A Self-Help Book for Skeptics
In addition to modern fiction, science fiction and historical fiction, my reading list is peppered with self-help and business books. Pro Tip: Reading these on a kindle makes it less embarrassing in public. I am completely aware of how formulaic they are and, often, how helpful they’re NOT. They tend to tap into a pretty obvious truth and promise easy solutions — all so that you don’t have to do much to solve your problems. The reading of the book might be salve enough.
That said, every once in a while, you come across a real gem. The genre (and I think of self-help and business as a combined genre of existence improvement) does have the capacity to combine insight with some practical or psychological strategies. I am a shameless promoter of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.†Anyone who makes fun of it, hasn’t read it. I think the self-congratulatory term “Highly Effective People†is really unfortunate. If it was called “7 Ways You Can Be A Better Person,†it’d probably get less flack.
Anyway, I recently finished “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking†by Oliver Burkeman, and I think it has a place in the small pantheon of self-help I can get behind. Burkeman takes a hard look at the positivity industry and digs deeply into the philosophical roots of embracing negative or neutral thinking. Despite it’s snarky title, it isn’t overwhelmingly sarcastic. He’s a journalist, so it feels more like a very long magazine article. He infiltrates a positive thinking seminar, goes to a silent zen retreat, explores the philosophy of the stoics, and even interviews Eckhart Tolle!?
One of the key takeaways for me is that the more we try to solve for uncertainty, the more anxiety we create.
领英推è
Accepting that life is, by nature, messy and unresolved can paradoxically create more peace.
It’s all delivered very articulately in a way that makes you feel like you’re having a glass of wine with a fascinating acquaintance in a nice hotel. One of my few complaints about it is that he casts shade on "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." Ha ha. Check it out here at Amazon or snag it from your local library.
CSO at Nonfiction Research
3 年LEAVE COVEY ALONE BURKEMAN. I just listened to him talk about his OTHER book on time on this podcast. It also put me at existential ease. At some point he was like: “what makes life miserable is the mistaken belief that it can be cured.†But, I didn’t realize the Oliver I was listening to was the Oliver that wrote this book until now! Will 100% buy because I still, mistakenly, believe it will cure me. Miss you!
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3 å¹´I like that title.