My latest summary is for The 12 Levers: The Complete Psychological Toolkit for Improving Your Life by Spencer Greenberg and Jeremy Stevenson. In it, the authors attempt to distil the most useful techniques from over 100 self-help books into just 368 pages.

Spencer founded Clearer Thinking, a research organisation that conducts studies and creates digital self-help tools for the public. I've been following Clearer Thinking's podcast for a few years and have gotten a lot of value from it, so was keen to read this book as soon as it came out. Jeremy Stevenson, meanwhile, is a clinical psychologist — the book shares some of his clients’ stories.

Seeing as the book itself is like a summary of the self-help genre, I decided to follow its structure in preparing my summary. As usual, you can find the full summary by clicking the link above.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Unravel the Causes. Break a problem into its causal chain and find the links you can control.
• Uncover Your Guiding Foundations. Work out your intrinsic values, principles and priorities.
• Actualise Your Guiding Foundations. Put your values into practice with goals, habits and better choices.
• Prepare for the Storm. Make plans for problems that are likely to recur, so that it’s easier to make decisions while distressed.
• Approach the Monster. Unlearn fears gradually using exposure therapy.
• Shift Your Body to Shift Your Mind. Tips for better sleep, breathing and hormesis (healthy stress).
• Steward Your Thoughts. Distress usually persists because your thoughts contain distortions or exaggerations. Three techniques to better manage your thoughts are: (1) Cognitive restructuring; (2) Parts work; and (3) Postponement.
• Tune the Productivity Equation. Productivity = Time × Efficiency × Importance. You probably can’t increase time or efficiency 100-fold, but you might be able to increase importance that much.
• Do More Glad-You-Did-It Activities. Action precedes motivation. Do activities that reliably make you happier, even if you don’t feel like it.
• Communicate Skilfully. Two subsections: (1) Cultivate deeper conversations; and (2) Improve your assertiveness.
• Choose Your Attitude. You can change how you frame the events in your life. Five attitudes are covered: (1) Optimism; (2) Acceptance; (3) Stoic resilience; (4) Appreciation; and (5) Kindness.
• Pay Attention. Attention is a spotlight you can learn to move. Two subsections: (1) Redirect your attention; and (2) Mindfulness.

You can find the full detailed summary and my review on the website. If you found this summary useful, consider forwarding to a friend you think might enjoy it.

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​To Summarise​