The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

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The Courage to be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

Published: May 8, 2018

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 288

Genres: psychology, philosophy, self help

Rating: 3 stars

Recommend to fans of: debates, learning about psychology and new ways of thinking, people looking to improve themselves

Read with food: nice cup of green tea to energize yet soothe us on our foray into learning

 

Synopsis: 

The Courage to Be Disliked, already an enormous bestseller in Asia with more than 3.5 million copies sold, demonstrates how to unlock the power within yourself to be the person you truly want to be.

Is happiness something you choose for yourself? The Courage to Be Disliked presents a simple and straightforward answer. Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of nineteenth-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, this book follows an illuminating dialogue between a philosopher and a young man. Over the course of five conversations, the philosopher helps his student to understand how each of us is able to determine the direction of our own life, free from the shackles of past traumas and the expectations of others.

Rich in wisdom, The Courage to Be Disliked will guide you through the concepts of self-forgiveness, self-care, and mind decluttering. It is a deeply liberating way of thinking, allowing you to develop the courage to change and ignore the limitations that you might be placing on yourself. This plainspoken and profoundly moving book unlocks the power within you to find lasting happiness and be the person you truly want to be. Millions have already benefited from its teachings, now you can too.

 

Review: 

I won this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you to Goodreads, the author and publisher for a copy of the book. As always, an honest review.

The entire book is centered around different conversations between an older philosopher and a young person, called youth. They discuss, in a back and forth debate style manner, elements of philosophy, happiness, psychology, and general aspects of life in the present day. It’s important to note that the book is based on Greek philosophy and the psychology of Freud and Adler. It’s not necessary to have previous knowledge of these concepts, but it certainly helps.

Overall the discussions had in the book make sense, but it doesn’t captivate me nor give me brand new life revelations. The biggest downfall was their discussions about trauma and abuse. The viewpoint is that trauma doesn’t exist as most people think. We use traumas as an excuse which is much different than most psychologists today believe. While your life is not determined by your past experiences, but rather how you choose to live. This aspect I agree with. However I didn’t like when the philosopher doesn’t take the effects of trauma and abuse seriously. It could be very harmful to someone who is vulnerable and takes the book word for word. The damage to one’s psyche could be enormous.

However, I enjoyed the back and forth debate even when I disagreed with either the philosopher or youth. The book definitely made me think. It had some absolutely spot on points, such as people who believe they’re the center of the universe. Also, I appreciated the reminder to focus on the present, not the past or future. We could all do this more.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the philosophical and psychological debates, even when I didn’t always agree with them. An interesting read, especially if you want to discuss the concepts further with other people.

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