Change Doesn’t Happen the Way You Think, Says Denizet-Lewis: The New York Times

Writing, Literature & Publishing Associate Professor Benoit Denizet-Lewis’ new book, You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation, will be published later this month.

Ahead of the release, Denizet-Lewis wrote a personal opinion piece, “Change Doesn’t Happen the Way You Think,” for The New York Times, reflecting on what he’s learned about personal change.

But after decades of working to change myself, and nearly six years spent talking with changers and would-be changers — from personality reinventors and esoteric self-actualizers to name-swappers and ideological shape-shifters — I’ve come to believe that the “self” in self-transformation is only half the story. Change is less about willpower than we imagine, more shaped by other people than we admit, and far more mysterious than the self-improvement industry can afford to sit with.