Peters - The chimp paradox: the mind management program to help you achieve success, confidence, and happiness

Contents

Choosing the Sun

How to establish the right environment

How to deal with immediate stress

How to deal with long-standing stress

How to look after your health

The foundations for success

How to plan for success

How to be happy

How to be confident

How to develop security

The Sunrise

About the Book

Do you sometimes behave irrationally or impulsively? Do you face some situations with fear and trepidation? Do feelings of self-doubt consume everyday activities?

Leading Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Steve Peters, knows more than anyone how impulsive behaviour or nagging self-doubt can impact negatively on our professional and personal lives.

In this, his first book, Steve shares his phenomenally successful mind management programme that has been used to help elite athletes and senior managers alike to conquer their fears and operate with greater control, focus and confidence.

Seemingly complex concepts are made simple with the use of memorable analogies such as the chimp, that seemingly irrational and impulsive being that inhabits our minds and real-life case studies. Never before will you have had such a deep and clear understanding of your own behaviour and natural responses to certain people or situations.

This knowledge, combined with simple techniques that can be easily incorporated into daily life, will help you to control your emotional impulses and reach your full potential, leading to success at work and a happier, harmonious home life.

About the Author

Dr Steve Peters is a consultant psychiatrist and has worked in the clinical field of psychiatry for over 20 years. He holds degrees in mathematics and medicine, a Masters in medical education and postgraduate qualifications in sports medicine, education and psychiatry.

Dr Peters has been a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield University since 1994 and is also Undergraduate Dean at the Medical School and a Royal College Examination panel member.

In addition, Dr Peters works in elite sport and has been the resident psychiatrist with the British Cycling team since 2001 and now the Sky ProCycling Team. His mind management techniques have been credited with helping to transform the performance of Britains elite cyclists, and contributing to bringing home 14 medals from the Beijing Olympics, eight of which were golds.

Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton have all spoken publically about how Dr Peters unique Chimp Model has helped them improve their performance. He has also been involved in 12 other Olympic Sports, including Taekwondo and Canoeing, as well as England Rugby and Premier League Football.

Outside of elite sport, Dr Peters also works with CEOs, senior executives, hospital staff, patients and university students helping them to understand why they think and act as they do and how to manage their minds to optimise their performance, at work and in their personal lives.

Dr Peters Chimp Model can work for anyone from any walk of life. The Chimp Paradox brings his work to a wider audience for the first time and it is the authors hope that everyone who reads this book will benefit from it.

I dont think I would have

realised my potential without Steve

Victoria Pendleton

Without Steve, I dont think I would

have won gold in Athens in 2004

Sir Chris Hoy

Steve Peters is a genius

Dave Brailsford, Performance Director of British Cycling

and Principal at Sky ProCycling

Introduction

The Journey

Choosing the Sun

Reading this book will take you on a journey of self-discovery and development. By understanding and applying the concepts within it, you will not only improve the quality of your life, but also significantly increase your chances of being happy and successful in whatever you do. The book is written around a model that I have developed called Chimp Management, which has helped many people understand themselves and learn how to work with their emotions. Some parts of the book will resonate with you more strongly than others. Select those parts that are relevant to you and work with them.

In my work as a psychiatrist and lecturer, people typically present me with comments or questions that are usually centred on problems that they dont understand or cant solve. For example:

How do I become the person that I would like to be?

I want to be confident in myself.

How do I become more organised and successful in what I do?

Why do I worry so much?

How do I become a more effective leader?

I want to be happy.

How do I stop worrying about what others think?

Why cant I make decisions?

How do I motivate myself?

Why do I have such a low opinion of myself?

How do I stop emotions that prevent me from reaching my professional potential?

I drink too much.

Why do I often act against common-sense?

My moods just go up and down.

How do I stop overeating?

Why do I sometimes become so irrational in my thinking?

I cant control my anger.

Why cant I remain faithful?

I cant get on with my boss.

Why do I feel judged all the time?

How do I make my relationship work?

And the list goes on!

How we will go through the journey

Chimp Management is based on scientific facts and principles, which have been simplified into a workable model for easy use. It will help you to answer the above questions, develop yourself and give you the skills, for example, to remove anxiety, have confidence and choose your emotions.

The book will do this by giving you an understanding of the way in which your mind works and how you can manage it. It will help you to identify what is holding you back or preventing you from having a happier and more successful life. Each chapter explains different aspects of how you function and highlights key facts for you to understand. There are exercises for you to work through. By undertaking these exercises you will see immediate improvements in your daily living and over time you will develop emotional skills and practical habits that will help you to become the person that you want to be, and live the life that you want to live.

We will consider seven different areas to work on:

Your inner mind

Understanding and relating to others

Communication

The world in which you live

Your health

Your success

Your happiness

To help you to understand and visualise these areas better, each will be represented by a planet, some of which have their own moons to stabilise them. The seven planets and their moons come together to form the Psychological Universe within your head! I will introduce each planet as we go through the journey across this Universe, which of course, strictly speaking is a solar system. ( for a diagram of the Universe).

Just as the sun is the centre of the physical solar system, your Sun is the centre of your Psychological Universe and represents self-fulfilment and what you believe to be the meaning and purpose of your life. The Sun has the best chance of shining when all of the seven planets in your Universe are spinning correctly and in harmony. Therefore, in order to make your Sun shine you have to work on each area in your life and get it into a good place. So lets choose the Sun and begin our journey of self-discovery and life-changing attitudes.