Book Review - A User's Manual for the Human Experience by Michael W. Dean
Category Book Review Michael W. Dean A User's Manual for the Human Experience
Most of the personal improvement/personal productivity books I read tend to be tightly edited how-to manuals that answer all the questions, even if nobody ever really asked them in the first place. All well and good, but you wonder how (or even if) the advice has ever been used in the real world. And then you have A User's Manual for the Human Experience by Michael W. Dean. Raw, practical, real-life, and you get it as he puts it out there.
Contents:
Greetings, Eager Seeker; New Year's Resolutions Don't Work; The Only Two Rules In Life; Practical Emotional Self-Defense; Your Rights End at My Nose; From Netiquette to Restraining Orders; No-Contact Strategy; A Resentment and a Coffee Pot; Twelve Steps? How About Two Steps!; Hardcore Recovery Without Meetings; You Have The Right to be Left Alone; Stop Being A Victim; Work Smarter; Time Management for Calm and Profit; Make a Living Doing What You Love; Organization Building; Letter to a Young Me; Recommended Reading, Viewing, and Surfing
Dean's been through more than most of us would experience in a couple of lifetimes when it comes to self-destructive behavior. Rock bands, drugs, alcohol, sex, and dead before 30... that pretty much sums up his existence prior to getting things turned around. Add in losing a daughter to cancer, and you're not talking about a storybook life. Once he started to figure out which end was up, he started to live his life by some simple rules that make sense for anyone. Actually, only two... Do not initiate or accept force, and keep your word. Amazing how much can be covered in those two rules. And force isn't just physical... it can be the "serenity vampires" who are simply out there to draw you into conflict and make your life miserable. If you block those people in your life (not accepting force), you can end up with a far happier existence, free of the daily drains that others put on you.
If the Two Rules were the only thing in the book, it'd be worth the read. But since you're getting everything that Dean wants to share with you, there's quite a bit more. If you're more into wanting to bypass the emotional stuff and move to "make me more productive" material, jump over to the part starting with Work Smarter. It's there that you start to get a number of practical tips on changing your habits to accomplish more with far less stress. Topics such as goal management, not resting on your past, and analyzing the "hiya Joes" will have you rethinking some of the ways you approach your work. Even internalizing his view "do everything as if you'll be remembered for *only that one thing*" will radically change your day-to-day reality.
As I mentioned at the start, don't expect a slick handbook with a 1-2-3 methodology. Do however expect to see reality through the eyes of someone who has been there, done that, and has the scars (and the tattoo) to prove it. You won't come away from reading A User's Manual as the same person you were when you started...
Most of the personal improvement/personal productivity books I read tend to be tightly edited how-to manuals that answer all the questions, even if nobody ever really asked them in the first place. All well and good, but you wonder how (or even if) the advice has ever been used in the real world. And then you have A User's Manual for the Human Experience by Michael W. Dean. Raw, practical, real-life, and you get it as he puts it out there.
Contents:
Greetings, Eager Seeker; New Year's Resolutions Don't Work; The Only Two Rules In Life; Practical Emotional Self-Defense; Your Rights End at My Nose; From Netiquette to Restraining Orders; No-Contact Strategy; A Resentment and a Coffee Pot; Twelve Steps? How About Two Steps!; Hardcore Recovery Without Meetings; You Have The Right to be Left Alone; Stop Being A Victim; Work Smarter; Time Management for Calm and Profit; Make a Living Doing What You Love; Organization Building; Letter to a Young Me; Recommended Reading, Viewing, and Surfing
Dean's been through more than most of us would experience in a couple of lifetimes when it comes to self-destructive behavior. Rock bands, drugs, alcohol, sex, and dead before 30... that pretty much sums up his existence prior to getting things turned around. Add in losing a daughter to cancer, and you're not talking about a storybook life. Once he started to figure out which end was up, he started to live his life by some simple rules that make sense for anyone. Actually, only two... Do not initiate or accept force, and keep your word. Amazing how much can be covered in those two rules. And force isn't just physical... it can be the "serenity vampires" who are simply out there to draw you into conflict and make your life miserable. If you block those people in your life (not accepting force), you can end up with a far happier existence, free of the daily drains that others put on you.
If the Two Rules were the only thing in the book, it'd be worth the read. But since you're getting everything that Dean wants to share with you, there's quite a bit more. If you're more into wanting to bypass the emotional stuff and move to "make me more productive" material, jump over to the part starting with Work Smarter. It's there that you start to get a number of practical tips on changing your habits to accomplish more with far less stress. Topics such as goal management, not resting on your past, and analyzing the "hiya Joes" will have you rethinking some of the ways you approach your work. Even internalizing his view "do everything as if you'll be remembered for *only that one thing*" will radically change your day-to-day reality.
As I mentioned at the start, don't expect a slick handbook with a 1-2-3 methodology. Do however expect to see reality through the eyes of someone who has been there, done that, and has the scars (and the tattoo) to prove it. You won't come away from reading A User's Manual as the same person you were when you started...
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