Stand Firm Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze [Hardcover]

The pace of modern life is accelerating. To keep up, we must keep on moving and adapting – constantly striving for greater happiness and success. Or so we are told. But the demands of life in the fast lane come at a price: stress, fatigue and depression are at an all-time high, while our social interactions have become increasingly self-serving and opportunistic.

How can we resist today's obsession with introspection and self-improvement? In this witty and bestselling book, Danish philosopher and psychologist Svend Brinkmann argues that we must not be afraid to reject the self-help mantra and 'stand firm'. The secret to a happier life lies not in finding your inner self but in coming to terms with yourself in order to coexist peacefully with others. By encouraging us to stand firm and get a foothold in life, this vibrant anti-self-help guide offers a compelling alternative to life coaching, positive thinking and the need always to say 'yes!'

Acknowledgements

Introduction
1. Cut out the navel-gazing
2. Focus on the negative in your life
3. Put on the No hat
4. Suppress your feelings
5. Sack your coach
6. Read a novel ? not a self-help book or biography
7. Dwell on the past

Notes Deliciously provocative stuff: a subversive manifesto for white-collar passive resistance and a diatribe against the booming industry that has grown up around career advice.
Financial Times

So rather than urging you to “think positive”, “listen to your feelings”, “trust your inner voice”, and other refrains of the self-help industry, Brinkmann advocates their opposite in seven steps, which include “Cut out the navel-gazing”; “Focus on the negative in your life&rdql£|