Smart Change: Five Tools to Create New and Sustainable Habits in Yourself and Others

by Art Markman

An insightful guide that shows how habits of behavior are formed, and how we can transform bad habits into positive behaviors in ourselves and others.

Smart Change explores the psychological mechanisms that form and maintain habits in individuals and groups and offers real, accessible and actionable advice for changing habits. In an engaging narrative, Markman covers a wide range of habits, from individual behaviors like eating better and exercising regularly to work-related behaviors such as learning effectively and influencing customers’ purchases. He proposes that there are five effective tools to help individuals change behavior and to help people influence the habits of the people around them:

1. Tame the “Go” system: Identify the triggers of habits, replace old behaviors with new ones and generate specific plans to deal with obstacles.
2. Harness the “Stop” system: Learn to deal with stress and other factors that hinder the development of new and positive habits.
3. Optimize your goals. Determine the course of behavior change and how to successfully incorporate those changes for the long term.
4. Manage your environment: Change your surroundings to dramatically reduce poor behavior and habits.
5. Engage your Neighbors: To affect other people’s behavior, understand the shared culture that creates a mutual dependency, and allows neighbors and colleagues to have a profound positive influence on the behavior of other members of their community.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Business, Productivity, Personal Development, Audiobook

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2014

About the author

Art Markman is a professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and is one of the premier cognitive scientists in the field. He served as director of the program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. Now, Art is Executive Director of the IC2 Institute. Art's research explores a variety of topics in thinking including how people use analogies, make decisions, communicate, and get motivated. He also consults to companies teaching their employees to think more effectively. That work is central to his books Smart Thinking, Smart Change, Brain Briefs, and Habits of Leadership. His newest book is Bring Your Brain to Work. When Art is not working or spending time with his family, he is playing the saxophone in a band.

Reviews

[mairead! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love self-help books, I love goals, and I love evidence, so it's not surprising really that I enjoyed Smart Change. Especially relevant to me was the difference between outcome and process goals. Also, I'm glad this is one I had to buy via my Kindle app for class, because after midterms, I want to start a Smart Change journal using the prompts provided and I will still have it available to reference.

[Juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. At first I thought it wasn't getting to the point, so I skipped ahead to the advice I was looking for. I wound up going back and reading the beginning after I'd read the meat & potatoes of the book. He recognizes the complexities involved in trying to change your own behavior and gives you the tools that will help you anticipate the obstacles before they arise so it will be easier to make it through the challenging moments that will come. I also appreciated the time he spent talking about how failure is necessary to learning, that failing in your goal one day does not have to become catastrophic, but is part of the larger learning process. I wound up buying it so I could keep it on hand to refer to in case I get stuck.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Markman explains in simple terms what is going on in your brain, and guides you to use that info to meet your goals. The format of the book is almost elementary, which is great for today's busy reader. Each chapter tells you what is coming, includes stories in the narrative, and highlights key takeaways at the end. The book is somewhat instructive, as one key piece of advice is to create a journal for change. Luckily, the journal steps are not only expressed in the body of the text but also summarised at the end and available online.
A helpful book to give us the extra push to reach our long term goals!

[Elham Mohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب رائع جداً إذا كنت مهتماً بالتغيير لابد أن يكون هذا الكتاب أحد الكتب التي تود قرائتها للتغيير الذكي لان التغيير لا يحدث فقط اذا كان لديك نية تنفيذيه قوية وخطة رائعة تحتاج أن تتفهم نفسك وأنظمتك نظام الانطلاق ونظام الكبح وكيف تجعلها تعمل لصالحك كما إنك بحاجة إلى التحكم في بيئتك وكيف سكون التعامل مع الآخرين من شأنه أن يسهم في نجاح تغيير سلوكك وكيف تتعامل مع آفتي التسويف والفشل . انصحك بقراءة الكتاب 💛

[Jessica Sinn (Books and Trouble)]

I was lucky enough to snag an advance copy (job perk!), so I can tell you that it definitely contains some pearls of wisdom – especially for those who need some help in the self-control department. Go to Chick Lit Café to read the Q&A! http://loonachicklit.wordpress.com/20...

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little embarrassed at how long it took me to finish it, but my life has been crazy busy. Time and again as I went back to it to read a little bit more I was really impressed by it, and Markman makes the impossible (changing habits and behaviors that are ingrained) seem quite doable. You go, guy.

[Harkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book for all those interested in behavior change. A very informative and well presented book on habit change.

[Chris Weatherburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your brain wants to minimize the amount of time you spend thinking about anything, to make sure the energy cost of thinking does not exceed the value of what you are thinking about. In any situation your brain has to resolve a trade-off between effort and accuracy. To do this the brain relies on habits.

Habits are not without problems. One of the most difficult things for people to control is to prioritise something as desirable, particularly when this benefit will be in the future, over something that is occurring right now. The famous marshmallow experiment which tested children’s willpower not to eat a marshmallow that was in front of them on the promise they would get more in an unspecified amount of time later demonstrated will power and how hard it is not to think about the immediate gratification in front of you.

At times you learn how much effort you need to put in to certain experiences. In some situations you put in too little effort and as a consequence make a bad decision and fail. This kind of failure is fine, if it helps you learn about the trade off between effort and accuracy and make changes in the future.

Full written summary: https://chrisweatherburn.com/smart-ch...
VLOG summary: https://youtu.be/QH5xyyRAtUQ

[J Crossley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author starts by saying that when you realize that a certain behavior is not working as you want it to, you need to identify what causes the problem and work to improve it. This is what the author calls "smart change." There are five tools that Mr. Markman provides to help you change your habits.

