Tell me about Li Xiaolai's new book "The Half Second"

Finally finished reading!
I think this can serve as a reference for everyone who hopes to improve, wants to do well in investing, learn English well, and handle family relationships—it's a crucial operating system.
Those good at English can read the original directly, those not so good can use AI assistance for reading, and you'll definitely gain a lot!
In fact, a person's true self is not about thinking clearly and then saying who you are, but about what your body's automatic first reaction is within half a second after something happens.
For example, if your partner speaks in a bad tone, is your first reaction to fight back or to look at the other person?
If your child spills milk, is your first reaction to frown or to relax?
If an investment target suddenly drops, is your first reaction to analyze rationally whether to cut losses or to escape in panic?
This is the "window where the body begins to react before full rationality kicks in."
Teacher Li Xiaolai gives us a terrifying conclusion: this window, half a second, is the person's true operating system.
Most of the time, we think we live in rationality, but in fact, most of the time, we live in pre-installed reactions.
We are hijacked by our pre-installed reactions without realizing it.
So why is it so hard to fight our shortcomings with willpower? Because willpower comes half a second too late, and the nerves have already guided the body to act.
Willpower belongs to conscious awareness; conscious awareness involves thinking, evaluating, judging; but the first reaction of bad habits has already moved.
By the time you realize I shouldn't do this, your hand is already reaching for the phone, your mouth is ready to retaliate, and the trading button is about to be pressed.
So this book is about tracing back to tell us: how are these first reactions installed?
Of course, just presenting facts without solutions is like being a rogue, so Teacher Li Xiaolai provides a method that allows us to re-edit these reactions to better serve us.
The core skill here is called: self-talk.
1️⃣ Self-talk has a whole operating system,
The book proposes a working model called the frequency counter, which can be understood as the "brain's familiarity counter."
Its logic is simple: the brain's fast system does not always judge truth or falsehood; it often only judges whether something is familiar or not.
So Teacher Li Xiaolai mentions that since the brain can play like this, we can reinstall reactions through our own voice, which he has always emphasized—hijacking our own brain!
This is the true position of self-talk. Take back a mechanism that has been used by the outside world all along.
2️⃣ Change is the hub of identity;
Change is not about changing behavior but about changing the identity hub, which is also the core of the book, explaining why and how to do it.
Self-talk is not about constantly telling yourself positive things, but because the body doesn't know how to act, relying on the so-called mental victory methods,
It teaches us that first reactions have structure. A first reaction usually includes three things: identity, situation, action.
For example, Teacher Li Xiaolai mentions his smoking habit:
Identity: I am a smoker.
Situation: After meals, during writing breaks, when anxious, when friends offer cigarettes.
Action: Light one.
If you only change the action, it will be very tiring because you have to resist in countless situations: no smoking after meals, no smoking during writing, no smoking under stress, no smoking when friends offer.
There are too many situations, and you can't block them all.
But if you change your identity, for example, telling yourself: I am a person who never smokes, once this identity is installed, it will influence actions in many situations.
The book calls identity the hub, or the pivot. Editing your identity is more effective than fighting behaviors one by one.
3️⃣ The core of effective mantras is Action, not Mood
So you need to set up scripts for yourself, and Teacher Li Xiaolai mentions ARISE.
It includes five dimensions:
A: Action.
R: Reason.
I: Identity.
S: Situation.
E: Emotion, feelings.
So the core of the script is Action: actions that the body can perform, others can observe, and that can be triggered within half a second;
This is why:
It's better to take three deep breaths and then respond calmly than to just stay calm.
It's better to open the bill within 60 seconds than to feel anxious when it arrives.
It's better to refrain from impulsive trading than to act during price fluctuations for a whole day.
It's better to look into your child's eyes and respond when they speak than to just ignore.
So you see, the core is not giving commands to the brain about states, but giving clear action commands to the body.
Based on this, "I am not anxious" or "I stay calm" are wishes, not actions. We need to set actions for ourselves, not wishes.
For example, learning English, the real key is not to tell yourself every day "memorize more words," but to let English enter your self-dialogue system, telling your brain what kind of person you are—installing a small system that can fool your nerves.
You can talk to yourself:
I am a person who thinks in English because it is essential to my life, and I would be very happy to learn English well!
When I talk to myself, I say the next sentence in English. My own voice makes English familiar.
4️⃣ Say it out loud!
The most important thing is Teacher Li Xiaolai's point: you must say it out loud, not just think it in your mind.
You need to activate your muscles and speak these words loudly, which brings the "I want to change" idea from the conceptual level down to the physical level.
The core mechanism of this book is called frequency counter, which can be understood as the "brain's familiarity counter."
It doesn't always judge truth or falsehood but judges familiarity. The more you repeat, the more familiar it becomes; the more familiar, the easier it is to automatically pop up within half a second.
The purpose of speaking out loud is to make each repetition more "weighty."
Thinking in your mind might just be a light brush.
Saying it out loud is an overlay of semantics, actions, sounds, hearing, and identity.
It’s more like a high-quality count.
Just like when you scroll short videos, why do visuals, sounds, music, and subtitles together more effectively brainwash you? Because it’s not a single-channel stimulus but multi-channel stimulation.
Self-talk out loud is you actively stimulating yourself through multiple channels, reversing the process of brainwashing.