significantly increases the chance of it being returned if you lose it, that your initials can influence your life expectancy and that adding plants to an office increases the number of creative ideas that employees will have.

The chapter list gives a good indication of the subjects covered in the book:
1. Happiness
2. Persuasion
3. Motivation
4. Creativity
5. Attraction
6. Stress
7. Relationships
8. Decision Making
9. Parenting
10. Personality

Research And Destroy
Richard Wiseman has journeyed into the badlands of self-help books with a train of porters carrying academic research on what actually does work when it comes to fulfilling all those rather grandiose goals(losing weight, finding (or indeed fighting as I first typed) the perfect mate, or becoming hugely rich and impossibly attractive). One effect of this is that he packs a lot more advice into the book because the researchers finish off rather quickly some of the wackier (but sadly ineffective) theories that are often used to pad out self-help manuals.

The book therefore has at least two uses. Firstly, it is amusing to see what does work and why it might work (one needs to be careful in assuming the rationales have the same degree of scientific rigour). Secondly, there is some very good advice in here if you want to deal with various problems. My favourites are smiling in front of the mirror with a pencil between your teeth (increases well-being) and the starting a difficult task so you get sucked into finishing it (defeats procrastination). Something that entertains and informs, I recommend it.

I thought a little, loved the book!
I bought the book having listened to Richard talking about it on Radio Four one morning. I found most of the facts interesting and concentrated on the ones that interested me the most. I found the tips both interesting, useful and practical. I've read a lot of the self help books and doubted the effectiveness of them, finding many being too airy-fairy and , frankly, classic cases of wishful thinking. It's a good book, buy it within the next 59 seconds. You won't regret it.