The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters

What if I tell you I have read one of the most important book of my life? What if I tell you I have read decades of self improvement books and many are full of waffling and rambling to make up the pages but you take away a few things that you think may help you but felt something is still missing? What if I tell you many of those self improvement books are treating the symptoms but NOT the root cause of behavioural and personality issues? and if we were to read a book on psychology it would prove to be too much of a text book to understand how it would apply to the layman like us?

Tagged with too many post-its, I can’t rave about it enough. I’m recommending that you read the book “The Chimp Paradox”.

The brain or our mind is the most powerful tool and asset that we have. We will our destiny and organise our lives using our brain. Within us there are many parts of the brain 🧠 , but in constant battle are the emotional brain (the Chimp) and the logical brain (the Human). At times we find ourselves hijacked by our emotion, sabotage our own happiness and success, feeling unmotivated, can’t be the person that we want to be etc etc. Instead of incessant writing, the book offers a framework to manage self, communication, relationship, health and happiness and well being. Sounds generic right? but it is the delivery of the book that makes the difference. The delivery of a difficult topic in such a simple way that makes this book make more sense than most books do.

The author Prof Steve Peters trained Gold medallist Olympians and Footballers to achieve the peak performance by effective mind management. Our Chimp, our emotion, is not our enemy, it is there for a purpose. The most profound of what it is said about the book is that we cannot control our emotion and we NEVER will. We just need to manage it because our emotional brain is 5 times stronger than our logical brain, willpower alone is not enough. Don’t try to control it, it will defeat you in the long run. Instead manage it.

In short, it is not about changing your behaviour or improving your personality, it is about managing your mind. As a person who pursue the truth and logic, understanding the root cause is a good place to start and the root cause of all evils is the mind.

If you find yourself surrounded by too many Chimps or want a sounding board to exercise or box your Chimp and need someone to support you in the quest to hold your life and everything together, besides God and faith, you will need mind management and you will need a friend to be accountable to and hear you out. Let me know if you want me to be that friend.

The book was recommended to me by my manager and project lead. I highly recommend it to you too. Illuminating read. 😍

Rating: 5/5 

Publisher: Vermilion; First Edition edition (5 Jan. 2012); Length: 352 pages; Setting: Non-fiction Source: Own copy. Finished reading on: 30th Nov 2018, Friday.

About the Author:

Prof Steve Peters is a consultant psychiatrist and has worked in the clinical field of psychiatry for over 20 years. He specialises in optimising the functioning of the mind and also holds degrees in mathematics and medicine. Prof Peters is Undergraduate Dean at Sheffield University Medical School and resident psychiatrist with Sky ProCycling. He is also the consultant psychiatrist for Liverpool FC and, from May 2014, for the England football team. Steven Gerrard, Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Victoria Pendleton and Craig Bellamy have all spoken publicly about how Prof Peters’ unique model has helped them improve their performance.

Outside of elite sport, Prof Peters works with CEOs, senior executives, students, hospital staff and patients, helping them to understand why they think and act as they do and how to manage their minds to optimise their performance at work and in their personal lives.