‘Standing Firm’ in the sense of this book means to counter the incessant drive towards more, more, more of everything. It’s a call to action to resist and stand firm against ‘improvement culture’, not just self-improvement and personal development, but also the constant acceleration and growth in our economic systems, and the overuse and destruction of our natural environment.
The idea of endless growth and improvement infuses every aspect of our lives and culture. This book points out the ways in which this insidious and ubiquitous philosophy of rampant individualism, consumerism and growth is damaging to us as individuals, our relationships with others in our lives and to the world at large.
Stand Firm is a companion book to a book that Brinkmann wrote later on called ‘The Joy of Missing Out’, which I have also reviewed on this blog.
Stand Firm, like Brinkmann’s other book The Joy of Missing Out, is a slender book that has a deceptively shallow sounding premise and simple title. This conceals the depths of this book which deep dives into a rabbit hole of philosophy, psychology, economics and more.
This is a clear, cleverly written and succinct book that tackles many of the big topics of our troubled times and reflects these issues back to us using a new lens – a perspective that shares a lot coincidental philosophical ideas with the ancient Roman Stoics: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Cicero and Epictetus. Here are some similarities:
- This book is an antidote to all of the positive visualisation recommended in self-development books and courses. Brinkmann (along with the ancient Stoics long before) recommends negative visualisation – in other words, imagining what would happen if you lost everything you have. Therefore gaining a deep appreciation of what you do have.
- Instead of thinking in terms of all of the great things in your life and constant opportunities, the Stoics and Brinkmann recommend acknowledging and accepting the limitations placed on you.
- Rather than giving free rein to your feelings at all times, the Stoics and Brinkmann recommend that you learn self-discipline and sometimes suppress your feelings.
- Instead of avoiding thinking about death, you should contemplate your own mortality in order to nurture gratitude for the life you are living.
This is an amazing book and I recommend it whole-heartedly to you. 5*/5.
From: Standing Firm: Resisting The Self Improvement Craze by Svend Brinkmann
Svend Brinkmann is a Danish Professor of Psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He serves as a co-director of the Centre for Qualitative Studies. He is the author of ‘The Joy of Missing Out’ and ‘Stand Firm.’
Content Catnip 
Excellent. I have made a note of this one. Though I haven’t got the first one yet.
By the way, did you ever read that book, thank you for being late? I think I bought a copy and if I’m not mistaken they share a similar theme. Will look into this
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After seeing this comment yesterday went down to my local bookshop and they didn’t have Thank you for being late. I will wait for the next shipment to come, a lot of books out of stock in Welly and bookshops are packed here like its a pub or something, nice to see 😄 will get to read this one eventually, thanks for the recommendation Jeremy 😀 hope you are having a good weekend
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I do like that look of that title…but I haven’t read it yet. Hope it’s good
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Would love to know what you think of it
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That’s awesome and find in book of Dale Carnegie.
“You are going to love your work whether you like it or not.”
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Dale Carnegie have never heard of him, but will look him up, thank you for the comment 👍
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As a Personal Development blogger, I confess that some days I feel like hiding under thr covers and telling everyone to buzz off. The real problem with today’s self-improvement is the volume of ‘tips and tricks’ without focus on the questions of “why” and “how much”. “Stand Firm” sounds like an interesting read.
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Oh yeah, it’s definitely worthwhile. I hope you find a copy as you won’t regret it. It’s a good way to give yourself permission to feel sad once in a while too, which can be a relief when you need it, everyone does need to feel that way sometimes.
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Ah, I really want to read these books by Brinkmann!! I’ve been looking for “The Joy of Missing Out” ever since you wrote the review, but I cannot find it easily – I usually buy books from local bookstores. But now that I target 2 books I will definitely find a way to get them 😁
I feel like I relate with both topics – the joy of missing out and the joy of not applying all the self-improvement tricks people post on the internet. I do believe we improve over time, but I see it as a complex and dynamic matter – so curious to see what Brinkmann wrote about it!
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While looking for options to buy the 2 books I noticed that Brinkmann wrote more books! The ones I did not know about are Grief and Standpoints: 10 Old Ideas In a New World, and others about qualitative research. Super interesting!
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I didn’t know about these other books Georgiana wow! they definitely look interesting and I’m now really excited to read them too. Im also really anticipating your thoughts and feedback on these two books by Brinkmann, he seems very relevant to what’s happening in the world right now. Eager to hear your thoughts my dear and have a great weekend 🤗😻💚
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Me too Georgiana these ideas are so relatable aren’t they. These two books really made me opt out of the treadmill of life and just go at my own pace and be happy with that. If you can’t find it at your local bookstore maybe try Book Depository they have global shipping anywhere in the world. I have a feeling you will treasure these two books good luck on the hunt my friend 🤗😻💚
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