Say you want to start going to the gym or practicing a musical instrument. How long should it take before you stop having to force it and start doing it automatically? The surprising answers are found in Making Habits, Breaking Habits, a leading psychologist’s popular examination of one of the most powerful and underappreciated processes in the brain. Although people like to think that they are in control, the vast majority of human behavior occurs without any decision-making or conscious thought.

Drawing on hundreds of fascinating studies, psychologist Jeremy Dean busts the myths to finally explain why seemingly easy habits, like eating an apple a day, can be surprisingly difficult to form, and how to take charge of your brain’s natural "autopilot" to make any change stick.

Witty and intriguing, Making Habits, Breaking Habits shows how behavior occurs more than just a product of what you think. It is possible to bend your habits to your will - and be happier, more creative, and more productive.

Listening Length

6 hours and 31 minutes
Author

Jeremy Dean
Narrator

Sean Pratt
Audible release date

January 15, 2013
Language

English
Publisher

Gildan Media, LLC
ASIN

B00B1I997K
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	6 hours and 31 minutes
Author	Jeremy Dean
Narrator	Sean Pratt
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	January 15, 2013
Publisher	Gildan Media, LLC
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00B1I997K
Best Sellers Rank	#15,238 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #91 in Medical Applied Psychology #175 in Popular Applied Psychology #777 in Psychology (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

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2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Excellent Resource for Understanding How Habits Control Your Life

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2019

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Some 2,000 years back, the Roman poet Ovid observed, “Nothing is stronger than habit.” Most people will readily acknowledge that as true. In large part because most people are slave to some habit they would love to break or overcome.

Understanding the power of habit does not in itself give us the tools we need to break bad habits and make new ones.
Jeremy Dean, author of Making Habits, Breaking Habits – Why We Do Things, Whey We Don’t, And How to Make Any Change Stick, shares the science behind why habits are so powerful and so challenging to break.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One explores the Anatomy of a Habit. In this section, Mr. Dean discusses how habits are formed, why our intentions are likely to lose to our habits and why habits are on autopilot.

Part Two deals with everyday habits. Our brains are wired to repeat behaviors that we think work for us. A few repetitions and we have developed a habit. Some of our activities have become so automatic they can actually be very dangerous.

Part Three is the real meat of the book – Changing Habits. In this section Mr. Dean gives us step by step process for making new, better habits. Breaking old, harmful habits. He also shares how to create new, healthy, creative and happy habits.

Mr. Dean is a psychologist and writes from an authoritative perspective. The book draws on extensive scientific research. There are extensive End Notes citing the sources used. The reader has a wealth of resources for additional research.

Mr. Dean writes in a conversational style. He presents numerous stories and examples to illustrate the concepts and principles he shares. Insightful, Informative, Interesting read.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

BuddhaKat

It's all in the title!

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014

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I subscribe to Mr Dean's "PSY BLOG" because every now and again he turns some little nugget into a full blown epiphany for me. That's what happened with this book. I'm always "working on myself". I'd discovered some habits, some really old habits, some changed habits and was trying to figure out how to bring that all together in my head/heart.
That is exactly what this book did for me; in fact it seemed to be flowing right along my own paths of discovery. And Mr. Dean is nothing if not thorough. Almost every page is has footnotes relating to this study or that, in case I wanted to get further details on any specific subject.
In the end I hadn't been able to put the book down and felt very satisfied that I had gotten exactly what I needed from this book. That doesn't happen very often - that a whole book meets my expectations and then some. "Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don't, and How to Make Any Change Stick" did exactly what the title said it would for me. What more could you ask for from an author!?!?!?

8 people found this helpful

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Philippe

Requires commitment and effort but will pay handsome rewards

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2015

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I am trained as an industrial chemist and practice as a lawyer. The chemist in me likes to know the science behind the self-help so I can adapt techniques to suit myself but also because the lawyer in me is skeptical. Knowing the theory also illuminates what might be happening with friends and colleagues, and lets me devise changes for the workplace that are more likely to succeed. This book educated me about contemporary psychological knowledge of habits and their role in off-setting decision fatigue. It was easy to see the theory reflected in my life in a concrete way. It was practical too:— I implemented changes to my life while reading the book and learned about myself in the process. This book requires commitment and effort but will pay handsome rewards. If you want quick-and-easy look elsewhere.

13 people found this helpful

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OERA1

Excellent information we could use.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

Excellent information--that, if used properly and if we want to--if that is indeed our intention-- we can use to change our habits. It sure was
interesting to find out that we operate mostly in the automatic mode most of the time. We just need to get rid of those nasty habits we have made and create some new healthy habits to replace them with. I honestly recommend this book for everyone and anyone that can read and wants to know a little more about themselves--and who knows? Maybe even change a little--if they want to, of course.

Thank you for such a nice book Jeremy.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Tony Jarrow

Inspiring read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2013

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Straight forward, easy to understand, description of why we do what we do day after day without thinking. A scientific book without the jargon together with numerous relevant examples to explain every concept. Unusually for such a book, the author is English and so the examples relate to everyday life in the UK: no baseball here.
Every aspect of habits appears to be covered: why we form them, their value as well as their annoyance, how to make the good ones stronger and how to sidestep the worst.
An excellent, easy, read for everyone. Highly recommended.

17 people found this helpful

Nick Southorn

A great look at motivational change

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2015

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Really very good. It is a comfortable read and certainly doesn't fit into the pseudo-psychology genre as the content is well informed and meaningful. If you want to change something, or just understand how to help someone make changes, then this book will be of use to you. I managed to make running a habit despite my entire physical being telling me to mope about at home.

The future is past

valuable and enjoyable read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2014

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Is fascinating read.mr dean likes his evidence,this is fine by me but after a while accounts of tests,experiments and scientific papers start to blur a bit.he does however have an engaging writing style so is able to move things along at a pace.
At the end I,m not sure i had any huge insights but I did consider that I knew as much about the subject as I needed to

One person found this helpful

Ms. K.

Interesting and helpful!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

One of the best books I've read in years. I am a semi-regular reader of similar "self-help" books, but I am becoming increasingly critical of them as I get older. However this one combines interesting with helpful. Instead of giving you a "5 step" program, it focusing on increasing the readers understanding the nature of habits, and armed with that knowledge it becomes an interesting journey to oberve and tweak your existing habits.

emma middleton

great ..read and apply book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought this book to help with areas in my life that I was struggling with. What it did was help solidify what I already new and encourage me on to change. I think when you pay out for something you are far more motivated anyway to apply what you read..but maybe that is just me..

One person found this helpful

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Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don't, and How to Make Any Change Stick Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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