This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True
by M.J. Ryan
List Price:
Our Price: $8.11
You Save: $8.84 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.90 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: M.J. RyanEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN: 0767920082
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Book Reviews of This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True
Book Review: Very precise
Summary: 5 Stars
Last year was a duzzy. So many things went wrong in my life, that I wondered if I'd get through the year intact. Feeling as down as I did, I'd been looking for books that might give me some help with restructuring my life and my attitude. This one is the best of those that I've read so far.
M. J. Ryan's book "This Year I Will..." is considerably more helpful than any other self-help book primarily because she is far more precise in her approach to change. She's also very up front with the fact that change is not going to come instantaneously or easily. Whether it's as simple as putting the laundry detergent in before the wash or after it (her own experience) or trying to lose weight or quit smoking, it will take time and hard work, and there are no handy short cuts about it.
This may be disappointing to those of us who would like a quick fix to our problems and who find dealing with them frustrating, time consuming, and sometimes expensive--remember all those health clubs, weight loss programs, clinics, and magic potions that purport to make weight loss "easy" but at great cost? Don't get discouraged; read on. The author gives points for past "failures" and looks at them as, more-or-less, "first attempts" rather than as a sign of our inability to make changes in our lives. Furthermore, she also tells you why this is so.
Unlike many of the self-help books out there, Ryan's gives you an explanation of why you have a hard time changing, and why it's important to get back on that "bicycle" and try again. It's quite obvious that she is an extensively read professional. Using very up to date information from the recent discoveries in mind-brain research, she describes the neurological processes that go into making our bad habits so difficult to eradicate.
Without going into endless, unintelligible detail, she describes the processes by which our bodies make responses that have been found "successful" more permanent and automatic. She describes the various parts of the brain, their origin, and how they work together--or sometimes don't--so that it is clear why we sometimes resist making those changes we should or even must to survive. Without getting down to the circuitry or the chemistry, she points out that the higher levels of brain function, which can make executive decisions regarding the wisdom of change, may be subverted by the more basic levels of automatic behavior. Responsible for the flight-fight response and for the safety and wellbeing of the organism this more emotional brain may not be willing to help. Might in fact even work at cross purposes.
Ms Ryan explains that neuropathways become hardwired in our brains to the point where they are virtually ineradicatable . It is often said in books on mind-brain research, "nerves that fire together wire together," and as the author says, you're stuck with them.
What she proposes is not brain surgery to remove the troublesome pathway but developing a new pathway that competes with the old one. She points out that it takes a lot of time and work to create such a competitive behavior, but that with each successful effort to do so, the nerves responsible for the behavior become more habituated to the activity, making it easier with time.
Ryan also notes that we WILL have lapses as we go, because those old pathways are pretty powerful. Just having given it a try, though, has already started to initiate the changes desired--at least we now have a wagon to fall off of. She has several good recommendations on how to gradually bypass that old pathway and even several alternative approaches for some tasks.
The book is arranged in a graduated format of chapters, each one giving in a short few pages the information you need at each point in your effort to change. I read the book cover to cover first in about two hours, then I began at the beginning and started following some of her suggestions. Each chapter becomes sort of a "workbook" of things to do at each level of the change process.
The author also makes reference to other writers on the subject of personal change that have interesting things to add, and it is obvious that she does not work in a vacuum but in collaboration with others in the field; in short she's open minded. So there are other resources to which you may turn as need arises.
Probably one of the most important points she makes is that one needs to be definite about which change you're willing to make the effort to undertake. Global responses make taking action on anything impossible, so you have to select your changes with care. She also suggests that the problem be specific, with clearly defined behaviors needed to accomplish your goal and a clear means of evaluating the change. She makes a point of noting that monitoring the progress of your change is important, partially because it gives a clear measure of success and partially because it provides the satisfaction of actually seeing your efforts worth their expense. Ryan even sees back sliding as a means of assessing your progress and as an opportunity to evaluate what works and what doesn't, and thereby to make appropriate changes in your plan.
An excellent book, very precise in its recommendations.
More This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Summary of This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True
Are you really ready to change? Take this quiz and find out.
