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Prof Steve Peters - The Chimp Paradox





Author: Prof Steve Peters


Title: The Chimp Paradox, the mind management programme for confidence, success, and happiness


Details: Vermilion, Random House Group, 2012, 346 pages



I started to read this book a couple of years ago; one of my colleagues recommended it to me. I found this book interesting, especially the elements around responding to situations according to our previous experiences and beliefs in life. I noticed a lot of time in the past that it can be pretty tricky to control our chimp.



Structure of the book

The book is structured around three main parts detailing different elements of self-exploration, situations in our daily life, and how to achieve success;

  • You inner mind explored

  • Day to day functioning

  • Your health, success, and happiness


Prof Peters is a psychiatrist and lecturer; he wrote this book for individuals to help understand how the mind works and how we can improve our responses in different areas in our lives. After reading this book, you have a better understanding of;

  1. How the mind works

  2. understand yourself and others better

  3. manage your emotions and thoughts

  4. improve the quality of your life

  5. become happier and more successful

  6. improve your confidence and self-esteem

  7. identify things which are holding you back


In the last part of the book, Prof Peters is talking about writing about different universes around us following us through the 'Journey';

  • You - The divided planet

  • Others - The planet of others

  • Communication - The planet connect

  • Your world - The planet of the real world

  • Health - The planet of shadows

  • Success - The planet of success

  • Happiness - The planet of happiness

The book details some scenarios from life, which most of us will experience and can relate to these easily. For me, the first part of the book was the most beneficial, to have a greater understanding of how emotional and rational decision making and reactions are interconnected and how we can regulate these.


My biggest takeaways from this book

The book gave me a good understanding of how emotions and pre-programmed beliefs can affect others' reactions. You need to be open to changes and take feedback and self-reflection as an important part of your development. Without these, it will be difficult to challenge your assumptions about people and situations.

Very important self-discovery is about how our emotional part of our brain interferes with our decision-making and how in certain situations, our rationality goes out of the window.


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