What makes a good self-help book?
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What makes a good self-help book?
So you’ll notice that I refer to modern therapeutic ideas like “cognitive distancing,” which is the ability to distinguish our thoughts from external reality, and “functional analysis,” which is evaluating the consequences of different courses of action.
Donald Robertson • How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius
look at what our mind is doing moment after moment—in a way that really isn’t so different from watching our thoughts come and go in meditation. The main difference is that psychoanalysis also asks, “Just where did you get that idea?” In an ongoing dialogue with the analyst we look at our personal history of hope and dread, how when we were growing
... See moreBarry Magid • Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide
there's something transformative about achieving a third-person perspective on the contents of your mind by externalizing them on paper. You know how it's often easy to see what someone else needs to do about their problems? Externalising your thoughts can trigger similar insights on your own behalf. And even when it doesn't, the shift in perspecti... See more
Oliver Burkeman • Three pages a day
THE TRIPOD OF REFLECTION: OPENNESS, OBSERVATION, OBJECTIVITY
Daniel J. Siegel • Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
remarkable transformation. Metacognition is for good reason often referred to as the forgotten secret to success. It is the skill that allows a student to recognize they’re unprepared for an exam and take corrective action, or an athlete like Eliud Kipchoge to understand the importance of not just how fast he’s running but also how his shoes feel d
... See more