A psychologist explains how “Stage Climbing” can result in a happier life.
Formulaic approaches for achieving maximum potential are common in self-help books. Broder (Positive Attitude Training, 2019, etc.) offers one, as well, but his seven-stage concept is a memorable one. This often engaging book begins with an overview of these self-actualizing stages (“Overcoming Dependency,” “Taming Your Primitive Self,” “Living Life by Your Rules,” “Becoming Fearless,” “Taking Charge of Your Life,” “Follow Your Passion” and “When Benevolence Takes Over”) as well as a description of the “hooks” that “can propel you forward or hold you back.” Chapters fully explore each stage, using numerous anonymized examples from the author’s practice or counsel in the form of “action steps” designed to lead the reader through self-examination. Many steps require serious thought and even deep reflection, such as the third-stage advice to “Examine what you have always wanted to do with your life but have resisted because you were afraid to leave behind that comfortable state of discomfort.” Each stage logically builds upon the others, culminating in the final one in which “the forces of gratitude and passion work together.” The stages generally progress from birth through adolescence and adulthood to old age, but they’re not exactly related to chronology, the author says; people may go through stages at different times, he asserts, and not everyone will go through all the stages. This explanation may cause confusion for some readers, but Broder aims to clarify his formula in the last chapter, in which he focuses on how stages relate to such areas as conflict management and problem-solving. Broder aptly describes this final chapter as “a calibration” of the stages, suggesting that readers can employ the Stage Climbing system in different ways depending on the goal. This chapter effectively acts as a road map of sorts, but it’s entirely up to the reader to implement it, which some may find to be a challenge.
An approach that may be overly complex for some but life-affirming for others.