The Chimp Paradox

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

By: Prof Steve Peters

Narrated by: Prof Steve Peters

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook best seller.

Do you sabotage your own happiness and success? Are you struggling to make sense of yourself? Do your emotions sometimes dictate your life?

The Chimp Paradox is an incredibly powerful mind management model that can help you become a happy, confident, healthier and more successful person. Prof Steve Peters explains the struggle that takes place within your mind and then shows how to apply this understanding to every area of your life so you can:

• Recognise how your mind is working.
• Understand and manage your emotions and thoughts.
• Manage yourself and become the person you would like to be.

The Chimp Mind Management Model is based on scientific facts and principles, which have been simplified into a workable model for easy use. It will help you to develop yourself and give you the skills, for example, to remove anxiety, have confidence and choose your emotions. The audiobook will do this by giving you an understanding of the way in which your mind works and how you can manage it. It will also 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 also exercises for you to work with. 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.

©2012 Steve Peters (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Credited for UK cycling team's 10s of gold medals

What did you love best about The Chimp Paradox?

Written by the chap credited with helping the UK cycling team win tens of medals over the last eight years. There is something for everybody who listens..Really solid tips and techniques to manage one's demons.. Or chimps! Great advice on my personal challenge of distraction and people pleasing... And, while I listened, I thought great advice for my friend with anxiety, my other friend with depression and my friend struggling with addiction. And even an explanation and tips on managing road rage and other outbursts of fury...Want to buy copies for all I know, and I don't remember ever saying that before

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Chimp Paradox?

Too many to relate

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

Success in life is a question of understanding how our brain chimp behaves and how to manage it.

welcome to my jungle

some times you come accross a book and you say i wish all my friend and family would read it, this is one like this.
it does help to anderstand your innerself and put everything into perspective.

Absolutely must read!

Any additional comments?

I never write reviews. I only read them. However, this time I have to write this down. This book is fabulous.I have read quite some books on negotiations and how the mind works. This one beats them all If you like pratical books and not so much academic analyses, this one would fit for you.I strongly recommend this book. Read this, and you will much better understand yourself and the people surrouding you. Have fun, Patrick from The Netherlands.

Very boring

The performance is so bad. I wasn't interested after 2 or so hours into the book. I like the main idea but it was clear after about 2 hours. Reading the book might be more enjoyable and beneficial but i cant say since i didn't and wont read it.

Terrible hard to listen to

Very hard to keep attention with this book due to bored tone of voice. Might be interesting. Will try reading the book... Recommended if you want to go to sleep..

Great book! It simplifies the understanding of the brain

It explains very complex concepts of neurology and brain function using analogies and easy to understand examples.

Great stories and practical help

It’s not often you hear an academic present something in an understandable format that is also of practical use to normal people, love the book thank you very much Professor Steve Peters

Good listen for general perspective

Necessary, insightful concepts communicated in plain language.

The science nerd in me didn't like the concept of my "universe", when the author was clearly describing a solar system, but it's a small point to overlook when the book's lessons are valuable and applicable to a wide range of events and personalities.

Amazingly eye opening!

Prof has written and read aloud a great book, made many concepts seem easy to grasp. Which coming from me means a lot, I find most concepts hard to understand! I would recommend everybody read or listen to this many times it’s changed my life.

Very good book

I enjoyed it very much, it’s very helpful and full of knowledge and information. Must read for everyone.

Life changing- a must for stress heads

I have always suffered with a quick temper, getting stressed out when things didnt go my way and stewing on all the bad things or injustices that I have been unfortunate enough to experience.

At age 32 my marriage was on the rocks, I couldn't relax with my children and feeling like the relationship was over, mainly down to me.

I went to a seminar to see a guy called Damien Hughes. In that seminar he explained the model of the Chimp/human/computer psychological make up of the brain and it brought an instantaneous awareness of why I was feeling that way and reacting in the way I was.

I was lucky enough to sit on the same table as Damien at dinner and he told me about this website and this audio book. I went home downloaded it and listened in my car, to and from work for a week.

It was as if this book was written for me, I honestly learned more about myself from this than any councillor I've ever seen.

6 months on and after employing the strategies outlined in the book, my marriage is now thriving and the time with my kids is wonderful.

So a massive thank you to the author Dr Steve Peters and thank you to Damien Hughes (author of liquid thinking) for recommending this audio and explaining it so well that day.

Chimps are stupid

Like all life changing self help books the idea could be written in 1 sentence.



At the same time, when you listen to the same thing being said out loud 500 times, eventually the penny will drop.



For me the book was life changing. My biggest challenge was being able to handle other people's bad moods (& my resulting bad moods).



