Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals Paperback – December 27, 2011

Succeed is a wonderful book for anyone interested in goal-setting, which is to say pretty much every one.

It is science-based yet not dry.
The author puts a lot of effort trying to be engaging and she largely succeeds (pun intended).

Being based on science, this book does not offer the simple, clean-cut, one-size-fits-all solutions of many delusion-based self-help books, so most of the time the answer to a practical question raised in the book is "it depends" - immediately followed by a clear explanation of the key variables at play, which should make it very easy to any readers to plot their own course.

Here is a break-down of the chapters, I hope this is useful:

Chapter 1 - do you know where you are going?
About choosing an appropriate formulation for your goal ( "well formed"): being specific, making it hard, why vs. what frame, value vs. feasibility, chances of success vs. the road to get there, mental contrasting as a decision making tool for goal setting.

Chapter 2 - do you know where your goals are coming from?
About beliefs (fixed vs. growth mindset; see Carol Dweck's work) and about environmental triggers for goal pursuit

Chapter 3 - the goals that keep you moving forward.
An excellent explanation of be good (achievement, performance) vs. get better (progress, mastery) goals.

Chapter 4 - goals for optimists and goals for pessimists.
Promotion-focused (maximizing gains) vs. prevention-focused (avoiding loss) goals. A very important and extremely useful distinction, further articulated in terms of when to choose one or the other, how the distinction is linked to optimism / pessimism, motivation, feedback, risk-taking and inner needs. I think the book is worth buying for this chapter alone.

Chapter 5 - goals can make you happy.
How some goals are better than others because they nourish our essential needs of Relatedness, Competence and Autonomy (see Self-Determination theory). How internal goals are different from external goals and the important role played by intrinsic motivation in goal pursuits.

Chapter 6 - the right goals for you.
In this chapter the author recaps the ground covered so far but from the perspective of the user. In the previous chapters the author presented psychological research results and how they are relevant to goal setting. In this chapter the author starts from a specific need / situation (e.g. "when you can't seem to get going"; "when you need speed"; "when you want to be creative"...) and then matches the situation with the appropriate goal frame (e.g. in the 3 examples above, why & prevention goals, promotion goals, promotion & autonomous goals respectively).

Chapter 7 - the right goals for them.
The author shift gears, and this chapter is about assigning goals to others (vs. to oneself, the topic of the previous 6 chapters). The tips given center around leaving a sense of personal control, using the right triggers, using the right frame, making the goal contagious.

Chapter 8 - conquer the goal saboteurs.
This chapter is about seizing opportunities, knowing what to do, increasing monitoring and shielding your goal pursuit from distractions or competing goals.

Chapter 9 - make a simple plan.
This chapter is all about the virtues of the magical formulation "if... then...", i.e. "if I am in this situation, then I will take this action". Making such plans is the most effective strategy for goal pursuit. According to the author, if you take nothing else from the book, take at least this.

Chapter 10 -build the self-control muscle.
This chapter explains the concept of self-control as a muscle and useful strategy for goal pursuit based on this insight - namely, like any other muscle, strengthen it, rest it and compensate when tired. I am personally very critical of some formations of this analogy (e.g. the glucose explanation, see Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind) and I think a better treatment of the topic is given in the book The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal. However it is true that this is not the main focus of Grant Halvorson.

Chapter 11 - keep it real.
This chapter further elaborates on the role of optimism in goal pursuit. Given the good press optimism gets in self-help books, the distinction made by the author in this chapter between realistic vs. unrealistic optimism is pure gold.

Chapter 12 - know when to hang on.
This chapter is about another key ingredient of goal pursuit: grit. That old-fashioned virtue of commitment to long term goals and persistence in the face of adversity. And no, long term does not mean tomorrow and adversity does not mean "twitter is down, OMG!" or "I do not have the latest iPhone".

Chapter 13 - give the right feedback.
Frankly the least interesting chapter of the book, at least for me. The good part though was the author presenting the "5 rules of positive feedback" by Henderlong and Lepper. It is research-based and it is a useful checklist for anyone tasked with giving feedback to others.

Overall a great book, an essential reference for anyone (coaches, executives, consultants) involved in developing leaders, and a useful treasure throve of good tips for anyone engaged in goal pursuit.

I love this book. There are many books to help reach your goals, but the reason I feel this book stands out is the fact that the author is a researcher. So many books seem to be written by someone who writes with the perspective of, this worked for me so it will work for you. This book acknowledges that people are different. We are motivated differently, and she explains how to use that to your advantage.

It includes self tests so the reader can see how they fit into the type of thinker she is discussing. This really helps to personalize what she is writing about. The summaries at the end of the chapter help to outline how to put what she is teaching into action.

The first time I listened to the book on audible I thought it was good but just didn't really appreciate all she was telling me. I listened to it again about a year later and realized she was filling in the gaps in all the books I had been reading. I bought the Kindle book to go along with the audible because it really is that important to understand the concepts she discusses.

This should be a must read for anyone who needs to get motivated or needs to motivate someone else. We are not all the same and subtle differences can make all the difference.

Great book with great scientifically-validated strategies to accomplish your goals. However, I recommend you save some time and money and get the shorter version of this book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. Same author and all the same strategies, just pared down to the essentials. With so many goals to accomplish, better to get down to business. Truly amazing content though. Thank you for writing this Dr. Halvorson!

As a fellow researcher in psychology, I ordered "Succeed" because I was familiar with Dr. Halvorson's scientific accomplishments and found it interesting that she was writing outside the closed-off world of elite scientific journals. After a snowy weekend of reading, I'm stunned by what she has created: "Succeed" is extraordinary, and something only a tiny number of my colleagues could ever have done so well.

In "Succeed," Dr. Halvorson applies real science to the real goals and struggles we all face: losing weight, building better relationships, getting a raise, strengthening willpower, and even just getting up from the couch on those days we feel stuck. Whether one wants to get out of a lousy rut in life or go further faster, "Succeed" presents a comprehensive, step-by-step, scientifically-sound "toolkit" for success.

Using examples from her own life as a working professional, wife, and mother, Dr. Halvorson describes the best ways to frame our goals, plan for success, and put those plans into action - and that includes dealing with moments when we fall down along the way. Piles of scientific studies reveal that HOW we pursue our goals powerfully influences how likely we are to be successful, and many of the most effective methods are genuinely surprising. In "Succeed," Dr. Halvorson takes those studies from the laboratory to life.

All along, Dr. Halvorson's writing is engaging, down-to-earth, and often humorous. I found "Succeed" engaging and enjoyable, and have a feeling it came as much from the heart as from the mind. There's no useless nonsense here about "picturing yourself thin" or asking "the universe" to give you that raise. Instead, Dr. Halvorson has crafted a true, realistic guidebook for boosting motivation, achieving goals, and personal growth. "Succeed" is an absolute success, and I hope we see more from this talented scientist and writer.