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Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, opens by asking readers to imagine their ideal selves and then immediately undercuts this common self-help exercise. He cites research showing that such visualization is ineffective or even harmful, as mental escapism leaves people unprepared for real-world obstacles. He catalogs several popular self-help techniques that backfire: suppressing negative thoughts increases obsession with them, group brainstorming produces fewer ideas than working alone, and punching a pillow increases rather than decreases anger. He also debunks the "Yale Goal Study," a widely cited anecdote claiming that the three percent of Yale's 1953 graduating class who wrote down goals accumulated more wealth than the other 97 percent combined, noting that writer Lawrence Tabak found no evidence the study ever took place. Wiseman argues that failed self-help advice erodes people's sense of control, and he introduces the book's origin: During lunch, his friend Sophie, a management consultant, asked whether academic psychology offered effective advice that could be implemented in about a minute. This question sent Wiseman searching through academic journals for quick, empirically supported techniques, and the book collects what he found, organized by topic.

The chapter on happiness draws on a meta-analysis by Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California showing that happiness causes success rather than merely following from it. Wiseman challenges the assumption that money buys happiness, citing Northwestern University psychologist Philip Brickman's study of Illinois State Lottery winners, who were no happier than a control group. He reports that roughly 50 percent of happiness is genetically determined, 10 percent is tied to circumstances, and 40 percent derives from daily behavior, making this last portion the target for change. He dismantles positive thinking by citing Daniel Wegner's experiment in which people told not to think of a polar bear obsessed over it, and he presents expressive writing as a superior alternative to talking about problems. He outlines three writing techniques: a gratitude exercise, a "best possible future" exercise, and an "affectionate writing" exercise focused on a loved one, synthesizing them into a five-day diary. He also discusses research showing that spending money on experiences rather than goods produces greater happiness, that spending on others makes people happier than spending on themselves, and that performing five acts of kindness on a single day per week increased happiness by 40 percent. He explains proprioceptive psychology, the idea that physical behavior influences emotions, by citing Fritz Strack's study in which holding a pencil between the teeth (forcing a smile) made people feel happier. The chapter closes with research showing that intentional changes, such as starting a hobby, sustain happiness far longer than circumstantial changes, such as getting a raise, because they avoid hedonistic habituation.

The persuasion chapter challenges the assumption that rewards motivate, citing Mark Lepper's Stanford study in which children who received medals for drawing subsequently spent less time drawing. On job interviews, research by Chad Higgins and Timothy Judge found that appearing pleasant mattered more than qualifications. Wiseman presents principles including the Franklin effect (asking someone for a small favor increases their liking of you), the bystander effect (as witnesses to an emergency multiply, the likelihood of any individual helping decreases), and reciprocity research showing that small, spontaneous favors between acquaintances are most effective at increasing compliance.

The motivation chapter argues against visualizing outcomes. Wiseman cites studies by Lien Pham and Shelley Taylor and by Gabriele Oettingen showing that fantasizing about success reduced effort and worsened results across domains including exams, weight loss, and careers. He identifies five effective techniques from his own research tracking over 5,000 participants: making step-by-step plans, telling others about goals, focusing on benefits, rewarding progress, and recording plans in writing. He presents the Zeigarnik effect, named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who found that unfinished tasks persist in memory due to a form of psychic tension, and argues that starting a task for just a few minutes compels completion. He also presents Oettingen's "doublethink" technique, in which people alternate between imagining a goal's benefits and realistically considering obstacles, and cites research showing that visualizing the process of studying rather than the outcome of success led to better performance.

The creativity chapter debunks group brainstorming, citing Brian Mullen's analysis of 20 studies showing individuals working alone produced more and better ideas than groups due to social loafing. Wiseman presents the unconscious mind as a creativity source: In an experiment by Ap Dijksterhuis and Teun Meurs, participants distracted before inventing pasta names produced more original suggestions than those who deliberated consciously. He discusses evidence that plants in offices enhance creative output, that brief exposure to the color green improved creative performance, and that body positioning affects thinking, with lying down and crossing one's arms each improving performance on creative tasks.

The attraction chapter challenges the "play hard to get" myth through studies by University of Hawaii psychologist Elaine Hatfield, which found that the most effective strategy was appearing selective in general but enthusiastic about a specific person. Wiseman describes research showing that a brief touch on the upper arm increased compliance with social requests and presents Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron's bridge study, in which men on a fear-inducing suspension bridge misattributed their racing hearts to attraction toward a female experimenter. He also describes Aron's "sharing game," in which strangers who progressed through increasingly intimate questions over 45 minutes developed a sense of closeness typically requiring months.

The relationships chapter opens with John Gottman's finding that active listening did not predict relationship success. Instead, Gottman found that positive comments must outweigh negative ones by at least five to one. Wiseman cites a study by Richard Slatcher and James Pennebaker in which having one partner write about their deepest feelings about the relationship for three days increased the likelihood of the couple still being together three months later from 52 to 77 percent. He also presents Arthur Aron's experiment in which long-term couples who completed a novel, exciting physical task together reported significantly more loving feelings than those who completed a mundane activity.

The stress chapter argues against cathartic venting, citing Brad Bushman's experiment showing that punching a bag after an insult increased aggression. Wiseman presents "benefit finding," in which writing about positive outcomes from a hurtful experience increased forgiveness. He provides evidence that dog ownership significantly improves health and describes a study by Alia Crum and Ellen Langer in which hotel attendants informed about the caloric expenditure of their daily work lost weight and lowered blood pressure, despite no changes in actual behavior, suggesting that awareness of existing activity triggers health benefits through the placebo effect.

The decision-making chapter warns against group decisions, citing research on group polarization (the tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than individuals), and presents the unconscious thought theory: For complex decisions, distracting the conscious mind allows the unconscious to weigh all factors more effectively. On lie detection, Wiseman notes that liars become more still and give shorter answers rather than fidgeting, and that people lie least in e-mail because it creates a permanent record.

The parenting chapter debunks the Mozart effect, noting that the original finding was temporary and limited to adults. Wiseman describes Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck's studies with over 400 children showing that praising intelligence caused children to avoid challenges and score lower on tests, while praising effort encouraged risk-taking and improved performance. He also presents Walter Mischel's marshmallow test, in which four-year-olds who resisted eating one marshmallow to receive two later became more self-motivated adolescents, and Jonathan Freedman's toy robot experiment, in which boys given a mild warning not to play with a toy were far less likely to touch it weeks later than those given a strong threat, because mild warnings allow children to internalize restraint.

The personality chapter rejects graphology, the analysis of handwriting to determine personality, and introduces the Big Five personality dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Wiseman presents John Manning's research on the 2D:4D finger-length ratio (index finger length divided by ring finger length), which suggests that prenatal testosterone exposure produces a lower ratio associated with physical strength and assertiveness.

In the conclusion, Wiseman returns to Sophie's question and lists 10 techniques: developing a gratitude practice, performing acts of kindness, hanging a mirror in the kitchen to reduce unhealthy eating, placing plants in offices, lightly touching people's upper arms, writing about feelings in a relationship, detecting liars through verbal cues and e-mail, praising children's effort over ability, visualizing the process rather than the outcome, and writing an ideal eulogy to clarify long-term goals.