alan_n's review against another edition
3.0
Skimmed through the repetitiveness, and boy was it repetitive, so it didn't take very long.
Expected more substance and research, but it's mostly just filled with anecdotes. There doesn't seem to be a single citation to any papers or studies. I found his papers online (which are much more concise than this) but couldn't find any studies.
I'm sure the methods work for most people, in so far as I've found creating small habits to work, but there's no answer really to what to do if you can't find a way to honestly celebrate, it just asks "Are you sure you don't?". Yes, I don't, or at least not in any useful manner (e.g. I "reward" myself after a lot of work with a cup of tea, a glass of wine, or a movie or something). Anything I have done daily for a long time has either been rewarding in and of itself or I've just pushed myself to do it until it was like brushing my teeth.
The only two useful parts I found where:
The in-depth analysis of Motivation vs Ability and Prompts. Although I've found it useful not exactly for habits but for diffusing fights about silly things. Usually if someone is not doing what you want it's because they forget, it's too hard, they don't know how, or they find it pointless. Will have to try rewarding them after.
The idea you could can create a sort of reverse habit, aka, if you can't quit smoking, quit it for one day, than try a bit more, etc.
Expected more substance and research, but it's mostly just filled with anecdotes. There doesn't seem to be a single citation to any papers or studies. I found his papers online (which are much more concise than this) but couldn't find any studies.
I'm sure the methods work for most people, in so far as I've found creating small habits to work, but there's no answer really to what to do if you can't find a way to honestly celebrate, it just asks "Are you sure you don't?". Yes, I don't, or at least not in any useful manner (e.g. I "reward" myself after a lot of work with a cup of tea, a glass of wine, or a movie or something). Anything I have done daily for a long time has either been rewarding in and of itself or I've just pushed myself to do it until it was like brushing my teeth.
The only two useful parts I found where:
The in-depth analysis of Motivation vs Ability and Prompts. Although I've found it useful not exactly for habits but for diffusing fights about silly things. Usually if someone is not doing what you want it's because they forget, it's too hard, they don't know how, or they find it pointless. Will have to try rewarding them after.
The idea you could can create a sort of reverse habit, aka, if you can't quit smoking, quit it for one day, than try a bit more, etc.
gallag's review against another edition
Love the ideas in this book about creating tiny habits and anchoring them to something you already do every day. Book was a bit long/detailed but luckily you can get the gist of it on his website and dive deeper if you want.
jessicaharley's review against another edition
2.0
I felt like the entire system was too complicated. Too many ideas labeled in code words and systems, it was hard to keep track. Ironic because the whole book is about scaling back habits to make them simpler to complete. Also felt redundant, the book didn’t need to be as long as it was. Similar to Atomic Habits ideas but I liked AH much more.
heartofluv's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0