Scott Young was kind enough to give me a press copy of his ebook How To Change A Habit. Personally I don’t struggle with changing habits, but I was very interested in reading this ebook because I know that many people do. Some of the obvious habits that give people a hard time are quitting smoking and starting an exercise program. Scott says that people can change their habits far more easily when they adopt effective strategies for doing so.

You may remember that not long ago I reviewed Scott’s latest ebook Learn More, Study Less. He wrote How To Change A Habit last year, but obviously the principles still hold true. While I found Learn More, Study Less to be more original and more helpful to me personally, How To Change A Habit is good, and in fact better than I was expecting. How To Change A Habit is much cheaper at only $14.99, though it doesn’t have an affiliate program.

Scott uses 30-day trials as the foundation for changing habits, saying that simply following a trial is enough to solve 50-75% of the problems people face in changing their habits. The rest of his ebook is about refining that core process. By using certain strategies, Scott was able to change many habits that most people would have a very hard time with, such as becoming a vegetarian, waking up at 5:30 every morning, exercising every day, and giving up TV (though he later decided that a moderate amount of TV was the best option for him).

He gives us basic techniques to quickly begin changing habits, and then moves on to advanced techniques that are needed when the basic methods fail. While he acknowledges that some discipline is necessary, his focus is on developing a good strategy so that habits can be changed without extraordinary levels of discipline. His ideas are based on his own personal experiments, but also backed up by psychological research.

The ebook is visually pleasing, having a good number of illustrations and a nice layout optimized for on-screen reading. He takes a very detailed look at 30-day trials, and gives a lot of good information about advanced techniques.

I said at the beginning of this post that I don’t struggle with changing my habits. However, I’m currently going through a trial that’s proving to be a major exception to this (see my next post). Because it’s a trial of changing my thoughts, it’s much tougher than any other habit I’ve tried to change. If I slip up just once with my thoughts, I have to start all over, and that’s what keeps happening. So I was pleased to see that Scott has a section specifically about “Changing Habits of Thought,” which has given me some ideas.

If you’ve tried to change some habits but found it too difficult, I recommend How To Change A Habit. I’m adding it to the Resources page.

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“If you understand something in only one way, then you don’t really
understand it at all. The secret of what anything means to us depends on
how we’ve connected it to all other things we know. Well-connected
representations let you turn ideas around in your mind, to envision things
from many perspectives until you find one that works for you. And that’s
what we mean by thinking!”

-Marvin Minsk, Professor of E.E.C.S., MIT

If you’re an android, then maybe you’re able to learn anything by just plugging yourself into your computer and downloading information to your brain. But if you’re a human being, your brain works by forming many connections between neurons. Given that, doesn’t it make sense to adapt a style of learning that matches the way our brain works? That’s what holistic learning is all about.

Holistic learning is the opposite of rote memorization. Average people learn by cramming stuff into their brain until some of it sticks. But smart people don’t think better, they think differently. Instead of relying on brute force memorization to store unrelated facts, they integrate new information by forming connections to what they already know, resulting in deeper understanding.

Scott Young, author of Learn More, Study Less (now on the Resources page), is a 19 year old student at the University of Manitoba (a Canadian province). Despite what you may think of his age, he knows more about learning than 99% of us. For example, he:

• Won 1st place in an inter-provincial chemistry test and received a check for $400, despite not being familiar with the material, and only finding out that he was taking the test five minutes ahead of time.
• Read hundreds of books just in the last two years.
• Taught himself many disparate subjects such as computer programming, web design, business, writing, musical composition, world religions, and evolutionary psychology, all for fun (not for school).
• Aced his college finals with little or no studying.
• On top of being a full-time college student and a devoted self-learner, he runs his business, writes as much as 7000 words per week, exercises, runs a Toastmasters club, and still has free time.

His book teaches us the method of holistic learning, with techniques such as speed reading, active reading, flow-based notetaking, metaphor, visceralization, and diagraming. For the times when you need to learn arbitrary information that doesn’t lend itself well to forming connections, he describes linking, pegging, and information compression. There is also some information on productivity and self-education, including some great resources. Did you know you can take free college courses online?

I think Scott is selling himself a bit short with the title Learn More, Study Less, because it might make it sound like the book is only for students. I’m not a student and I don’t plan on becoming one, but it doesn’t matter. Anyone who cares about their personal development knows that you should never stop learning, whether you’re in a classroom setting or not. Let me give you an example of how I unknowingly used holistic principals recently on my blog.

In my post What Color Is Your Focusing Crystal?, I used a Star Wars metaphor to explore the idea of using self-assessment to find our true colors. RLD: Taekwondo Happiness left this comment:

“I saw your post on MwP and thought I’d drop by. I’d just like to say that a post on Star Wars is brilliant Not only do I love those movies, but now I’ll remember your advice because of the reference!”

From this comment, we can see that (1) RLD was a first time visitor, (2) he liked my post enough to leave a comment on his first visit, and (3) the information was presented in such a way that he enjoyed it and will remember it.

This was before I read Scott’s ebook, so to a small extent I was already using some of his principals (as I suspected I was). But I’ve certainly never studied holistic learning before. Scott has done extensive research and is actually using his techniques in his daily life (even showing us some of his class notes, though they’re hard to read). If I can get better at learning for myself as well as helping other people learn, why would I not take advantage of that?

You might also be interested in holistic learning to expand your mind, improve your communication skills, make boring subjects more interesting, and make sure you stay sharp in your golden years.

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You might be scared off by a 228-page ebook, but it’s not really that long. As you can see in the preview version, Scott has done a great job with the layout and avoids putting too much on each page. I’m not sure, but the document appears to be in landscape orientation and in a larger font, plus there are plenty of pictures to break up the text. So it’s not nearly as overwhelming as you might think a 228-page ebook would be, but you might want to read it in two sittings like I did.

You should be aware that Scott’s writing style might be different from what you’re used to. Most of the stuff I read online has a conversational tone, while Scott’s writing is more academic. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s something to be aware of, and the preview version will show you what I mean. While it required an adjustment, I quickly got used to Scott’s writing style, just like I got used to Steve Pavlina writing very long posts, and Seth Godin writing very short posts.

To fully implement his methods you’ll need to practice, and if you complete all of the included mind challenges, it will take nearly two years! Of course, you don’t really have to do all that, but you might want to formally practice the techniques that you think will help you the most. The preview version mentions 6 bonus documents, which are worksheets you can print out to help you practice your favorite methods.

Scott has taken a bit of heat about the price. At $39.95, it’s a bit more than the average ebook. But this is no average ebook. It should clearly be priced higher than all the $10 or $12 ebooks you see, because it contains a lot more information and a lot more value. I suppose I would have preferred to pay $30 or $35 instead of $39.95, but quibbling over a few dollars is a bit silly when you consider what the book will do for you. Can you honestly say that upgrading your brain is not worth $39.95?

Furthermore, you’re protected by a 120 day money-back guarantee. If that doesn’t ease your budgetary concerns, I don’t know what will. Actually, I do. Scott has an affiliate program that lets you sell the ebook and receive a generous 50% commission. The book is easily worth $39.95, but being paid to read it is even better!

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