subject: We Are Simply Normal Crazy People [print this page] Sadly, were all kitted out with a normal crazy mind. Many people have said to me that those two words normal and crazy just dont go together. But look at the psychological facts. Within a few days of being born we learn to stop paying attention to anything that isnt novel. Psychologists call this habituation. Within the first year and a half of our lives we learn to pigeonhole everything and everybody that we encounter we squeeze them in to our perspective. Psychologists call this categorization and what it means is that nothing, even the new, is novel. So we end up paying attention to nothing. No, you aint gonna get much out of life if youre not all there, are you? And, once again, psychology proves this in stating that your ability to be happy and successful depends on your ability to pay attention. Ouch...
But never mind research, you don't need to be a psychologist to arrive at the conclusion that we're all mad. From UK Cabinet Ministers throwing Government documents in park bins to European headless heads of state who seem incapable of stringing two concrete actions together to save the European project, normal craziness abounds. Of course, you don't even have to go new the news to see, with your own eyes, the fact of the matter. Watch how supposed happy couples snarl at each other - you see it all the time in airports (the kind of place I spend lots of time!). Consider how much domestic violence there is. Think about the way traffic or other drivers can stress you out. And consider all the times that you really wanted to say something witty or clever only for your own normal crazy subconscious mind to think twice about it whilst the opportunity is passing you by.
We're all mad. We live our lives in a fog of useless thought and our subconscious mind makes sure that we do what we we're doing automatically. It 'enables' us react to everything that we think is going on. Everything we do routinely is done mindlessly and, unfortunately, sooner or later, everything becomes routine - even the person that we were head-over-heels in love with for starters. Of course, we are completely oblivious to the fact that our mind is constantly obsessed with what happened us during our so-called formative years. But that ignorance blinds us to the opportunities presented to us by new situations, new opportunities and new people - so the life that we could have simply passes us by. The result is that what passes for our life could be described as 'not so bad'. Well, not too bad ain't good enough! We need to wake up, see what's actually going on and grab a hold of our lives.
I've been working in the field of personal development and psychology since 1996 - and, over the years, I've seen some really crazy carry on - and, like everybody who is afflicted by a normal mind, I've done some pretty stupid things myself - things that have created all manner of difficulty for me. Like many others in the field, I've had a book published - 'To Succeed... Just Let Go', in 1996. But, from my experience working with my clients, I've come to the conclusion that so-called self-help books don't work. They're mainly feel good books. And, after you've read them, you often end up feeling worse because the things that they're suggesting haven't worked in your life.
That's why I decided to write a feel-bad book! 'Normal Crazy People' is a book about ordinary everyday people - normal people just trying to get by. But, as we've already said, just getting by ain't living! From all my years of work, I've realized that only desperate people are motivated enough to take concrete action to change their life. In other words, you've got to become desperate. It's time you started feeling bad enough about what you're missing out of in your life to actually go and do something about it.
'Normal Crazy People' is jammed with the kind of everyday stories that we all know - or have been part of - of how normal people can so easily self-implode. This hilarious sideways look at what passes for life may just wake you up enough to do something about making your own life better, happier, more successful... you name it, you can have it. I really mean that - your life is what you make it. And, if you couldn't be bothered to pay attention to your own life, if you couldn't be bothered to even turn up to your own life, you're going to get nothing much out of it... until you actually do turn up.
And that's what 'Normal Crazy People' is all about - It's been put together, using a whole load of anecdotes, to enable you not just wake up but stay awake. So, each chapter ends with a quick 'Moral' and, even more to the point, a few simple, quick actions that you can put into practice right there and then - you'll find these, again at the end of each chapter, under the heading 'Time for Action'. And, even more importantly, Chapter Seventeen is entitled 'Ten Things that You Can Do Straight Away'.
The key point is that you don't have to do anything radical to radically change your life. By doing small, apparently insignificant things, psychology tells us that you can completely transform your life. In short, all you have to do is tweak the way you use your mind so that you start using it and stop it abusing you! And that's what 'Normal Crazy People' is all about.
