Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick

Written by Wendy Wood

Narrated by Wendy Wood

This program is read by the author.

A landmark audiobook about how we form habits, and what we can do with this knowledge to make positive change

We spend a shocking 43 percent of our day doing things without thinking about them. That means that almost half of our actions aren’t conscious choices but the result of our non-conscious mind nudging our body to act along learned behaviors. How we respond to the people around us; the way we conduct ourselves in a meeting; what we buy; when and how we exercise, eat, and drink—a truly remarkable number of things we do every day, regardless of their complexity, operate outside of our awareness. We do them automatically. We do them by habit. And yet, whenever we want to change something about ourselves, we rely on willpower. We keep turning to our conscious selves, hoping that our determination and intention will be enough to effect positive change. And that is why almost all of us fail. But what if you could harness the extraordinary power of your unconscious mind, which already determines so much of what you do, to truly reach your goals?

Wendy Wood draws on three decades of original research to explain the fascinating science of how we form habits, and offers the key to unlocking our habitual mind in order to make the changes we seek. A potent mix of neuroscience, case studies, and experiments conducted in her lab, Good Habits, Bad Habits is a comprehensive, accessible, and above all deeply practical book that will change the way you think about almost every aspect of your life. By explaining how our brains are wired to respond to rewards, receive cues from our surroundings, and shut down when faced with too much friction, Wood skillfully dissects habit formation, demonstrating how we can take advantage of this knowledge to form better habits. Her clear and incisive work shows why willpower alone is woefully inadequate when we’re working toward building the life we truly want, and offers real hope for those who want to make positive change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781250241788

Wendy Wood

Wendy Wood was born in the UK and is provost professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California. Her research incorporates neuroscience, cognition and behavioral insights to understand habit persistence and change, and she has collaborated with many luminary psychologists, including Angela Duckworth and Adam Grant. Her research has been funded by the top granting agencies including NIH, NSF, Templeton Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Proctor & Gamble and the Radcliffe Advanced Study Institute at Harvard. She has written for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Time magazine, USA Today and NPR. She lectures widely for popular and academic audiences and recently launched a website to convey scientific insight on habit to the general public.

Reviews for Good Habits, Bad Habits

[Kristina Hernandez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book! I wish I had the PDF to go with it, it may have added more to the experience. I am about to listen once again and take notes.

[ELIZABETH ROLL · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good listen. May listen to it again soon. Trying to build new habits.

[Larren · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very hard to listen and long winded. The reader is monotone and it made it hard to focus. I am going to buy the book and try to read it myself; the information I could grasp seemed beneficial.

[sirisaac832052 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Un libro extraordinario. Me encantó la forma en que explica y detalla la formación de nuevos hábitos. Altamente recomendable.

[David Jimenez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Insightful, essential, all around great read. I will try to apply these strategies into my life to see what good my unconscious habit mind can really do. Thanks Wendy Wood.

[Liam · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The “bonus pdf” is mentioned a lot, so you can only wonder exactly what content that is referring to.

It’s a very competent book that discusses a lot of very interesting studies on motivation, but I felt it fell a little short of compelling conclusion - the final thoughts were there, but didn’t come together as concisely and focused as I would have liked. I would recommend it in audio format, as sort of an extended social science podcast.

[Sharath Shamar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book very informative and helpful showing me ways to automate things in my life to free up my conscious mind to be more productive

[Charmaine Michelle Rivera · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many things happening here with different social context, but basically telling us to get rid of bad habits

[Greg Hawod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book has full of insights about habits good and bad within several different contexts such as individual, group, and even societal. It also has great explanations of experiments done about habits.