Book Babble #8: "The Chimp Paradox" by Steve Peters

"The Acclaimed Mind Management Programme to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness"

Who is Steve Peters and what's all this chimp chit-chat??

Here we have a quirky little number.

First off, how did I come to read it? Well, it was 'introduced' to me as it was mentioned by the great snooker player Mr Ronnie O'Sullivan as they (the book and Peters) helped him with his game and life. Anyone who knows of Ronnie will know he's a complex character and some may feel is a bit erratic.

And if you think snooker is boring, you haven't seen this guy play. Yes, it's not the most exciting sport in general (better if you know the intricacies as ever) but when O'Sullivan is at his best, it's a site to behold. They don't call him The Rocket for nothing!

The point here is that Peters worked with O'Sullivan to great effect and Ronnie cited this work as being transformative.

Good enough for The Rocket, good enough for me.

The book itself uses the analogy of a Chimp (there was a clue in the title) which also intrigued me! The author has simplified a complex topic and instead of using industry jargon, he's come up with some fun metaphors to make his points.

The Chimp in this context being you inner, emotional centre. It could also be called your lizard brain, or the amygdala to give it its scientific label. Your primal survival instincts. On top of that comes your Human, which would be your prefrontal cortex where you make rational decisions.

It's the coming together of these 2 main players and some other peripheral characters that make up this book.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Some classic chimpy quotes from the book, along with my additional musings…

The purpose and agenda of the Chimp is survival. The Human’s agenda is to achieve self-fulfilment.

The Chimp only wants and needs to survive, so it will do everything in its power to make that happen. Even if it goes against what your Human may want. The Human, as per Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, ultimately wants to achieve self-actualisation. There's a conflict here of course… but that's what we're here to address!

Having a Chimp is like owning a dog. You are not responsible for the nature of the dog but you are responsible for managing it and keeping it well behaved. This is a very important point and you should stop and think about this because it is crucial to your happiness and success in life.

The Chimp is a rabid animal. It does what it does and is what it is. No point arguing or crying over it. Treat it with respect and learn to manage it for the well being of all.

One of the secrets of success and happiness is to learn to live with your Chimp and not get bitten or attacked by it. To do this, you need to understand how your Chimp behaves, and why it thinks and acts in the way that it does. You also need to understand your Human and not muddle up your Human with your Chimp.

Understand your Chimp. Understand your Human. Try not to get confused.

Anxiety typically occurs when you don't make a decision. It is a perfectly natural response from your Chimp showing that it is healthy. The answer therefore is to make a decision or reassure the Chimp.

Ahh yes, indecision. It's a classic stifler. As always, make any decision and everything calms down. If it's not possible to make a decision right then, then some reassurance is in order, ie. relax and take the decision as soon as is possible.

Managing your impulsive, emotional Chimp as an adult will be one of the biggest factors determining how successful you are in life.

Absolutely. There are wild Chimps running around everywhere. I believe it was Rudyard Kipling who said "if you can keep your head whilst all around you are losing theirs, you'll be a man my son". Part of a longer poem but the point is most people are fairly deranged, so when you come along with a level head and take care of business, you can live a relaxed and prosperous life.

The Chimp is an emotional machine that will hijack you, if you allow it to. It is not good or bad: it is a Chimp. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This is The Chimp Paradox.

A scorpion is a scorpion. It stings. Nothing is 'good' or 'bad' per se, just an inherent drive to act in a certain way. I guess the key is to overcome, or to at least befriend, this paradox.

The Golden rule is that whenever you have feelings, thoughts or behaviours that you do not want or welcome, then you are being hijacked by your Chimp.

It's having a right old time in there, keep a diligent look out!

Remember that Chimps like to go on how they feel to decide on future actions, whereas Humans tend to go on what needs to be done and also how they will feel at the end of the day when they look back on how they used their time. These are two very different approaches.

Chimps look at the immediacy of the situation and act in those best interests. That being survival right there and then. Humans take a wider view, and recognise how those decisions affect future feelings and outcomes.

Of course, there's the paradox again. Who wins? Reminds me of The Fight of Two Wolves Within You parable:

'An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”'

Willpower is not a good way to try and manage your Chimp - don't arm-wrestle the Chimp!

Willpower is finite. Also, according to Peters, your Chimp is five times as strong as your Human. You need a management plan!

Part of the problem is that most people don't realise that the Chimp is merely making an offer and not a command. You do not have to follow your emotions; you have a choice.

Your Chimp is strong… but it does not have the final decision. The Chimp is instinctual and offers suggestions for what's at hand. But the Human takes that information and decides on the course of action. This is important. If it's a real 'fight or flight' scenario then you will go with the Chimp with minimal fuss. As most situations really aren't life or death, then a considered approach is what's needed.

Remember: the person that you want to be is the person that you really are.

Chimp hijackings aside ;)

Thanks Stevie P! Anything else?

Give it a read. You may well have seen this all before, but it's worth a look to see it all from a different angle (along with chimp and gremlin graphics, what more could you want?). And if this is all new to you then it may be more interesting than some of the boring stuff out there.

The use of metaphor and story is very powerful and can often influence far more than straight information. So in itself, this book can speak to us on a slightly different level and help us with an understanding of why we do what we do and what can be done to improve.

Oh, and I can't leave you without a bit of Rocket action! Here I present to you a slightly younger Ronnie knocking in the fastest 147 (maximum) break of all time.

I believe that's what they call being 'in the zone'. If you can't see the artistry in that (sports/snooker fan or not) then there's no hope ;). Especially if you've ever attempted to play snooker before… bit more to it than pool down the pub!

I'm not sure if this was actually before working with Steve Peters or after, but the point is he became a more consistent and level headed performer following their work together.

Now, I don't know if we can all go around knocking in 147s in 5 minutes, but we can certainly up our game in whatever arena we're playing in.

And what about you? Have you read this book or have any good recommendations? And how about that Ronald?

PS: This program was also used by none other than Sir Chris Hoy, the cyclist and Great Britain's most successful Olympian!

PPS: I just found out that Ronnie O'Sullivan is an author too! I don't just mean his auto-bio, but he's written a couple of fiction books as well that seem to have decent reviews.

Check out the others in the series…