59 Seconds

While the book is quite interesting, compiling a lot of work on human behavior, psychology and sociology, it tends to dwell to much into details while you'd expect something more straightforward. But while the path is windy, the arrival is still interesting and you'll learn some interesting tricks about yourself and how to, indeed, improve some parts of your life. Just not tremendously.

There's a lot of research in this book, and the author generally gives you enough information about the studies for you to evaluate their process, which is nice. In addition to being backed up by one or more studies, the nuggets of advice are concrete and not always intuitive (for instance, people are much more likely to lie “to your face” than in an email because of the psychological weight of putting something in writing, and even judges and police officers are very bad at telling if someone is lying by their body language and physical appearance whereas vocabulary queues can be quite reliable [people who are not telling the truth tend to use far fewer first person pronouns but a lot more third person pronouns than normal], so email might actually be the best way to go next time you are looking to get to the bottom of something).

Some of the studies were new to me, others I've heard of at least a hundred times (like the infamous “marshmallow test”). Because a lot of the studies were conducted decades ago some of the advice feels old fashioned (the dating chapter in particular incorporates a lot of assumptions about heteronormative gender roles), but again at least the author provides enough information about the studies to let the reader see where that might be happening.

We all want to be happier, more creative, less stressed, and better parents, and we all want to be these things right now. Well, why not? Research about how to be a better person is out there, so why not write a book with the best quick ways to be better, ideas that can change a person in one minute or less? So went the thinking of Wiseman in creating this book.

My focus for the year is how to be happier, so I will share these tips here, in hopes of remembering them and practicing them in my own life. The power of positive thinking, for example, is a myth; instead, Wiseman proposes distraction. Also, writing about events is helpful in coming to terms with what happens. Keeping a list of things for which one is grateful led to greater happiness. Use money to buy experiences and not things; this leads to happiness. And, finally, “fake it till you feel it” is, apparently, quite valid.