Initial reaction: Oh, I have some very heavy negative emotional energies surrounding me at this moment, and they are directed quite firmly at this book. Suffice to say I will not stoop to express my discontent with caps locks of rage, but I have some choice words about this book. While I could say there are some sound principles surrounding behavioral change in this book, there's too much slush to wade through to get to the better ideas, and it's very hard to follow. Plus there were just things about this narrative that I did not appreciate at all, even found quite offensive. Hopefully I can expound upon this in the full review.
Full review:
Where do I begin to describe what is wrong with this book? I haven't felt so frustrated with a non-fiction read in quite some time, let alone a purported self-help book. I'm not going to say that the idea behind certain principles in this book aren't sound, but this is one contradictory, mangled mess. It's not very focused with its respective arguments at all, it was hard to follow, and I would argue the advice given isn't very helpful at all, particularly with respect to the examples the author gives.
Ken Lindner proposes that emotions can get in the way of living one's life to its fullest and "sabotage" opportunities and ability to live life to one's potential. There are some sound examples to this at first, such as the gentleman who can't control his anger at work and keeps falling into the same pattern in repeated context - so much that he has to settle for less than his respective performance abilities and can't hold the job he wants. Lindner also starts the narrative out with some sound proposals, that the book is talking mostly about emotions and the physiology of them, and that by dealing with the triggers that elicit those emotions, you can change/manage them. I could see that argument as well, and agree with that.
But then when we get into the actual steps process and the measure of thinking in these steps, I started to have numerous problems with the approach/suggestions/backing arguments made. The book actually became more ridiculous as it went on, and I have to wonder - what exactly happened here? Why did the author give the examples this way, does he not understand that a good chunk of this is offensive and inaccurate?
I was actually fine on the explanation of the PETS expansion (Personal Emotional Triggers) and how that was comprised of two factors: Your Gold and Your Truth. Your Gold is supposed to comprise of one's "mostly highly valued goals and dreams" while Your Truth is the "very personal vision of the life you most deeply want."
So then why, if this is somewhat of a positive reinforcement measure, is it followed by the author's personal example in an abstract negative fashion? For the record, people can't always help being critically sick or being in an accident or having to go to the hospital for one reason or another. There are life choices we can make to keep us healthy (eating right, exercising, etc.) But having a fear of hospitals as a PETS measure from the author's perspective didn't make sense to me. It's not a vision or a goal in a positive context. The positive context/life vision should be to stay healthy and assess ways of staying healthy, not "stay out of hospitals".
I can understand identifying fears in a given situation and identifying those fears that inspire one to change in a situation (which is what Lindner does later with some of his examples), but that seemed very different than the explanation given in the initial definition for PETS. So that put a warning to me on how this was going to be a rather contradictory read. Yet, I gave it a shot and decided to see what else the author had to say.
The more I read onward in "Your Killer Emotions" - the more I saw attempts to try to be meaningful, but instead coming across as a convoluted expansion on thinking or trying to control things that aren't necessarily in the control of the person in that situation. What was worse was the odd representation of Eastern/Western ideals and analogies that just didn't come together. Add the ever present CAPS LOCK that the AUTHOR employs to MAKE HIS POINT. (I'm only using that as an example of how annoying it can get in text, but it bears mentioning because it's peppered throughout the narrative in copious amounts where featured.)
Suffice to say, I wouldn't recommend this. There are better narratives on this subject with more thorough comparisons and even presentation than this.
Overall score: 1/5 stars
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Greenleaf Book Press.
Written by the founder of 鈥淟ife-Choice Psychology,鈥� Ken Lindner, this book is easy to read but requires a lot of introspection. As usual, I鈥檒l breakdown the key takeaways from the book, and then I鈥檒l discuss how the subject relates to and can be incorporated into service.
Key Points The following key principles are the foundation of this psychological theory:
Cognitive vs. Emotional: We make choices in two ways: using our conscious, intellectual abilities (cognitive), and using our urges and desires (emotional).
Emotions: No emotions are intrinsically 鈥済ood鈥� or 鈥渂ad.鈥� Rather, how we react to and express these emotions in our life choices is what really matters. Furthermore, if we are not conscious of the emotion and its associated expression in our lives, it is uncontrolled and can thus damage and sabotage our life.
Energy Charges: The 鈥渃harged up鈥� feeling that is released with emotions is what is known as an 鈥渆nergy charge.鈥� With practice and conscious effort, one can tap into their 鈥渆nergy charges鈥� and use them to empower one鈥檚 life choices.
Your Gold, Your Truth: Combined, these two things are what motivates people most to make positive life choices. They are what release one鈥檚 most powerful energy charges. More specifically, 鈥淵our Gold鈥� is comprised of one鈥檚 most highly valued goals and dreams. 鈥淵our Truth鈥� is the vision of the life one wants to lead, and who one most truly wants to become.
Personal Emotional Triggers = Your Gold, Your Truth. When one boils down their list of goals, dreams and their vision of an ideal life, these are known as Personal Emotional Triggers. PETs 鈥渟trike your deepest and most profound emotional, psychological and intellectual chords鈥� (p. 43). Used correctly, PETs can weaken and protect one against making destructive life choices that are driven by emotional urges. Lastly, PETs need not be only positive. Shame and guilt are also considered as strong and useful triggers.
How Book Relates to Service Community Member Application: In my Open Lab, I am constantly assisting community members who are either in crisis or near crisis. Their emotions are often all over the place 鈥� ranging from depressed to anxious. I see how these emotions impact their ability to learn and absorb the assistance I provide, and have come to realize that more than 70 percent of my job is to be an emotional stabilizer for these individuals. Therefore, I want to have a better toolkit to understand and assist people who are in emotional crisis, so that I can more quickly deliver the skills and knowledge they need to attain the job that will ease their stress.
Personal Application: Early last week, I came to work short on sleep and with a quick temper. My volunteer coordinator asked me to give her a schedule of the next three months of coverage for the Electronic Classroom. When I presented my 鈥渕asterpiece schedule鈥� to the coordinator, she immediately said it would not work, and that it needed to be organized weekly, not monthly. With my quick temper, I quickly reacted and said I could see no logic in this and would not be able to do as she said (granted, this is not my supervisor, and I was really completing this task for her out of goodwill). About 10 minutes later, I walked back into her office and apologized, acknowledged my lack of sleep and said I would happily re-organize the schedule (she also apologized, and noted that she had a rough morning). At this point, I realized that I had let my emotions get the best of me, and I knew I wanted to remedy this situation so that I would not react again in the future (with possible worse ramifications). I saw this book on the shelf and immediately started reading.
How Book Can Be Incorporated Into Service
Now, I am no psychologist, but I can see small elements of this psychology being implemented. For instance, when an individual walks into an Open Lab seeking a career, and they do not know what type of job they should apply for, I will start by attempting to identify the individual鈥檚 鈥淕old and Truth.鈥� I will ask: 鈥渨hat motivates you when you work?...what jobs drained you?...where do you see yourself working in 5, 10 years?鈥� By getting the individual thinking about their motivators, I can then better energize them as they sign up for an email account, create a resume and apply for jobs. And, hopefully, they will be on their way to a fulfilling, life-enhancing career.
UPDATE: As I was working with a community member today (June 6) on her resume, I could visibly see her shaking and exhausted from months of unsuccessfully applying and interviewing for jobs. Her self-esteem was shot. She said she was getting some interviews, but she recognized she was having great difficulty connecting with the interviewee and staying calm and composed. I turned a piece of paper over, wrote down "Top 5 Things I Want In My Life" and asked her to complete the list. When she was done, I told her that she needs to focus only on telling stories about her work that related to these five emotional triggers. Why? As soon as she talked about what she was passionate and emotionally connected to, I couldn't stop listening. I suspect the same will happen to anyone listening in her next interview. I've never before connected with a community member so deeply.
References Lindner, K. (2013). Your killer emotions : the 7 steps to mastering the toxic emotions, urges, and impulses that sabotage you. Austin, Tex: Greenleaf Book Group.
I started off really excited and liking the book, but it fell flat. I honestly feel like the catch phrases and jargon was a bit too much and took away from just giving genuine advice. It wasn鈥檛 awful, I definitely got a few things from it, but I probably wouldn鈥檛 suggest this book to anyone either.
Um...the author has trade-marked a great amount of his own methods and techniques. I think this is a psychotherapy thing to do. Most of his methods are just rehashing of ideas that already exist. This reads like a book written by a person who talks non-stop. Some great ideas but way too loquacious.
I have to admit it. Sometimes I let my emotions mar my judgement and make decisions that I otherwise wouldn't have. I've used emotions to achieve what I wanted in an abstract way and then felt guilty afterwords. Really, it's a viscous cycle. As I've grown older, I've realized those things about me and have done my best to sit back and take stock of the situation or to count to ten to get off of the emotion roller coaster There is always room for improvement.
Your Killer Emotions is a very useful tool to help master getting off of the emotion roller coaster and helping you succeed in various aspects of your life. Well-thought out with easy to understand writing, Lindner's seven steps not only help your emotions, but also your impulses and urges. I'm still a work in progress, but I've definitely seen improvement, not only in my own mental well being, but also in my life and those in it. I'd definitely recommend this self-help book to anyone wanting to improve themselves and their lives - take control of your emotions!
Another way to handle scripts and triggers to control negative emotions. Interesting part the one about the energy and the framing and visualizing system to have a better idea of the situation. Positive psychology + Cognitive Therapy + a little bit of PNL. Interesting easy self help book.
Un altro modo di gestire i copioni e le situazioni che ci portano a reagire pi霉 che ad agire. Interessante la parte riguardo la rilocalizzazione dell'energia e del sistema di framing (incorniciare) e visualizzazione che ti permette di avere un'idea migliore della situazione. Psicologia positiva+ terapia cognitiva + una spolverata di PNL. Libro di auto-aiuto facile ed interessante.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND GREENLEAF BOOK GROUP PRESS FOR THE PREVIEW
Now I'm not a huge fan of self help books so when I got this book to read I went forth not thinking I would enjoy it however it turned out to be a good read and as with all self help books it was written to help motivate and inspire you to take a look at your life.The book is broken up into three parts to make it easy to follow plus it had these little take away sections at the end of each chapter so if you got lost or didn't get something there was always these take away section to help you. Overall I found the book to be very educational and informative.
The formatting on my Kindle Fire was not as elegant as it might have been so that might have caused my distraction with the book. Plain vanilla formatting may not be exciting but taking the safe way might better.
What a waste of my money this book was. It was helpful in no way at all. Fortunately, I was able to release the anger that this book caused me by throwing it into the flames of an Autumn bonfire. And the moral of this story is, all shitty books go down in flames.