I’ve started a million things, but I never finish them. Why can’t I finish?According to studies, 92 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail. You’ve practically got a better shot at getting into Juilliard to become a ballerina than you do at finishing your goals. For years, I thought my problem was that I didn’t try hard enough. So I started getting up earlier. I drank enough energy drinks to kill a horse. I hired a life coach and ate more superfoods. Nothing worked, although I did develop a pretty nice eyelid tremor from all the caffeine. It was like my eye was waving at you, very, very quickly. Then, while leading a thirty-day online course to help people work on their goals, I learned something surprising: The most effective exercises were not those that pushed people to work harder. The ones that got people to the finish line did just the opposite— they took the pressure off. Why? Because the sneakiest obstacle to meeting your goals is not laziness, but perfectionism. We’re our own worst critics, and if it looks like we’re not going to do something right, we prefer not to do it at all. That’s why we’re most likely to quit on day two, “the day after perfect”—when our results almost always underper­form our aspirations. The strategies in this book are counterintuitive and might feel like cheating. But they’re based on studies conducted by a university researcher with hundreds of participants. You might not guess that having more fun, eliminating your secret rules, and choosing something to bomb intentionally works. But the data says otherwise. People who have fun are 43 percent more successful! Imagine if your diet, guitar playing, or small business was 43 percent more suc­cessful just by following a few simple principles. If you’re tired of being a chronic starter and want to become a consistent finisher, you have two options: You can continue to beat yourself up and try harder, since this time that will work. Or you can give yourself the gift of done.

    But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason—and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it’s best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we’re picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of “deciders”—from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players.Lehrer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?

    In 2014 there will be a race every other day in 15 countries on five continents. What do these Spartans know that you don’t? They know that we all have a fire burning within us to prove ourselves. Joe De Sena has captured that invincible Spartan spirit in his manifesto for bold living, SPARTAN UP! A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; May 13, 2014; $24). De Sena’s prescription for life’s insurmountable obstacles is to get off the couch and crush them through hard work and force of will. A legend in the ultramarathon community, he created Spartan Race, extreme obstacle races where no one knows what to expect, but to finish is to be transformed. Spartan Race drives participants to their very limit to learn what they are capable of and to set a new frame of reference; one they can draw upon in the face of life’s harshest challenges. Everyday disappointments and setbacks seem small when you’ve been to the other side of hell and made it back as a victor. In SPARTAN UP! De Sena paints a picture of how he created the Spartan way of life, beginning with an unexpected challenge by a friend that got him back into shape through endurance racing. After that first race, De Sena completed more than 50 ultramarathons (in conditions ranging from -30 to 120 degrees) and 14 Ironman events, including the 135-mile Badwater ultramarathon, the 140.6 Lake Placid Ironman, and a 100-mile Vermont trail run—in a single week. The harder the race the more he loved it; he was hooked.SPARTAN UP! is more than an insider’s view of the world of obstacle racing, it’s a manual for the Spartan way of life, including :• Finding the will to succeed: The first half of a race you run with your legs; the second half you run with your mind. Turn your pain into an outboard motor to drive you forward. • Tossing your cookies: The Cookie Test can teach you how to overcome the need for immediate gratification and help you prosper in the long term. • Changing your frame of reference: Reset your inner default as an antidote to dissatisfaction and the insatiable need for “more.” • Getting Spartan fit: Survival of the Fittest means training outside the gym for strength, endurance and flexibility throughout the entire body—and don’t forget those burpees! • Moving mountains: Whether metaphorical mountains or the ones on which Spartans race, what you think are your limits can be a mere starting point for transformation. Age, gender, and physical ability are no barrier and finishers become entirely new people, without limitations, living life to the fullest. That’s why the Spartans say: “You’ll know at the finish line.” JOE DE SENA is a cofounder of Spartan Race, which began as an obstacle race based on the extreme spirit of the legendary Death Race, and has become a multi-million dollar global lifestyle company in less than 10 years. It was voted Outside magazine’s Best Obstacle Race. In one year’s time he competed in the Raid International Ukatak in Canada; the IditaSport in Alaska; the Odyssey Adventure Race and the OAR Beast of the East, both in Virginia; the Raid the North Extreme in Newfoundland, the Adrenaline Rush in Ireland and the Discovery Channel World Championships in Switzerland. He resides in Vermont with his family. For more information, please visit www.spartanupthebook.com.

    To make matters worse, certain treatments assume you've somehow contributed to the problem and prohibit you from taking an active role. But as you watch your own teen struggle with a life-threatening illness, every fiber of your being tells you there must be some part you can play in restoring your child's health. In Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder, James Lock and Daniel Le Grange--two of the nation's top experts on the treatment of eating disorders--present compelling evidence that your involvement as a parent is critical. In fact, it may be the key to conquering your child's illness. Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder provides the tools you need to build a united family front that attacks the illness to ensure that your child develops nourishing eating habits and life-sustaining attitudes, day by day, meal by meal. Full recovery takes time, and relapse is common. But whether your child has already entered treatment or you're beginning to suspect there is a problem, the time to act is now. This book shows how.

    The author of Reality Therapy and Take Effective Control of Your Life shows readers how to gain strength and self-esteem through positive behavior.

    In this ground-breaking book, Milkman reveals a proven path that can take you from where you are to where you want to be, with a foreword from psychologist Angela Duckworth, the best-selling author of Grit.Change comes most readily when you understand what's standing between you and success and tailor your solution to that roadblock. If you want to work out more but find exercise difficult and boring, downloading a goal-setting app probably won't help. But what if, instead, you transformed your workouts so they became a source of pleasure instead of a chore? Turning an uphill battle into a downhill one is the key to success.Drawing on Milkman's original research and the work of her world-renowned scientific collaborators, How to Change shares strategic methods for identifying and overcoming common barriers to change, such as impulsivity, procrastination, and forgetfulness. Through case studies and engaging stories, you'll learn:- Why timing can be everything when it comes to making a change - How to turn temptation and inertia into assets - That giving advice, even if it's about something you're struggling with, can help you achieve moreWhether you're a manager, coach, or teacher aiming to help others change for the better or are struggling to kick-start change yourself, How to Change offers an invaluable, science-based blueprint for achieving your goals, once and for all.

    Now, with the passage of more time, Healing the Soul of a Woman delves deeper into Joyce's story and the journey of healing for all women. Each chapter guides you through whatever obstacles may be holding you back to find your true destiny as God's beloved. God can heal all pain, and He wants to do this in you. Let Healing the Soul of a Woman be the first step toward the wonderful, joyful future God intends for you.