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Mentalligence: A New Psychology of Thinking--Learn What It Takes to be More Agile, Mindful, and Connected in Today's World
One of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves is rethinking what we've been taught, because thoughts become behaviors. The same mind that gets us stuck is the same one that can set us free. It's time to rip up the script society hands us, breathe deep, and reclaim a healthy definition of success that doesn't compartmentalize your mind, body and soul. We need a new organizing framework that allows more flexibility and moral grounding--one that lets science, emotion and spirit to fuse.
Too often, life's disorienting moments can leave us tumbling into messy, downward spirals. We lose clarity, and are held hostage by blind spots that keep us from thriving. We fall into common mindless behavioral traps which lead to perpetual patterns of shutting down, numbing out, binding up and staying stuck. In this uniquely liberating book, Dr. Kristen Lee teaches us how to apply a process of behavioral change using a series of different lenses, to steer our brains to overcome blind spots and cultivate Upward Spiral habits.
A leading expert on resilience and behavioral science, Dr. Kristen Lee developed this new psychology of thinking model from over twenty years of clinical practice, the latest neuroscience, and her own research findings. Mentalligence [men-tel-i-juh-ns] is a sage guide that will help you build meta-awareness by emphasizing an impact-driven rather than a performance-obsessed mindset, and adopt a model of 'collective efficacy' that is less I-focused and more we-focused, to facilitate positive social impact at a time when it's desperately needed. This is what psychologists call 'The Good Life'--living mindfully and consciously. Rather than falling for predominant definitions of 'success' that leave us boxed in, depleted, and oblivious to ways we can work together, Mentalligence helps us find the thinking and behavioral agility to work towards better outcomes for all.
Too often, life's disorienting moments can leave us tumbling into messy, downward spirals. We lose clarity, and are held hostage by blind spots that keep us from thriving. We fall into common mindless behavioral traps which lead to perpetual patterns of shutting down, numbing out, binding up and staying stuck. In this uniquely liberating book, Dr. Kristen Lee teaches us how to apply a process of behavioral change using a series of different lenses, to steer our brains to overcome blind spots and cultivate Upward Spiral habits.
A leading expert on resilience and behavioral science, Dr. Kristen Lee developed this new psychology of thinking model from over twenty years of clinical practice, the latest neuroscience, and her own research findings. Mentalligence [men-tel-i-juh-ns] is a sage guide that will help you build meta-awareness by emphasizing an impact-driven rather than a performance-obsessed mindset, and adopt a model of 'collective efficacy' that is less I-focused and more we-focused, to facilitate positive social impact at a time when it's desperately needed. This is what psychologists call 'The Good Life'--living mindfully and consciously. Rather than falling for predominant definitions of 'success' that leave us boxed in, depleted, and oblivious to ways we can work together, Mentalligence helps us find the thinking and behavioral agility to work towards better outcomes for all.
- GenresNonfictionPsychology
264 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2018
18 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Kristen Lee
3 books20 followersDr. Kristen Lee, Ed.D., LICSW, known as “Dr. Kris” is a recovering perfectionist, proud Mama, and an internationally recognized, award-winning author, clinician, researcher, educator, speaker and activist with over twenty years of experience. As Lead Faculty for Behavioral Science at Northeastern University in Boston, her research and teaching interests include individual and organizational well-being and resilience, particularly for marginalized and underserved populations. She is author of Reset: Make the Most of Your Stress, Winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Motivational Book of 2015, and Mentalligence: A New Psychology of Thinking. She is a regular contributor for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today and her work has been featured on NPR and CPS radio.
Her signature ability to engage with a diverse range of audiences has led her to be invited to speak nationally and internationally to students, educators, health and mental health professionals, business leaders and general audiences. Some of the venues she speaks at include Harvard University, Virgin Pulse, and Johnson & Johnson. In her spare time, she can be found out on the running trails, attempting tricky yoga poses, eating peanut butter cups and drinking kale juice—but not all at once.
Her signature ability to engage with a diverse range of audiences has led her to be invited to speak nationally and internationally to students, educators, health and mental health professionals, business leaders and general audiences. Some of the venues she speaks at include Harvard University, Virgin Pulse, and Johnson & Johnson. In her spare time, she can be found out on the running trails, attempting tricky yoga poses, eating peanut butter cups and drinking kale juice—but not all at once.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 17, 2019
I can't help thinking it's a bit terrible. Not in a terrific way but plain terrible.
Seriously, all this Mentalligence contains ideas ranging between slightly deranged, such as:
Q:
Don't get lost in the aisles
In-thrust
Popping bubbles
Find your Imagineering lens
Inclusion thinking
Fusion thinking
Integration thinking
Sustainability thinking
Coming out of corners
Widen your sandbox
Don’t Let Principles Stand in the Way of Outcomes
Form Brigades
Discovering the Human Museum
Visit the Human Museum
Dream bigger
Find New Gateways
Deconstruct the Binary
Get Off the Guillotine
Find Your Global Lens
Find Your Mindful Lens
Embrace Your Periphery
Waiting for Marshmallows
Unfriending Chicken Little
Embracing Your Spiral
Spiral up
Tune In to Identify Storm Approaches
Know the Science and Roots Behind Mass Hysteria
Rescue Your Brain from the Frying Pan
Move Beyond WEIRD (c)
... and usual stuff written about everywhere and used in pretty much all standard trainings:
Q:
Changing Directions
Know the Science and Roots Behind the Good Life
Feel and Heal
Rethinking Work
Move from Deficits to Strengths
Recognize Your Strengths
Become a Forever Learner (c)
There's a lot of gender stuff, which, frankly, is a done thing. A lot of binary-ing and un-binary-ing and 'real carrot/women/men' who would urgently need to stop being 'real' or stop giving a damn about being so or whatever. It's all damn tedious preaching to the choir. Do we really need to advertise inclusivity at this length?
Q:
I broke the class into pairs to visit a variation of Martin Rochilin’s original heterosexual questionnaire, with questions like,
What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
When and how did you first decide you were heterosexual?
Why do you flaunt your heterosexuality? Can’t you just be you and keep it quiet?
Why are heterosexual people so promiscuous?
The great majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers? (c) I understand what she's aiming at but frankly, this angle is just as distasteful in hetero- variant as in the homosexual one. People just shouldn't play with that.
I think there are some redeeming qualities to it all, like originality and freshness and friskiness. Still, I can't help thinking that it's very unhelpful. On each page I read a lot of ideas that are brash and innovative but are not exactly sane. For example:
Q:
Critical thinking helps us tame our bite reflexes and move beyond impulses to believe what we want to believe. The discipline it gives us is worth it. (c) Critical thinking does not necessarily give discipline. These are different things.
Q:
Understanding essential intellectual values helps us move away from egocentric thinking and tune in to becoming less self-serving, or being bamboozled by Chicken Littles, wizards, and demagogues. (c) Essential intellectual values? Ever met them?
Q:
Critical thinking is truly essential to get us to the good life—and not destroying the center. (c) There are perfectly many people who live good lives without much or even any critical thinking, quite frankly.
Q:
When we stop listening to town criers and take the opportunity to listen to varied voices, it can help undo a fear-based, sky-is-falling indoctrination that prevents us from critical thinking. (c) Seriously? I thought it's bad thinking practice that prevents people from critical thinking and not 'town criers', whoever those might be.
Q:
There’s much more cause for solidarity—a sense of unity around a common cause. Imagine what would unfold if we made our mission to get to the good life together? (c) No need to imagine. Just look at the USSR history. That's precisely the mission they failed at.
Q:
Appreciation for one another is the very last thing that dominators want. They want us to judge and not look twice. They do everything they can to keep us from ever setting foot in the human museum. They want to keep us in our place, in a human prison where we are blind to our shared humanity, and instead fight over skin color, political views, religious affiliations, whom we love, or where we live—the kind of hell where there’s no time for holding each other up. “You don’t deserve that position. Or to love who you love . . . or your own bathroom. Who cares if you have equal pay or equal rights?”
They vandalize our souls, smearing venom all over our human art collection. ...
To keep us from seeing each other’s essence, dominators play favorites. They need to keep some of us on their side. Like dysfunctional favoritism within families, societal favoritism is destructive. The favored can be used easily as pawns to fight back against those who haven’t been granted special favors; it’s a natural tendency to want to keep it that way.(c) One could replace 'dominators' with 'reptiloid' and it would be a conspiracy theory. And... 'human art collection'?
Q:
Theories of deserving don’t add up. Over half of wealth is inherited. Who’s your daddy? matters. (c) Yes it does. That's capitalism. And it's better than most of the alternatives.
Q:
We keep our swords drawn, instead of confronting the real giants we all face: unchallenged leaders, uncritical thinking, and unjust systems.
In the same way that intersectionality helps us understand overlapping identities, it can help us see that while we may not relate to being on the outs in one way, we are likely to find ourselves so in other areas. (c) This feels like a lot of words, connected only very loosely.
AND so on and on and on. There are tons of ideas that aren't really well thought out. I'm sorry but this is the case where behind the flashy language (and it's really memorable and nicely metaphorical in places) and all the catchphrases hides an almost total lack of really deep thought. Using the author's terminology, while reading this, I really wanted to 'save my brain from this frying pan'.
I might come back and yet find redeeming features. Or not.
Seriously, all this Mentalligence contains ideas ranging between slightly deranged, such as:
Q:
Don't get lost in the aisles
In-thrust
Popping bubbles
Find your Imagineering lens
Inclusion thinking
Fusion thinking
Integration thinking
Sustainability thinking
Coming out of corners
Widen your sandbox
Don’t Let Principles Stand in the Way of Outcomes
Form Brigades
Discovering the Human Museum
Visit the Human Museum
Dream bigger
Find New Gateways
Deconstruct the Binary
Get Off the Guillotine
Find Your Global Lens
Find Your Mindful Lens
Embrace Your Periphery
Waiting for Marshmallows
Unfriending Chicken Little
Embracing Your Spiral
Spiral up
Tune In to Identify Storm Approaches
Know the Science and Roots Behind Mass Hysteria
Rescue Your Brain from the Frying Pan
Move Beyond WEIRD (c)
... and usual stuff written about everywhere and used in pretty much all standard trainings:
Q:
Changing Directions
Know the Science and Roots Behind the Good Life
Feel and Heal
Rethinking Work
Move from Deficits to Strengths
Recognize Your Strengths
Become a Forever Learner (c)
There's a lot of gender stuff, which, frankly, is a done thing. A lot of binary-ing and un-binary-ing and 'real carrot/women/men' who would urgently need to stop being 'real' or stop giving a damn about being so or whatever. It's all damn tedious preaching to the choir. Do we really need to advertise inclusivity at this length?
Q:
I broke the class into pairs to visit a variation of Martin Rochilin’s original heterosexual questionnaire, with questions like,
What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
When and how did you first decide you were heterosexual?
Why do you flaunt your heterosexuality? Can’t you just be you and keep it quiet?
Why are heterosexual people so promiscuous?
The great majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers? (c) I understand what she's aiming at but frankly, this angle is just as distasteful in hetero- variant as in the homosexual one. People just shouldn't play with that.
I think there are some redeeming qualities to it all, like originality and freshness and friskiness. Still, I can't help thinking that it's very unhelpful. On each page I read a lot of ideas that are brash and innovative but are not exactly sane. For example:
Q:
Critical thinking helps us tame our bite reflexes and move beyond impulses to believe what we want to believe. The discipline it gives us is worth it. (c) Critical thinking does not necessarily give discipline. These are different things.
Q:
Understanding essential intellectual values helps us move away from egocentric thinking and tune in to becoming less self-serving, or being bamboozled by Chicken Littles, wizards, and demagogues. (c) Essential intellectual values? Ever met them?
Q:
Critical thinking is truly essential to get us to the good life—and not destroying the center. (c) There are perfectly many people who live good lives without much or even any critical thinking, quite frankly.
Q:
When we stop listening to town criers and take the opportunity to listen to varied voices, it can help undo a fear-based, sky-is-falling indoctrination that prevents us from critical thinking. (c) Seriously? I thought it's bad thinking practice that prevents people from critical thinking and not 'town criers', whoever those might be.
Q:
There’s much more cause for solidarity—a sense of unity around a common cause. Imagine what would unfold if we made our mission to get to the good life together? (c) No need to imagine. Just look at the USSR history. That's precisely the mission they failed at.
Q:
Appreciation for one another is the very last thing that dominators want. They want us to judge and not look twice. They do everything they can to keep us from ever setting foot in the human museum. They want to keep us in our place, in a human prison where we are blind to our shared humanity, and instead fight over skin color, political views, religious affiliations, whom we love, or where we live—the kind of hell where there’s no time for holding each other up. “You don’t deserve that position. Or to love who you love . . . or your own bathroom. Who cares if you have equal pay or equal rights?”
They vandalize our souls, smearing venom all over our human art collection. ...
To keep us from seeing each other’s essence, dominators play favorites. They need to keep some of us on their side. Like dysfunctional favoritism within families, societal favoritism is destructive. The favored can be used easily as pawns to fight back against those who haven’t been granted special favors; it’s a natural tendency to want to keep it that way.(c) One could replace 'dominators' with 'reptiloid' and it would be a conspiracy theory. And... 'human art collection'?
Q:
Theories of deserving don’t add up. Over half of wealth is inherited. Who’s your daddy? matters. (c) Yes it does. That's capitalism. And it's better than most of the alternatives.
Q:
We keep our swords drawn, instead of confronting the real giants we all face: unchallenged leaders, uncritical thinking, and unjust systems.
In the same way that intersectionality helps us understand overlapping identities, it can help us see that while we may not relate to being on the outs in one way, we are likely to find ourselves so in other areas. (c) This feels like a lot of words, connected only very loosely.
AND so on and on and on. There are tons of ideas that aren't really well thought out. I'm sorry but this is the case where behind the flashy language (and it's really memorable and nicely metaphorical in places) and all the catchphrases hides an almost total lack of really deep thought. Using the author's terminology, while reading this, I really wanted to 'save my brain from this frying pan'.
I might come back and yet find redeeming features. Or not.
June 3, 2018
Mentalligence by Kristen Lee took me a little by surprise. I used to read a lot of so-called self-help books and began to see that the vast majority were just hot air carrying weak ideas. The kernel of truth in each was usually ruined by the hyperbole of turning it into a cure-all that would make things right. Now when I choose to read such a book I am only looking for that kernel and let the rest float away. This book, however, offers ideas and suggestions, based on research and facts, with the acknowledgement that there is no one-size-fits-all remedy for making ourselves and our world better. That alone earned initial buy-in from me.
If you read anyone who claims there is some anti-religion element here, ignore them, they are likely reacting based on their own instability in relation to religion. What Mentalligence does is offer ideas and actions that are compatible with any world view whether theologically based or not. If your view is more religion based, as in a specific doctrine that excludes some or all others, then you may take issue with the inclusiveness of this work, as well as the theological foundations of your own "religion." This is not anti-religion and it is a gross misunderstanding to read it as such.
One of the strengths of this book is the manner in which our personal well-being is not presented in some kind of vacuum separate from the environment in which we live. We can and should work on ourselves but we also have to understand both what our environment has contributed to our lives and what we need to do to affect change in our environment. Working together with people, making change that benefits all and not just a select few, no matter how those few are determined. If more people in the world are more content, the world pretty much by definition will be a better place for all. If your sense of well-being hinges on another's pain or unhappiness then you may not be aware of how much better your own well-being could be.
I expect to work my way through the book again, I know that I have areas where I am not fully onboard and want to make sure that any such decision is well considered. In other words, this book has given me enough in the way of positive ideas and approaches that I want to give myself every opportunity to gain as much as I feel I can use.
I would recommend this to everyone. Yeah, a bit of a broad recommendation but one I think is warranted. It is hard for me to imagine that there isn't something here for even the most resistant person and I believe that if approached with an open mind it can positively impact every reader and, by extension, the world in which we all live.
Reviewed from a copy made available via LibraryThing.
If you read anyone who claims there is some anti-religion element here, ignore them, they are likely reacting based on their own instability in relation to religion. What Mentalligence does is offer ideas and actions that are compatible with any world view whether theologically based or not. If your view is more religion based, as in a specific doctrine that excludes some or all others, then you may take issue with the inclusiveness of this work, as well as the theological foundations of your own "religion." This is not anti-religion and it is a gross misunderstanding to read it as such.
One of the strengths of this book is the manner in which our personal well-being is not presented in some kind of vacuum separate from the environment in which we live. We can and should work on ourselves but we also have to understand both what our environment has contributed to our lives and what we need to do to affect change in our environment. Working together with people, making change that benefits all and not just a select few, no matter how those few are determined. If more people in the world are more content, the world pretty much by definition will be a better place for all. If your sense of well-being hinges on another's pain or unhappiness then you may not be aware of how much better your own well-being could be.
I expect to work my way through the book again, I know that I have areas where I am not fully onboard and want to make sure that any such decision is well considered. In other words, this book has given me enough in the way of positive ideas and approaches that I want to give myself every opportunity to gain as much as I feel I can use.
I would recommend this to everyone. Yeah, a bit of a broad recommendation but one I think is warranted. It is hard for me to imagine that there isn't something here for even the most resistant person and I believe that if approached with an open mind it can positively impact every reader and, by extension, the world in which we all live.
Reviewed from a copy made available via LibraryThing.
March 8, 2018
If Mentalligence had stopped at page 150, it would have rated all five stars. Up to that point, we were thinking that the book expressed all that is wrong with the world of psychology and all the other sciences that deal with how we act and interact with others around us.
However, when the author takes us into Part 3, we are hit with a completely different feeling. It is almost as if there were two different authors writing the book.
In part 3, the author begins to speak with a different tone and seems to have a very liberal agenda. We understand that the author questions the religion she was brought up on, most academics do. However, she seems bent to speak out on all religions and most philosophies that don’t fit into the mold she has set in her studies of Mentalligence.
After a while, she does seem to climb down off her anti-religion soap box and get back to science. However, she does revisit this from time-to-time, just in case we readers missed it.
Overall, we give Mentalligence three stars. The book would have done great without the philosophical attack on just about every belief system out there. The author is entitled to her opinion. However, like many college professors out there, she doesn’t seem to be satisfied with simply stating her disregard of religion. The feel is that the author speaks tolerance of every mindset out there provided it doesn’t involve religion, straight, or pro-life thought. The reader is left to ask, “Is there really something wrong with me because I believe in a supernatural Being, am attracted to the opposite sex, and/or am pro-life?
The world we live in now seems to preach tolerance for everything and everyone provided they think as we do and act as we do. The author has a problem with that when it was preached to her as a youth, but does not seem to realize she is doing the same thing, only in the opposite direction.
We were sent a complimentary copy of this book. We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.
We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.
However, when the author takes us into Part 3, we are hit with a completely different feeling. It is almost as if there were two different authors writing the book.
In part 3, the author begins to speak with a different tone and seems to have a very liberal agenda. We understand that the author questions the religion she was brought up on, most academics do. However, she seems bent to speak out on all religions and most philosophies that don’t fit into the mold she has set in her studies of Mentalligence.
After a while, she does seem to climb down off her anti-religion soap box and get back to science. However, she does revisit this from time-to-time, just in case we readers missed it.
Overall, we give Mentalligence three stars. The book would have done great without the philosophical attack on just about every belief system out there. The author is entitled to her opinion. However, like many college professors out there, she doesn’t seem to be satisfied with simply stating her disregard of religion. The feel is that the author speaks tolerance of every mindset out there provided it doesn’t involve religion, straight, or pro-life thought. The reader is left to ask, “Is there really something wrong with me because I believe in a supernatural Being, am attracted to the opposite sex, and/or am pro-life?
The world we live in now seems to preach tolerance for everything and everyone provided they think as we do and act as we do. The author has a problem with that when it was preached to her as a youth, but does not seem to realize she is doing the same thing, only in the opposite direction.
We were sent a complimentary copy of this book. We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.
We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.
February 22, 2018
Mentalligence is not an easy read, but it is an important one if you wish to get yourself unstuck from buying into the societal "shoulds" that abound, making us feel that we're not good enough, can't do enough, like the proverbial gerbil running on a wheel to nowhere anywhere CLOSE to happy and fulfilled.
Kristen Lee tells us clearly that we have to work hard to unlearn most of what we have taken as truth since birth. This is a very interactive book. Lee breaks her chapters into eighteen sessions, explaining the purpose of what we are about to do, and then giving worksheet assignments. And lest you think that you are working on yourself only to make yourself happier, Lee reminds us that "What's the point of having personal success if it's not doing any good for anyone else?" "It's kinda not really about you. It's more than that."
Some snippets of things discussed include:
- just as a downward spiral can get out of control, an upward spiral will lead to more good.
- focus on the positive, on strengths not weaknesses
- be open to your feelings and deal with them, don't bury them. If you do, they'll just keep you "stuck" and unable to move on.
- be solution focused rather than problem focused
- abandon the once and done mode of thought. Focus on agility and resilience
- embrace ambiguity
- just because things around you are unstable doesn't mean you are
- focus on the potential for progress
- focus on the ripple effect of making positive changes in your life
- move from groupthink to universal thinking
- move from bias to solidarity; from polarized thinking to common ground thinking.
Yes, you may say you have heard and read alot of this before; but the worksheets force you to assess yourself honestly, and Lee provides practical information to help you move forward.
