The Courage to Be Disliked

How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness

By: Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

Narrated by: Noah Galvin, Graeme Malcolm, January LaVoy

The New York Times bestselling TikTok sensation with more than 13 million copies sold worldwide, The Courage to Be Disliked is a transformative and practical guide to personal happiness and self-fulfillment.

Now you can unlock your full potential and free yourself from the shackles of past traumas and societal expectations to find true personal happiness. Based on the theories of renowned psychologist Alfred Adler, this book guides you through the principles of self-forgiveness, self-care, and mind decluttering in a straightforward, easy-to-digest style that’s accessible to all.

The Courage to Be Disliked unfolds as a dialogue between a philosopher and a young man, who, over the course of five enriching conversations, realizes that each of us is in control of our life’s direction, independent of past burdens and expectations of others.

Wise, empowering, and profoundly liberating, this book is a life-changing experience that shows you a path to lasting happiness and how to finally be the person you truly want to be. Millions are already benefiting from its teachings—and you can be next.

Life Changing

I read a lot and listen to a lot of audiobooks, from classic literature to contemporary biographies, philosophy, psychology and the latest in non-fiction. Seldom do I find a book that surprises me. This one did. Though very familiar with the thoughts of Freud and Jung, I had never heard of their colleague Alfred Adler until I came across this book, interestingly enough through the recommendation of a guy I don’t like. The thoughts of Dr. Adler opened new possibilities and pointed to solutions of problems I have been grappling with for years. His original way of thinking and his method truly can change ones’ life. Even though the questioning young man in the audio version irritated me at times (maybe it was supposed to) the content is so good that I could not turn away. If you are interested in personal growth and how to better navigate the journey of life, allow yourself to get immersed in Adlerian thought through the voice of the philosopher. Chances are, it will change your life as it did mine.

Fantastic book!

I and my girlfriend enjoyed the book greatly. Both of us are the youth who seek the true north of the way we should live our life in fullness and happiness. It has been a real pleasure listening to Adler’s ideas and teachings though this fascinating dialogue. The wisdom of the book is so vast that it would take a lifetime to experience and try everything it tries to pass to us.

The girlfriend speaking. Wonderfully captivating dialogues - they were as inquisitive as insightful! To be honest the End Credits just shone a whole new light on the content that made it that much more special, but won’t give it away here. Take a listen, get encouraged to be disliked.

Exceptional

Exceptional. Brilliant. Entirely changed my life. Strongly recommend.

The reader is great. It has good flow. There are rest points (when the young man goes home for the night) to pause at, and process the information. The concepts make sense. It is easy to follow.

I remained interested throughout the story, and kept wanting to hear more (even with growing pains).

I originally wasn't fond of how abrasive the young man was, but the Philosopher's responses taught me how to react kindly in that situation.

I've already recommended this to a dozen people. I about to listen to it a second time.

it changed my life. I am so grateful.

Ego vs. The Self

Simply, it is the inner dialogue between the ego-dystonic, false self (the kid) & the authentic, true self (the philosopher). The ego & the core, forming a relationship. Delivered in an oversimplified way, yet with very rich complexities within depth psychology. I appreciated the petulant performance of the kid, as it fully represents the inner critic & ego. An easy read that delivers a richness & depth related to building the courage to live outside the false narrative most fall victim to.

the "kid" is super annoying

The content itself is great, and I understand what is going on with the back and forth- but I found the younger man ("the kid") very annoying.