- Homepage
- Reviews
BOOK REVIEW: How To Develop Emotional Health by Oliver James
This book is a part of The School of Life series and irrespective of that, it gives some good insight on ‘Emotional Health’ which make this book a good starting point, as the title suggests. James Oliver starts his book by defining emotional health as
Emotional Health is the sense that what is happening, is happening now.
Emotional Health is the sense that what is happening, is happening now.
Sometimes the clear and simple words hit you hard and that’s what I realise after reading the first lines of text in this book. I liked Oliver’s style of opening the text with what matters. There’s no abstraction in that. Most books of this kind are pretty and heavy in text but they lack where it matters most: straightforwardness. Often they are not plain-spoken, the words must strike the reader at the right place in his mind.
Happiness is a part of abstraction which consume our daily lives. It is the most arbitrary expression that has different set of meanings to different people. Satisfaction, joy are subsets of it. And this what James Oliver suggests in his book. Rather than to seek an abstraction, we should cultivate our own emotional health.
It is experiencing the world as first-hand, immediate, rather than only knowing what was experienced when you reflect upon it later.
It is experiencing the world as first-hand, immediate, rather than only knowing what was experienced when you reflect upon it later.
In other terms, self-awareness.
After introducing his readers to the term emotional health, Oliver takes matter further by answering the question that might appear in the back of the head, sometime, who possess emotional health?
Possessing emotional health has nothing to do with how intelligent or attractive or ambitious or rich you are.
Possessing emotional health has nothing to do with how intelligent or attractive or ambitious or rich you are.
James Oliver revolves his book around five key elements of emotional health and provide some examples, scenarios and studies to support. Those five key elements are enlisted:
- Insightfulness
- Living in the present
- Fluid relationships
- Authenticity
- Playfulness
He offers strategies for optimizing each characteristic to live more fulfilling lives, and overcoming the condemnatory baggage we think are carrying on our shoulders every day.
This book is different from other books I have read in The School of Life production and is worth giving a look into. It’s short and can help you re-define the outlook of abstraction around you.
Blog | Goodreads | Medium | Twitter | Facebook
Read books by day and blogs about them at night. In his mid-twenties, been blogging about books for 5 years now.
- BOOK REVIEW: Sitanshu by Anita Shirodkar
- BOOK REVIEW: The Inheritants Saga by Kristy Mackmurdie
- Tips on #BookBlogging
Related Post
Recent Posts
- Books
BOOK REVIEW: Sitanshu by Anita Shirodkar
Sitanshu is the second book in the series of Guardians of Blue Lotus in continuation to the first book Aryavir.…
- Book Reviews
- Books
- Fiction
BOOK REVIEW: The Inheritants Saga by Kristy Mackmurdie
Kristy Mackmurdie's latest trilogy, The Inheritants, an urban fantasy, is her debut work. The book is divided into three parts…
- Announcement
- Book List
- Books
Tips on #BookBlogging
Do you want to become a better blogger? Or you struggling to even start one? Being a blogger means…
- Book Reviews
- Books
- Fiction
BOOK REVIEW: Keshava by Bhawana Somaaya
Bhawana Somaaya is a journalist and an author of 14 books. Her latest book, Keshava - A Magnificent Obsession. Lord…
- Book Reviews
- Books
- Non-Fiction
BOOK REVIEW: Such is Her Life by Reecha Agarwal Goyal
Such is Her Life is the debut work of writer Reecha Goyal published earlier this year. It is a heartwarming…
- Books
BOOK REVIEW: Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk
Since the start of this decade Gary's Crush It! has done wonders for many of its readers. In it, he…