Browsing the library shelves is such a luxury. It allows me to discover books that I never would have seen since I am very off-grid to typical book promotion. Sometimes I find something that really changes/ develops / improves my thinking, other times I won’t even finish the first chapter. And sometimes, I get through the book but…
Psychobabble is one of those examples of where I get through the book but I remain unmoved to change anything or even seek out more from the same author. Harsh but true.
Reading is the gateway to knowledge so I am careful but curious when selecting works. It can take many hours to turn all the pages and I really do not like wasting my time. I do give chances which is simply based on the hope that the author will pop out some gem I can explore, but this does not always work out in the author’s favour.
The good doctor really tried hard with Psychobabble. He tried to tear apart many ideas of pop-psychology. That was his aim. Even if the intention was to help people to not get sucked into bad science, it nevertheless lacked one thing.
As a coach, you never know what one thing will help someone. It is never what helps the majority, the average person, the common flaws… A coach is supposed to figure out what works for you. Whatever issue may exist, the solution needs to be unique.
Scientific studies give solutions based on percentage changes, measurable differences or results that can be replicated in a lab. But life is not a lab.
A coach is not a doctor. A solution needs to work for you. Just because it doesn’t work for anyone else does not make it less valid for you.
If you want to improve performance then be brave enough to figure out a solution which breaks the norm. It does not have to work for anyone else. Figure out that one thing that makes sense to you – even if it is a little crazy and no one else seems to understand. This needs only to be true for you.
The book quotes many “great thinkers” which also is not a great motivator for me either. Quotes can be hit or miss. The biggest miss was this…
How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather to his preservation. –> Machiavelli
I am all about values and what ought to be done. Being around those who do not respect my values has led to me moving countries (a few times) but I do not consider that a downfall. I have seen things that no one else will ever know. To have done things to preserve previous relations and status would have turned me into a very ugly person who breaks laws for money or causes harm to the most vulnerable. No podium is worth that. Ever.
Read this book if you want to spend some time challenging why your beliefs exist. Perhaps if you are just starting your journey into self-help it would be beneficial to see the covered topics. But if you have already figured out your rules, then your time is probably better spent on taking some action to prove what you believe to be true rather than defending against what science believes it can do in a therapy session.
Kelea Quinn 