I’m not sure if this is particularly relevant or not, but I would like to recommend the book “Self-Directed Behavior” by David L. Watson and Roland G. Tharp . The amazon.com review puts it better than I could:
This delightful book on self-control is a largely undiscovered jewel. I have read over thirty books on life coaching and not one of those books mentions this lovely volume. Given that Watson & Tharp put forward a research based program of self-modification and given that life coaching is generally lacking it is presentation of supporting evidence, this oversight needs to be corrected. As behavioral learning theorists, Watson & Tharp address multiple skills that are needed to successfully change your own behavior. They look at how to measure your behavior; they examine how to set goals and subgoals; they stress the importance of overlearning, of being specific, and of looking at antecedents and consequents of behavior. Their discussion of shaping behavior is critical to coaching—new behavior is best learned through small steps that become habitual and progressively approach the final behavior you seek. They constructively apply the idea of self-reinforcement. Taken as a whole, their model is specific, and their advice for how to go about changing your behavior is practical. Their research confirms that their approach works. The authors see human capacity as primarily open ended, but not in some vague, wishful thinking way. They see the development of self-control as a life long practice dependent on the learning of particular skills. Great book, I can’t recommend it too much.
I’m not sure if this is particularly relevant or not, but I would like to recommend the book “Self-Directed Behavior” by David L. Watson and Roland G. Tharp . The amazon.com review puts it better than I could:
This delightful book on self-control is a largely undiscovered jewel. I have read over thirty books on life coaching and not one of those books mentions this lovely volume. Given that Watson & Tharp put forward a research based program of self-modification and given that life coaching is generally lacking it is presentation of supporting evidence, this oversight needs to be corrected. As behavioral learning theorists, Watson & Tharp address multiple skills that are needed to successfully change your own behavior. They look at how to measure your behavior; they examine how to set goals and subgoals; they stress the importance of overlearning, of being specific, and of looking at antecedents and consequents of behavior. Their discussion of shaping behavior is critical to coaching—new behavior is best learned through small steps that become habitual and progressively approach the final behavior you seek. They constructively apply the idea of self-reinforcement. Taken as a whole, their model is specific, and their advice for how to go about changing your behavior is practical. Their research confirms that their approach works. The authors see human capacity as primarily open ended, but not in some vague, wishful thinking way. They see the development of self-control as a life long practice dependent on the learning of particular skills. Great book, I can’t recommend it too much.