Every New Year?s Day, my list of resolutions is:
Ambitious. I aim for everything from losing weight to saving more money for my retirement.
Realistic. I just try to bump my good behavior up a notch--be a better friend, give more money to charity---without giving myself any strict deadlines or goals.
Precise. I decide exactly how many men I will ask for a date, or how many new jobs I will apply for.
Whenever I decide to change something, it?s usually because:
My doctor has put the fear of God into me.
I read a magazine article about why making this change is important.
I start daydreaming about how great life will be after I make the change.
True or False: When you want to make a big change in your life, timing is crucial.
Failure is:
Impossible.
Inevitable.
Not in my vocabulary.
(The answers are on the inside back flap.)
Learn the secret to making changes that stick
Every so often people get inspired (again!) to lose weight, get organized, start saving, or stop worrying ?but a few months later they give up, frustrated. It doesn?t have to be that way. In This Year I Wil . . .l, bestselling author M.J. Ryan offers breakthrough wisdom and coaching to help readers make this time the time that change becomes permanent.
Why do people find it so hard to change? The secret is that everyone has their own formula for making changes that stick, but most people don?t know what theirs is. They think there is one way to lose five pounds, and another way to stay on top of their e-mail, but they don?t realize that for all changes, there is one system that works best for each individual. This Year I Will . . . helps you lock on to your unique formula for planning, implementing, and seeing a life change through, so you can use it again and again to tackle anything else you?d like to do.
For anyone who has broken a New Year?s resolution, fallen off a diet, or given up on fulfilling a dream, the ingenious strategies, inspiring stories, and sheer motivational energy of This Year I Will . . . help you make a promise to yourself that you can actually keep.
Answers to the jacket quiz: c, c, false, b. Take the whole quiz and learn your score at M.J. Ryan?s Web site, www.mj-ryan.com.
Motivational Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Motivational Books
Appetite: Neural and Behavioural Bases (Oxford Science Publications)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1995-01-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $72.22
Price in other shops:
Neuroeconomics: A Guide to the New Science of Making Choicesby Peter Politser
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-03-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.41
Price in other shops:
The Law of Successby Napoleon Hill
Penguin Audio; Published: 2008-12-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $16.04
Price in other shops:
Russell Simmons' Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Successby Russell Simmons, Chris Morrow
Penguin Audio; Published: 2007-04-24; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.56
Price in other shops:
The Comfort Trap or, What If You're Riding a Dead Horse?by Judith Sills
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-05-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops:
Golf in the Kingdom (An Esalen Book)by Michael Murphy
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.54
Price in other shops:
Single Case Experimental Designs: Strategies for Studying Behaviour Change (General Psychology)by Michel Hersen, David Barlow
Elsevier; Published: 1976-09; Hardcover; Book
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergartenby Robert Fulghum
Ballantine Books; Published: 2004-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
The Purpose-Driven Lifeby Rick Warren
Zondervan; Published: 2002-11-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $2.90
Price in other shops:
The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You To An Extraordinary Lifeby Debbie Ford
HarperOne; Published: 2003-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brillianceby Jonathan Fields
Portfolio Hardcover; Published: 2011-09-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Nowby Jane B. Burka, Lenora M. Yuen
Da Capo Lifelong Books; Published: 2008-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Playby Neil Fiore
Tarcher; Published: 2007-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Doneby Peter Bregman
Business Plus; Published: 2011-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.66
Price in other shops:
365 Health & Happiness Boostersby MJ Ryan
Conari Press; Published: 2000-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Everyday of Your Lifeby M J Ryan
Conari Press; Published: 1999-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops:
Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.by Michael Bungay Stanier
Workman Publishing Company; Published: 2010-02-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.04
Price in other shops:
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of Itby Kelly McGonigal Ph.D.
Avery; Published: 2011-12-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.91
Price in other shops:
Self-Discipline in 10 days: How To Go From Thinking to Doingby Theodore Bryant
HUB Publishing; Published: 2011-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.95
Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Successby Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
Business Plus; Published: 2011-04-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops: