The Chimp Paradox: The Acclaimed Mind Management Programme to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness

by Steve Peters

For example, suppose you see yourself as a very intelligent person whom everybody loves and the world as a place of fun and opportunity, then your Mindset means that it is likely that you will get up every morning feeling good and will look forward to new experiences. It also means that if you meet someone who doesn’t like you then you will probably think that something is wrong in their world and that when it comes right they will like you again. As you can imagine, this particular Mindset will probably be a great advantage to you most of the time and get you into difficulties only very occasionally. Certainly, it is very likely that you will be a happy person. Now let’s reverse the situation. Suppose you believe that you are not intelligent and that you have to try and hide this so that others won’t find out. You also believe that others are better than you and that they are usually trying to uncover your own inadequacies. Finally you believe that the world is a hostile place that you must survive each day. With this Mindset, it doesn’t take too much imagination to see how destructive this will be to you. You will not want to try anything new for fear of looking silly and being found out and confirmed as an idiot. You may be very cautious with other people, often resenting and finding fault with them, as you may feel they are patronising you.