I can't remember where I saw this book recommended, but I'm happy I read it and would thoroughly recommend it to others. Will it "transform your life"? No, I don't think it will, but I certainly don't think you will regret reading it. The subtitle here is unfortunate and unhelpful. This is not a "self-help" book; it's a book grounded in scientific evidence that examines how our expectations impact all aspects of our lives. I've recently been listening to the audiobook of Atomic Habits and find quite a lot of overlap between the two. That's now on my future reading list (I much prefer physical books to audio).
The book strives to help the reader understand how the mind works as a "prediction machine" that uses past experience to predict the present. The opening quote from John Milton is perfect. "The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven". We are challenged to look at our own expectations and how they impact how we think about many aspects of our lives.
I found various sections of the book particularly interesting. The placebo effect and how it has almost become self-defeating in Western medicine, the nocebo effect and how, in extreme cases, we can "think" ourselves sick. The mind-body connection and how we can produce our chemical responses within our body that mimic prescription drugs. The power of re-framing and how the way something is explained can alter the physical response. The words a doctor uses can actually be "biologically active". The science behind mass hysteria and psychogenic illness. How some hospitals have introduced Shamen to work alongside doctors to better tackle cultural myths. How the brain determines physical limits in sport even when the body could go much further. How to think differently about attitudes towards food and diets and the impact of product labels on your satiety after eating. Stress and anxiety and how it can be used to boost rather than hinder performance. How you should embrace stress rather than deny it. Willpower, ageing, the benefits of routines and rituals, intelligence, creativity and memory are all covered.
Everything in the book is backed up with scientific evidence, and the references even take up about a third of the printed pages. It has made me consider and reappraise how my expectations influence my thinking, especially around sport, learning, stress, age and health. It also makes me think about how I talk to my kids and the impact it has on them. There is so much material in this book that, despite taking copious notes, I'm sure I will return and read it again at some point.
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