The Upside of Your Dark Side

Why Being Your Whole Self - Not Just Your "Good" Self - Drives Success and Fulfillment

By: Todd Kashdan, Robert Biswas-Diener

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's summary

In The Upside of Your Dark Side, two pioneering researchers in the field of psychology show that while mindfulness, kindness, and positivity can take us far, they cannot take us all the way. Sometimes, they can even hold us back. Emotions like anger, anxiety, or doubt might be uncomfortable, but it turns out that they are also incredibly useful.

For instance:

• Anger fuels creativity
• Guilt sparks improvement
• Self-doubt enhances performance
• Selfishness increases courage
• Mindlessness leads to better decisions

The key lies in what the authors call "emotional agility," the ability to access our full range of emotions - not just the "good" ones - in order to respond most effectively to whatever situation we might encounter. Drawing on years of scientific research and a wide array of real-life examples including sports, the military, parenting, education, romance, business, and more, The Upside of Your Dark Side is a refreshing reality check that shows us how we can truly maximize our potential.

©2014 Todd B. Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Hudson Street Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company

Much Better Than I Expected!

One of the things the author talks about is on having agility: social agility (being able to handle social situations as they come), mental agility, and emotional agility (being able to handle negative and positive emotions as they come).

He also talks a lot about something called "comfort addiction" and why this is bad. The more materialistic items we have the less happy we are. There is no feeling of achievement or accomplishment when getting something we want with little to no required effort.

According to the author's, we should spend 33% of our time facing adversity and dealing with and endure pain. Overall he talks about having willpower and why it's important to do the things you don't like to do.

He gives some great tips on how to do that but you'll have to read the book to find that out yourself. There's a lot more to it than that and I highly recommend you check it out.

Hope this helped. Happy Reading and Cheers!

Live Your Best Life, No Matter What

This book was an excellent read! It was so helpful in guiding me to realize the importance of my journey through life. Certainly, it can help anyone learn the value of going through "good"and "bad" moments in life.

Great concepts for people

Interesting concepts and perspective regarding wholeness and harnessing your emotions. However I will say a lot of it was not new information for someone who works in health care. Overall a very good book and I'm happy I read it.

Not What You Might Expect

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It went a different direction than I was anticipating and it was enlightening. This will definitely be one of those books that I listen to again every so often, not just for the reminders, but for motivation too.

love love love

It's nice to know that been my Good and Bad self makes me a Beter person.

Valid points

Jeff made some good points in this book. Gave I 3 stars because I felt some of it was a bit repetitive and the message could have been made more succinctly. Regardless, definitely with the read or "listen".

One of my favorite books.

This book is exactly what the title says. In this instance we can judge a book by its cover LOL. I've always struggled with being too nice this book here has opened my eyes and my mind to a new way of thinking and being.

Aquaman!

I really enjoyed the pacing, level of detail, and approachability if this work. I also tend to agree that the search for happiness is overrated.
I especially liked the authors' comparison of the whole life to Aquaman!
I recommend this book to almost anyone looking to get a little more understanding of a satisfying life, as opposed to a happy life.

A whole person understands all parts of self

Our full potential can be utilized only when we understand all the parts "light & dark" that make us unique.

good

narration was good, interesting prespective; not sure I'd re-listen though. sometimes struggles to pay attention & would zone out while listening to this one...