The first thing that you should do is to tame the Go System, which is what motivates you to adopt new behaviors and memorize them. Utilize the go system to help you change your habits.

The second tool is to harness the Stop System in order to deal with stressors and the obstacles that you encounter. You can use the stop system to help you to end habits that you don't want to do. It uses willpower, and that can be depleted. You need to remember that willpower is limited resource.

The third tool is to optimize your goals. Create an action plan for your goal that is thorough. You need to include steps and mini-goals when the goal is large.

The fourth tool is to create an environment that supports your new behavior. Look at your surroundings and see how you can change them to support your goals.

The fifth tool is to build a community that will support you and your goals.

[Cliff Chew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 3rd book relating to habits and change. I think I really have some problems that I want to change I guess, haha... But seriously, if you are looking for a change manual, this book is the best (comparing it with "Power of Habits" and "Making Habits, Changing Habits").

And surprise, this book presents 5 tools to help you work through your behavior that you want to change. Actually, I rather see them as 5 steps, because to be effective, you need to use all 5 of them. I reckon calling them 5 tools suggest that you can choose to use some or all of them. Trust me, I have failed miserably in changing some bad habits of mine. You will need all 5 steps!

And now, let's see if I can work that "Sleep early, wake up early" routine that I have been waiting to achieve since more than a decade ago.

[David Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book before. The author uses social science to help explain how to change your habits. The secret is understanding the "go" system which is mostly a form of autopilot. It is related to the "system 1" in Thinking Fast thinking slow by Daniel Kahneman. Then not over taxing the "stop" system which is a form a will power. Using modern science the author gives real hints and tricks and strategies to actually accomplish the behavior change the reader is looking for. I recommend this book.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly interesting listen about how to make changes that wasn't just about establishing a habit for a certain amount of time or other questionable ideas about change that everyone seems to know. The ideas here seemed a bit better researched and thought provoking. I think that the audio version might not be the best edition, because it will be difficult to go through as methodically as you could with text, but it did still get me to consider some new ideas about making changes, and I found it quite interesting and useful.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want the science behind creating new habits and transforming change, this is your book. It’s not easy, there is work involved and it’s not quick, but having applied this theory with success, it is right on track.

[Parin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book as few pointers that are worth looking into, but the book itself is not that engaging. It’s better to read the summary of this book, rather than the whole book.

[Jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and short synthesis of lots of books/articles on the topic of habit forming.

[Andrew York · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had to rank the habit books, I go The Power of Habit, Smart Changes, Making Habits Braking Habits, and this year I will.

[Artie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most helpful and insightful self-help books that I've read.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. 2.5? A clinical/academic approach with some good advice - like planning specific positive actions.

[Elaine Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and logical advice on making you life better, now just to follow it.

[Brian Ge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Go read Atomic Habits by James Clear instead

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book - it was motivating for me personally and inspired me to begin a smart change journal AND was helpful in my own profession as an MFT and professional clinical counselor.

[Vinay Gudimetla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words I encounter.
Contribution - Action you take
Gosystem - creates habits
Stop system
Environment - It is so important to change your habits.

[Dan Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the concepts in the book are good to incorporate in daily life, the book was very repetitive in its concept examples.

[Alexandra Armer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely applicable. Great read.

[James Lyke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a lot new here. The single big idea is the concept of "go" and "stop" systems. The first of these (“go”) refers to the practically nonthinking, inertial tendency for us to do things out of habit. The amount to a type default system, for those of us who wish to change their habits represent a barrier. The “stop” system is the one we intentionally enact when we wish to impede default behaviors. Since this one actively ties up our thinking and our capacity/energy, it can be very difficult to simply try to “stop” of time. So in part, the twist is to divert the “go” system, to create a new normal, a new default behavior. There a lot of other points that are made public, but these are not particularly groundbreaking when considering other books that deal with the problem of breaking habits (such as being very detailed about the goal, instead of vaguely suggestive, to include establishing new habits that reinforce the benefits of goals already achieved). I feel two stars is a little harsh, but I felt it really was not up to three stars (2.5?)

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book focused on how to make changes in your life. The author does the things I look for in a book of this type - provides clear instructions, not overwhelmingly complex, provide theoretical and real-world examples that make sense, maintain a positive attitude, and more. He even provides a useful download Word document of the change journal he goes over throughout this book. It makes sense and looks doable, unlike so many self-help books that tend toward the theoretical. This is also unlike so many books in that the process can be done with what is included in the book. So many self help books are just advertisements to hire the author to help in that process or to purchase more books -- this isn't one of those. Well done.

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book with high hopes but quickly ended up skimming through it instead because it was boring and felt repetitive. The one thing that will stick with me is that I need to frame my goals in a positive way, instead of negative, and to focus on actions that I can take instead of actions I hope to avoid.

[Donna Kling · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are process oriented well then this is the habit changing book for you! Art offers a very systematic approach to documenting your journey. He outlines steps to take (get a journal) as you focus on the important cues that derail attempts at changing unwanted habits.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is not so much new in theory if you have read about habits before. However, it has an interesting method and system to actually apply the theory. Overall a good book written by person who has applied his method in hundreds and perhaps thousands of cases.

[Erick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I get it, or maybe because the writing is as exciting as a blank white wall. Either way, I didn't get into this book at all. It seemed painfully obvious the points he was making. And the boring format just made it all the more painful.