Customer Reviews

Self-Directed Behavior: Self-Modification for Personal Adjustment

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is widely regarded by scientifically-based psychologists as the single most effective tool available for people who want to craft themselves to become a finer person. I first read it about 12 years ago, and have used it as a kind of workbook ever since, in each of its successive editions. Everyone who has known me well has noted that I work to improve myself more than anyone they have ever known, and that I am also more successful in improving myself than anyone they have ever known. I agree. Well, I wish I could take all the credit. But the fact is that, if it were not for this incredible book, I would probably have remained just another highly motivated person spinning their wheels with self-help techniques that don't help. Thank goodness I found this book, and actively being rigorous, if you find scientific approaches distasteful, if you are not turned on by the prospect of changing yourself, if you are not willing to work real hard on an ongoing basis, if what you really would like is a quick fix (i.e., the book equivalent of a pill), if you love yourself just the way you are, then this book is not for you. Although it is very well-written and accesible, it will definitely require you to work and think and be rigorous and systematic to a degree that not many folks are willing to do. But if you think becoming an ever-finer person is worth working hard for, then this is THE book for you. Bar none.

I first had to read this for a college class and at the time I thought the same way some of the negative reviewers did -- Its boring, its "common sense". But the more I encountered situations with friends and family where I thought "you know this is something you could easily control with a behavioral therapy plan" the more I realized that what the professor I had said was true -- If you just skim the book without trying to apply the principles, it won't mean much to you. But if you think of it practically (and try a project of some kind yourself) you'll realize the power of it. Most people get discouraged when they try to change themselves because they try to do too much at once. Taking baby steps IS common sense, but if its so easy and anyone knew how to do it, we'd all be exactly the people we want to be, now wouldn't we?

I recommend this book to EVERYONE who says "I wish I could do this" or "I wish I didn't always think like that". If you want to change and you're willing to sit down, make a good plan, and follow through with it, this method will work for you. If you don't really want to change, or you don't believe you can, then you'll fail and it isn't the method's fault.

I originally discovered this book as an assigned text for one of my courses in college. Most textbooks are dry and boring. This is one textbook I have kept and referred to often.

I teach a workshop series titled "Sabotage to Success" and this book has been a rich source of information for me and my workshop participants. This book is "scientific", perfect for the skeptics of self-change, but you don't have to be a scientist to read it. The suggested projects are outlined clearly and methodically. The authors have taken pains to revise and renew the book, improving it with each edition. They listen to student input and even have a response form in the back of the book.

I'm glad to see this book available on Amazon. I often recommend it to my workshop participants but haven't been able to refer them to a practical place to buy it. I paid at least $50 for this text in the University Bookstore. I wish there had been an Amazon.com when I bought it originally.

This book is a step by step instruction guide of how to think before you act, which is easier said than done. It helped me to learn how to recognize when I'm starting a pattern behavior and opened up my mind up to thinking ahead of time different various ways to cope or react. I would recommend reading this book once all the way through & then going back more slowly and going through one chapter at a time while writing out your journal. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to make a change but doesn't know where or how to start.

This book is great for changing behaviors that are non-productive. As a former reviewer stated, it does require you to be much tougher with yourself than the usual self-help book. It also demands action, which is where most people have trouble. It is one thing to say you want to change something, but quite another to get off your bottom and do it!
I do not think you need to be "science-minded" to get the drift of this book. I find the scientific method laughable in much of the research, especially in psychology, where it has supposedly found "proof". What you have to be is willing to change your behavior. In my view, behavior does not constitute character. I could do without the smoking and the anxiety. I would never define myself as a smoker or an anxious person. The suggestions in the book simply make you more efficient at being the person you were meant to be. You take care of the lower processes then you can put your higher processing to work-meaning your thoughts, ambitions, dreams, goals, etc. Take the plunge, you won't be sorry. If it seems too simple, it's because it IS simple. Some of us could use the reminder. Just do it.

Of course, if you have no common sense or will power, the book might help a little. Overall, I found it ridiculously boring.

It is always amusing to me that one reads someone else's book for advice on how to help oneself. I don't get it... it is supposed to be self help, right?