Yet another book I’ve finished listening on the Libby App:

It is not my first Adam Grant’s book, my first was his “Originals” about 5.5 years ago and you can find my post-reading thoughts here on this post. He is an occupational psychologist, but this book isn’t just about “occupational”, and I’ve seen great reviews about this book on Twitters and other platforms, and how it changes people’s views about very general and specific things in life.

However, the fact that I listened to the book (instead of reading), and also the fact that it’s taken me almost 4 or 5 months (in between I completed other books too), just somehow shows that it isn’t a particularly engaging audiobooks, the feeling was like there were a lot of interesting facts and studies and findings being laid out and connected (a very, very well-researched book!), to emphasise the importance of … Thinking Again, no matter which area you’re talking about.

I probably would like to revisit it in the form of reading at some point, especially I guess it’s important in my journey of “constant learning and becoming better”. But right now, let me share some of the popular takeaways from the book:

“If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”

“It takes confident humility to admit we’re a work in progress. It shows that we care more about improving ourselves than proving ourselves.”

“A sign of intellect, is the ability to change your mind in the face of new facts;

A mark of wisdom, is refusing to let the fear of admitting you were wrong stop you from getting it right;

The joy of learning something new eventually exceeds the pain of unlearning something old.”

I’ve heard about this book and intended to read it for quite many years, till recently, I finished listening to it on the Libby app.

This is its 20 year anniversary edition, I guess for a book that’s still fairly popular 20 years after it was first published, I do not have to say too much about it?

If you haven’t read it, it’s about life lessons from the author’s professor, Morrie, who was dying from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control – from Wikipedia). I have to say these are many lessons that we probably are aware already but shall still re-learn, and always re-learn. I hope one day I’d come back to read it again. I’ve also recommended the book to a client I have who was diagnosed with a similar Muscular dystrophy disease that’s also fatal…

If you listen to the audiobook, there’s excerpts from the interviews with Morrie, you get to hear exactly from him. I also like audiobooks that are read by the author.

I received this book as a gift from a friend in the UK.

I finished reading it a while ago, but didn’t write any review here as it is not so much related to “Clinical Psychology and Mental Health”

I have read some of his other books previously:

• Outliers: The Story Of Success
• David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Arts of Battling Giants

As usual, his books are counter-intuitive, entertaining and thought-provoking, based on real stories and research. I am particularly intrigued by how he insightfully connects all these stories and facts in social psychology, criminology, human history and business and marketing together.

I believe year 2020 is a year where most people hadn’t stepped into the cinema, but there is this great film from last year that I’d really like to recommend: The Father.  

It’s about dementia. I saw the title and knew it’s not going to be an uplifting movie, but am so glad I chose to watch it nevertheless. It’s provided me with a lot of insight as of why some elderly behaved the way they did, why sometimes they can get be so emotionally unstable or get so agitated or frustrated easily, they are living in a different, such confusing world that often makes no sense!

It’s difficult to imagine living that way, but I think this film has done well portraying it. I thought about what some of the children of my clients told me about their elderly parents.  I thought about my own father too, and how he was like sometimes. I gained quite some perspective from this movie. It’s not like reading the symptoms and presentation on my psychology textbooks, it’s like living 1.5 hours of their lives. (I almost thought it was a psychological thriller…)

If you find him looking kind of familiar, yes that’s Anthony Hopkins! He has received this 2nd Oscar Best Actor acting this role, which was great!