Certainly, she provides much food for thought.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HCI Books for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Kristen Lee tells us clearly that we have to work hard to unlearn most of what we have taken as truth since birth. This is a very interactive book. Lee breaks her chapters into eighteen sessions, explaining the purpose of what we are about to do, and then giving worksheet assignments. And lest you think that you are working on yourself only to make yourself happier, Lee reminds us that "What's the point of having personal success if it's not doing any good for anyone else?" "It's kinda not really about you. It's more than that."
Some snippets of things discussed include:
- just as a downward spiral can get out of control, an upward spiral will lead to more good.
- focus on the positive, on strengths not weaknesses
- be open to your feelings and deal with them, don't bury them. If you do, they'll just keep you "stuck" and unable to move on.
- be solution focused rather than problem focused
- abandon the once and done mode of thought. Focus on agility and resilience
- embrace ambiguity
- just because things around you are unstable doesn't mean you are
- focus on the potential for progress
- focus on the ripple effect of making positive changes in your life
- move from groupthink to universal thinking
- move from bias to solidarity; from polarized thinking to common ground thinking.
Yes, you may say you have heard and read alot of this before; but the worksheets force you to assess yourself honestly, and Lee provides practical information to help you move forward.
Certainly, she provides much food for thought.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HCI Books for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 15, 2018
Overall this was an excellent book. It wasn’t an easy read because it is filled with thought provoking material some of which is a bit dry or difficult because it deals with unlearning (which is never easy). However, this book has a lot of bang for your buck and if applied to your life you will definitely see a difference in your overall outlook.
What I absolutely loved about the book is that while some of the concepts may not seem revolutionary Kristen Lee helps the reader take these concepts to a new level of understanding through the worksheets. It is extremely easy to have an abstract overall understanding of a concept and see how it applies to your life but then not feel any concrete results in your life as a result. If you work through the exercises you will get more of the actual concrete application in your life and actually feel more of the results of that concept.
What I was not as fond of was the amount of time spent on debunking religious thought. I understand addressing the issue of religion and the world lens that causes a person to have, however that section felt unfair to me.
Overall it is a fantastic book and well worth the read. I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What I absolutely loved about the book is that while some of the concepts may not seem revolutionary Kristen Lee helps the reader take these concepts to a new level of understanding through the worksheets. It is extremely easy to have an abstract overall understanding of a concept and see how it applies to your life but then not feel any concrete results in your life as a result. If you work through the exercises you will get more of the actual concrete application in your life and actually feel more of the results of that concept.
What I was not as fond of was the amount of time spent on debunking religious thought. I understand addressing the issue of religion and the world lens that causes a person to have, however that section felt unfair to me.
Overall it is a fantastic book and well worth the read. I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 13, 2020
It seems almost a waste of time to even write a review for this book. Shallow. Under-researched (or maybe just written slothfully). “Workbook-from-middle-school-esque” (new term?).
“Positive thinking” is such a generic and well-accepted truth (though not well-practiced, by any means) of today’s society, that Lee did not need to write this book. For it to hold any value, she needed to go deeper.
All in all, seems Lee could have spent a bit more time on it. If this is the very first psychology book you’ve encountered, you may enjoy it, but it is nothing more than surface-level.
“Positive thinking” is such a generic and well-accepted truth (though not well-practiced, by any means) of today’s society, that Lee did not need to write this book. For it to hold any value, she needed to go deeper.
All in all, seems Lee could have spent a bit more time on it. If this is the very first psychology book you’ve encountered, you may enjoy it, but it is nothing more than surface-level.
February 16, 2018
This book is a tough read but worth investing the time and energy to get through it -- and apply the practices in it to increase your mentalligence.
The book is built-up like sessions with your psychiatrist (even though I've had never such a session I feel like it) with exercises first for un-learning things which are wrong but we learned them in the school, from our surroundings -- and then learn the new way, the new things which can make us better.
As I see, the state-of-the-art thinking is ZEN-like. Being present is mentioned in the books I come across. This is not bad, I think nowadays we need to be present more in our whole life. There are a lot of distractions starting with our intelligent watches.
The book is built-up like sessions with your psychiatrist (even though I've had never such a session I feel like it) with exercises first for un-learning things which are wrong but we learned them in the school, from our surroundings -- and then learn the new way, the new things which can make us better.
As I see, the state-of-the-art thinking is ZEN-like. Being present is mentioned in the books I come across. This is not bad, I think nowadays we need to be present more in our whole life. There are a lot of distractions starting with our intelligent watches.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews