![Stand Firm. By Sven Brinkmann.](/web/20170515170510im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/v/0/7/p/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvv0kx.png/1493543179119.jpg)
Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze
Svend Brinkmann
Polity, $14.95
Adapt or be left behind has become the mantra of contemporary society. Whereas self-realisation was once a liberating concept, it now feeds the market's demand for a servile and flexible workforce, says Svend Brinkmann. "To stand still in a society based on growth and consumption is akin to dissent." In a subversion of the typical seven-step self-help guide, he offers his own seven steps, inspired by the ancient Stoics, on resisting the fetishisation of the self: cut out navel-gazing, focus on the negative, say No, suppress your feelings, sack your coach, read a novel and dwell on the past. As with any contrarian work that constitutes a wholesale rejection of the prevailing wisdom – in this case, positive psychology – Stand Firm is more a bracing, defiant manifesto than nuanced investigation of the grey areas between the two camps.