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Every year, millions of people make promises to themselves. They promise to eat better, exercise more, save money, stop procrastinating, be more patient with their loved ones, or finally quit the habit that has haunted them for decades. They begin with genuine enthusiasm and sincere intention. And then, within weeks or even days, most of them fail.
By Kerry Patterson
### Estimated Reading Time
45 minutes
### What You'll Learn
Why willpower alone fails almost everyone who tries to change, and how the most successful people in the world use six hidden sources of influence to make lasting transformation almost inevitable. You will discover how to become the scientist of your own behavior, how to turn enemies of change into allies, and how to redesign your environment so that good choices become the path of least resistance.
### Who This Book Is For
This book is for anyone who has ever made a sincere commitment to change and then watched that commitment collapse. It is for people who want to lose weight, save money, improve their careers, strengthen their relationships, or break free from destructive habits. If you have ever blamed yourself for lacking discipline, this book will show you that the problem was never your character. The problem was your strategy.
Every year, millions of people make promises to themselves. They promise to eat better, exercise more, save money, stop procrastinating, be more patient with their loved ones, or finally quit the habit that has haunted them for decades. They begin with genuine enthusiasm and sincere intention. And then, within weeks or even days, most of them fail. When this happens, the explanation almost always sounds the same. People shake their heads and say they lacked willpower. They conclude that they simply do not have what it takes. They decide that some people are born with discipline and others are not, and they have apparently drawn the short straw. This belief is not just wrong. It is destructive. The willpower trap, as Kerry Patterson calls it, is the single greatest obstacle to personal change. It convinces people that their failures are the result of a character flaw rather than a flawed approach. It tells them that trying harder is the only solution, and when trying harder does not work, it tells them to stop trying altogether. But here is what decades of behavioral science actually reveal. The people who successfully change their behavior are not necessarily stronger, more disciplined, or more virtuous than anyone else. They are simply more strategic. They understand something that most people never learn: lasting change does not come from resisting temptation through sheer force of will. It comes from reshaping the forces that drive behavior in the first place. Think about how strange our usual approach to change really is. We decide we want to stop eating junk food, so we rely on the same source of influence that has failed us a hundred times before: our own determination. Meanwhile, we leave every other force in our lives exactly where it…
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Get the complete summary in the appWillpower is not enough. Lasting change requires addressing all six sources of influence.
Become the scientist of your own life. Observe your behavior before you try to change it.
Identify your crucial moments: the specific situations where you are most vulnerable.
Define your vital behaviors: the concrete actions that will carry you through those moments.
Motivation can be cultivated. Visit your default future, tell the whole vivid story, and connect behavior to values.
Ability can be developed. Do a skill scan and practice deliberately.
"Change Anything" is a strong fit if you want practical ideas around self help, psychology, personal development, especially themes like willpower is not enough. lasting change requires addressing all six sources of influence; become the scientist of your own life. observe your behavior before you try to change it. The MinuteRead summary distills these concepts into a focused read, whether you're deciding whether to buy the book or applying its lessons at work.
Motivated to help readers with when people believe that their ability to make good choices stems from nothing more than their willpower—and, Kerry Patterson wrote “Change Anything” to package those ideas for a fast, focused read. In “Change Anything”, Kerry Patterson focuses on when people believe that their ability to make good choices stems from nothing more than their willpower—and. Through “Change Anything”, Kerry Patterson distills the core ideas on self help into lessons readers can absorb…
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