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Book Club Review: The Chimp Paradox

Written by Donna Hicks.

chimparadoxEvery two months a bunch of 20 or so Network members get together to enjoy an informal, relaxed Kiwi style brunch, good coffee....and Book Club! – But not just any book club, we chew our way through development minded books which lead to laughs, honest sharing and some very lively discussions.

In December our book was The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steven Peters (full title -The Chimp Paradox, the Acclaimed Mind Management Programme to help you achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness). For a book on the brain it is refreshingly free of jargon and the Professor uses everyday language and examples to describe his approach which will help you:

  • Recognise how your mind is working
  • Understand and manage your emotions and thoughts
  • Manage yourself and become the person you would like to be

Have a look online for more detail:

https://thesecretdos.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/book-review-the-chimp-paradox/

The book introduces the concept of a Chimp, a Human, and a Computer (amongst other things) that run our day to day lives. Representing the limbic brain, our Chimps are super strong – and a lot of the time this causes us problems as we deal with situations from an emotional viewpoint which is geared to primal survival. The Human side represents the factual and thinking reactions, generally the reactions we want to have when dealing with people and situations. When our Chimp gets away from us, this can cause those feelings of regret and remorse that we all know. To quote one of our members ‘her Chimp is the size of King Kong’ – who wouldn’t want help with that?!

chimparadox2How were we challenged?

Many members found the book initially challenging to get into, but after the first 25% or so you have the basis of the programme and can really get into it (though if you ‘get it’ quickly some chapters can seem too long). Other areas that challenged us were the thought of having a Chimp in our heads (yipes!) and learning to spot when it was the Chimp making the decisions and not our Human. We also recognised a tendency to beat ourselves up after our Chimp had taken control.

What did we learn?

Lots! Some of the ways we felt we could make changes was by being kind to ourselves and others:

  • Making and taking ‘me’ time, recognising it was crucial to our Chimp and Human wellbeing.
  • Taking a pause and giving the human a chance to take control – yes, the classic count-to-10 still applies! 
  • Building in reflection time to our day, where as little as 5 minutes can make a difference.
  • Recognising that EVERYONE has a Chimp.
  • Managing our expectations –of others, of ourselves, of possible outcomes.

It was another sell-out event with members staying and chatting after the official finish of 12.00.

The next Book Club is scheduled for Sunday 21st February. If you haven’t been before, please get along - you can (partially or fully) read the book, listen to the audio or scour the internet...come along and enjoy a super easy way of growing yourself.

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About the Reviewer: Donna Hicks
http://donnahicks.arbonne.com
Arbonne International - Independent Consultant
0777 489 1187