BEYOND SUCCESS AND FAILURE: Ways to Self Reliance and Maturity

An orthodox Adlerian self-help book which instead of taking the customary ""positive approach"" which is predicated on the theory that the reader's mind is a tabula rasa assumes that it is filled with misconceptions, notoriously dependency on outside authority figures. ""We are born alone, we live alone, and we die alone,"" the authors admonish, and we need first of all to know self-trust and self-reliance. Competition is one of the most destructive forms of dependence. The Job Is the Boss: ""that particular bit of reality we face right in front of us at any given time."" In light of their prognosis, they discuss love (agape and eros), the acts of positive and negative obedience, the ""side shows"" (alcoholism, perfectionism); proffer ways to beat the old bad habits--let go of the demand for recognition, practice the habit of total nonjudgmental awareness. From the start the follow-through is predictable; the following is not.