By understanding the principle, this book has helped me realise what is happening. Because the idea is so simple I have been able to prevent myself from getting into a down (sad) or bad (mad) mood. I have been able to see what is going on (glad). Also even when I get into those moods, it has been able to get me out of those moods. That's no mean feat.



If it was not simple it would not be possible to overcome a mood. It is a simple and factual idea. The author keeps it simple.



I know that it will help me for the rest of my life.



It is one of the best €10s that I have ever spent. For that I am very grateful to Audible.



I have read or listened to a couple of hundred self help books, 5 of which were life changing for me.



The 80 20 Principle by Richard Koch.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Feeling Good by David D Burnes.

The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters.

Should be taught in Primary Schools!

I can't praise this book enough; Steve Peters narrates his book in a down to earth, practical way, easy to understand for everyone who has any kind of interest in psychology. There are no unpronounceable technical terms, no lengthy ramblings about Jung or Freud - none of that stuff.
The book is written in simple terms that we can all understand and relate to. It is logically laid out so that each concept, such as your 'chimp', is explained BEFORE he starts talking about how to manage it (by giving it bananas), and how to put it to sleep in its box. He also talks about our goblins and gremlins, realistic and unrealistic expectations of life, and how to manage these.
I had several 'kerching' moments, when the penny dropped - so simple and obvious, and yet if you don't know what to look for, how can you find it and fix it? Steve Peters takes you through the simple steps you can take to do a 'spring clean' of your thinking and beliefs, and come out the other end a happier, more well balanced person.
What a tremendous difference it would make to our society if this stuff was taught from Primary School onwards. There'd be far less violence, for one thing, if we were all taught how to manage our 'chimps.'

Buy the print version

I was lucky enough to hear Dr Steve Peters speak recently and was totally taken in by the simplicity and logic of his chimp theory. I loved the analogy of chimp behaviour versus human behaviour, and the sense it suddenly made of previously inexplicable, random and bizarre behaviour, not only in myself but in those around me.

However, I would have to recommend that people buy the print version and read it for themselves. If I hadn't actually seen the man and heard him speak I would probably have abandoned the audio version after five minutes. The narration is flat, dull and repetitive. Dr Peters knows his stuff, in person he can deliver it well and doesn't need prompts. Sadly he read this as if the content were completely new to him. There was no warmth or humour in the delivery of the recording which had been so evident in the man in person. Such a shame...

Want to unlock the power of your mind/ be happier?

An outstanding book. Having previously seen Dr Peters cited by famous sportspeople including Bradley Wiggins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, David Millar and Craig Bellamy, for helping them reach their potential and be happy, I did wonder what his magic formula was. The model and techniques that he introduces and explains in his book help solve the mystery. I found myself agreeing with so much of what he was saying, and he helped me connect some thoughts which were already in my head but I hadn't yet worked out how they joined together; a real insight into what makes self and others tick. In some ways I wish that I had read this book years ago. It is by no means a book just for high performing sports people as his model has utility in helping people from all walks of life gain more self-awareness and manage their thoughts and emotions in very constructive way. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in personal growth.

Helpful to some.

I found this book interesting in places but a bit tedious and repetative. Some of the concepts are difficult to follow in this audio form and I may get the written version to try to get more out of it. I don't like the way the book is read and for me this detracts from the material. I probably wouldn't have listened to all of the book only for the wonderful reviews by many people and maybe I havn't got it as yet. I will listen to the book again after reading it because I would like to get the benefits that may be available from fully absorbing the concepts of this material. I might re apraise my star rating in the future.

Answered so many questions

Provided answers to the mental turbulence I have faced most of my life.
If only I had encountered the information years ago.

Excellent book (once you get used to the reader)

I have found the content excellent in this book, initially was put off by the authors voice (sorry)
But once I got into it found the metaphors used to explain the actions and reactions if the human mind clear and concise quickly recognising recognising my own gremlins!

Good book - But same old concept in new package

I must say that I did get some good ideas from this book. I do find myself imagining a chimp taking over when things are not going the right way and it helps me to regain rational control.

The book is very good if you are new to the concepts or if it is the first book in the area that you have read. Otherwise it is kind of the same you will find in other self development books but package in a different way.

The concept of the chimp, the human and the computer is good but then the additional categorisation using planets, sun, moons, etc is very confusing and somehow out of sync with the main concepts. This is especially confusing for the audio version for which one does not have additional visual material to support these structures.

I would give it 3.5 stars if I could!

yewman

too many metaphors! and every time he said 'yewman' instead of 'human' it got my chimp going and I struggled to manage it...there's a paradox!