Mark Reiter Books
Mark Reiter is a writer and literary agent who has collaborated with Goldsmith on several bestselling books.
Known for: Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Books by Mark Reiter
Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Why do smart, successful people keep repeating the same unhelpful behaviors, even when they know better? In Triggers, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith argues that change fails not because we lack intelligence or good intentions, but because we underestimate the power of our environment. Every day, we are shaped by “triggers” — people, situations, routines, stress, praise, fatigue, temptation, and social expectations — that pull us away from the person we want to become. The book explores how lasting behavior change happens when we stop blaming circumstances and start creating structures for accountability, awareness, and daily effort. Goldsmith brings unusual authority to this subject. As one of the world’s most respected leadership coaches, he has spent decades helping top executives change behaviors that damage performance and relationships. Along with writer Mark Reiter, he translates those lessons into a practical framework anyone can use. Triggers is not just about self-improvement in theory; it is about how to become more intentional in real life, especially when life is messy, distracting, and emotionally charged. If you want your ambitions, habits, and actions to finally line up, this book offers a realistic path forward.
Read SummaryKey Insights from Mark Reiter
Your environment shapes your behavior
We like to believe we are fully in charge of our actions, but much of what we do is a response to what surrounds us. Goldsmith’s central insight is that behavior does not happen in a vacuum. It is triggered by external conditions such as coworkers, family dynamics, smartphone notifications, deadline...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Awareness must become active, not passive
Knowing your weaknesses is not the same as managing them. Goldsmith makes a crucial distinction between passive awareness and active awareness. Passive awareness is what most of us have: we know we should be more patient, focused, disciplined, grateful, or present. We have read the books, heard the ...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Structure beats willpower in lasting change
People often treat self-improvement as a test of personal strength, but Goldsmith argues that behavior change is more reliably driven by structure than by motivation. Willpower is unstable. It rises when we are inspired and disappears when we are tired, stressed, bored, rushed, or emotionally floode...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Daily questions create honest accountability
Most people evaluate change with vague, flattering questions such as “Did I have a good day?” or “Am I trying my best?” Goldsmith proposes a far more effective tool: daily active questions. These questions focus not on results we cannot fully control, but on effort we can control. Instead of asking,...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Ambition often sabotages personal change
One of the book’s more surprising insights is that the qualities that drive external success can interfere with internal growth. Ambition, confidence, competitiveness, and a desire to win often help people rise in their careers. Yet those same traits can make them resistant to feedback, impatient wi...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
The future self requires present effort
We often imagine change as something that will begin once conditions improve: when work slows down, when stress decreases, when we have more energy, when life becomes simpler. Goldsmith challenges this fantasy directly. The person you want to become will not appear in a less chaotic future; that per...
From Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be
About Mark Reiter
Mark Reiter is a writer and literary agent who has collaborated with Goldsmith on several bestselling books.
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Mark Reiter is a writer and literary agent who has collaborated with Goldsmith on several bestselling books.
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