I found a compelling book while running to catch the train. Picked up 59 Seconds, think a little Change a lot on the run and have devoured it in just a couple days. The author is a British professor, Richard Wiseman.

In the spirt of the book, this will be a 59 second analysis.

What this book is all about is untangling the myths around self-help.

As a self-helper in my own right I found his research to be thorough, and his insights to be significant. Actually there a goodly number of eye opening insights in 59 Seconds, and delivered in highly digestible, non-academic, bite-size bits. Further, Wiseman provides actions steps that can be done in less than a minute, hence the title.

You can learn something between two train stops, then do it during the next two.

This is an efficient book. It’s ingenious really, he’s taken some very big concepts, questioned all the assumptions and myths, done the research, sorted out the wheat from the chafe (aka known as bullshit) distilled them down to their essence, and given you behavior to put it immediately into useful action.

If you don’t have much patience for self help books, or books in general, you might find this one to your liking.  Not only does it provide current and useful thinking on concepts like persuasion, creativity, positive thinking, happiness, motivation, and relationships — it gives you a way to do better without spending £1000 pounds to go walk on fire with Tony Robbins.

I’d call that worthwhile self-help — pick up Professor Wiseman’s very hip and useful book at your earliest convenience.