This is such a fun and different self-help book. I enjoyed the style and the author's acknowledgement of how negativity ruins lives, but that it doesn't mean it has to be who we are. We all have the capacity to be a jerk, but we don't have to give in to that if we don't want to. I definitely enjoyed the way things were framed from the outset by showing how it is negative emotions and thoughts that embedd themselves in our lives and turn us into our worst selves, and how that has a spill-over effect on others, too; but that it doesn't mean we can't change things around. Just as we have the capacity to be jerks and live our worst lives, we also all have the capacity for kindness, to both others and ourselves, and to become our best selves. This guide beautifully shows us we do, indeed, have a choice and we can keep on staying where we are or intentionally creating something we would love.
While at first, this book provides information I've known for a while, as self-help is one area of non-fiction I do read a lot in, there was a really pleasant surprise for me about two thirds of the way through this book. I have been impacted deeply by something I didn't know before reading this book and I would like to thank the author for providing some pretty incredible tools for personal transformation. I knew about positive affirmations and have used those before to greater and lesser effect, because as Mitlyng points out, using affirmations in the form of sentences allows our rational mind to respond with all the negativity and lack of self-belief most of us suffer from. My negative self talk has very definitely impaired the positive impact using affirmations has in my life. However, I can already tell after only a few hours that this new technique to override the rational brain by only throwing concepts at it instead of sentences definitely works. I feel lighter and more in tune with the harmonies of the universe. So, thank you, Alyn Mitlyng for introducing me to switchwords.
If you have been working on your personal development for some time, this book makes for a fantastic refresher course and there are a few things thrown in that may be new to you, so I can definitely recommend it. If you feel like you're stuck or that everyone treats you badly and you've developed a thick, prickly skin to give a cactus a run for its money, I highly recommend this one for you. The cactus life is not a nice one and it's not necessary. This book definitely provides some pretty incredible tools, framed in a way to open up thinking so that you can instead take flight and really become who you have the potential to be.
Excellent stuff!
