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A book that may help readers balance the demands of life but is difficult to comprehend.
Psychologist and business counselor Bhikharie’s objective is "connecting the self-actualization of employees with managing business demands to balance soft and hard economic factors resiliently,” or "how to strike this balance of immaterial and material components–work-life synergy.” Unfortunately, the author’s writing style, as demonstrated by the previous phrases, is sometimes so trying to process that it detracts from the book’s value. Nevertheless, he addresses some interesting topics. Bhikharie discusses seven "common interactive faculties” which, he says, apply universally to individuals: awareness, ego, intuition, sleep-dream, unconsciousness, death and spirituality. The author relates these to the individual’s role in the workplace and in life and also discusses the responsibility of a business to provide a healthy working environment. Some content is inspiring. He tells the story of a meeting between Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela, during which Clinton asked Mandela how he could forgive the tormentors who imprisoned him. Bhikharie says Mandela "realized that he could never be truly free while any sense of revenge stayed on his mind. That would be another variation of the same imprisonment.” The life lesson, says the author, is that "integrating past and present internally makes you grow as a person, fulfills your potential, and deepens the meaning of your life.” If the rest of Bhikharie’s writing were as lucid as this excerpt, one would have a much easier time navigating the book. However, the writing resembles a doctoral thesis or a discourse better addressed to psychologists than laypeople. On the positive side, the author includes helpful exercises and, thankfully, numbered conclusions at the end of each chapter that are often more useful and understandable than the text itself. The "environmental survey” (work environment, that is) at the end of the book is of particular value.
Some pearls of wisdom here, but readers must labor to dig them out.
