"In clear and accessible language, Elaine Fox shows how psychological science can help you to be agile in meeting challenges and to be flexible when things change. Drawing on personal experience and years of applying her research in coaching elite performance, she shows how adopting a few key skills can transform your life in profound ways. A book full of important insights."--Mark Williams, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology University and coauthor of the international bestseller Mindfulness: An Eight Week-Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World
"Switch Craft is a fascinating book, packed full of practical advice on how to help you survive and thrive in an uncertain world. Written by a leading academic, it offers real insights in how to cope with the stresses and strains of a post-covid world."--Michael Mosley, New York Times bestselling author and science journalist
Discover how expanding and improving your mental agility--your ability to flex your thoughts, feelings, and actions--can transform your life, bolster your resilience, and foster your zest for living.
Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key.
However, the truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to dealing with life. Elaine Fox, one of the world's leading psychologists and performance coaches, has witnessed this time and again. In her work coaching top athletes, military leaders and business professionals, she has seen that it's the people who know how and when to switch between different approaches - people who have an agile mind - who achieve the best performance.
Drawing on 25 years of scientific research, Fox shares with us her step-by-step guide to what she calls 'switchcraft': the set of skills we need to navigate a complex and uncertain world. Whether it's coping with a difficult boss, overcoming a fear, dealing with hyperactive children, resolving a dispute with a friend or making a difficult choice about where to live or what to do, switchcraft helps us thrive in any situation.
Like your own personal life coach, Switch Craft shows you how to break out of a rigid mindset to restore your fulfilment, curiosity and zest for life.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Elaine Fox is a psychologist and neuroscientist who has researched widely on the science of emotions. She grew up in the 1970s in Dublin and has worked at St James Hospital Dublin, University College Dublin, Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and has been a visiting senior scientist at the MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. She is currently a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford and Professor of Psychology at the University of Essex.
Elaine has published widely on the scientific aspects of fear and optimism, and her work, which has appeared in many leading scientific journals, has been summarized in an academic book Emotion Science: Neuroscientific and Cognitive Approaches to Understanding Human Emotions (published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2008).
Her scientific discoveries on the genetic aspects of optimism have been discussed widely across the national media, and led to her appearance in an ABC documentary presented by Michael J. Fox (no relation) entitled The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, as well as the writing of her first commercial project, RAINY BRAIN, SUNNY BRAIN.
An enjoyable read, with lots of tangible tips for how to become more agile by broadening your experiences and improving your awareness of both internal and external states. As a psychology student, I don't read a lot of 'pop psych' books, but reading this book presented a good opportunity for me to learn more about science communication. Fox has done a great job of integrating psychology theories and research into a book targeted towards a general audience, whilst also including a detailed list of citations/recommended readings at the end for the more academically inclined. It was especially interesting to read the author's summary of research findings relating to 'staying vs. switching' and prediction error, since this relates quite closely to my own research on reinforcement learning.
I think the author's use of anecdotes was one of the biggest strengths of this book. Fox drew upon a lot of genuinely interesting - but still highly relevant - anecdotes from both her personal life and the lives of her friends/family and clients. These anecdotes were engaging and helped to keep my attention, but most importantly, I think they will improve my likelihood of remembering the book's key takeaways in the future.
Gavin gave me this book for Christmas. Although there was a lot of quality material, some arguments were not fully fleshed out, which can be a little annoying as a former psych major. Important read for me in this coaching world and taught me some new strategies to use with the boys.
Switchcraft goes into detail about how you can be prepared to face this ever changing world. The author beautifully describes about how agility is built into our genes and how agility is present in nature from bacteria to human beings.
Although after the first chapter, the book misses the connectivity between each topics and drives away the focus on sections that end abruptly without closure. I would have loved for the book to be crisp and a 50 page shorter and author getting to the point more often.
The author gives good amount of exercises to work out during the read and it proves to be helpful for most of the time which is a good takeaway from this book. Overall this is a good but lengthy and extended read at times.
Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility (2022) introduces the concept of switch craft – the art of being able to change and adapt in this fast-paced world. Drawing on scientific research and real-life experience, switch craft uses the four pillars of mental agility, self-awareness, emotional awareness, and situational awareness, to give us the flexibility and understanding to thrive in any situation.
I fear I am one of the few people who didn't really like the book. It shares information in a very understandable manner, however, I felt it was a bit too superficial for me. This made it quite hard to stay interested and focused, so the book seemingly went on forever. I feel like it could have been a fair share shorter.
Switch Craft contains some fascinating research into how rigidity sets us up for psychological demise and lack of agility contributes to depression and anxiety. It offers easy-to-folllow exercises for creating an agile mindset required to thrive amidst constant change, which is a given in today's fast-paced, information-driven society. Fox presents evidence why uncertainty is helpful in building tolerance and adaptability, though most of us make every attempt to avoid uncertainty. She brings to light some universalities in how we approach the world and how many become self-defeating prophecies. I would describe Switch Craft as "accessible". It's not loaded with industry jargon and contains some relatable real-world examples, including how Covid created an unhealthy detachment and smartphones reduce uncertainty to our detriment. It's a good prompt for learning to thrive by changing the way we approach our experiences.
Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title.
Embrace uncertainty and thrive in a complicated world.
We are surrounded by uncertainty. We are constantly bombarded with choices, then left to wonder how things could have been different. What if we had married a different person? Chosen a different career? Even simple day to day decisions can leave us overwhelmed.
The fact is, uncertainty is one of the only certainties in life.
If you’re not careful, you can deal with this uncertainty by making changes too quickly, or sticking with something familiar, even though it isn’t the best solution.
Introducing switch craft: The art of being able to make the right decision in the right moment.
In this book, you will learn how to hone your switch craft by building and maintaining its four basic pillars. Through mental agility, self-awareness, emotional control, and intuition you can learn to flourish in this complex and rapidly-changing world.
So, let’s get started.
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An agile mind can help you change, adapt, and thrive.
Meet Paddi Lund. Paddi spent 10 years setting up and running an expansive and hugely successful dental practice in Brisbane, Australia. On paper his life should have been perfect – he was financially well-off and his business empire was thriving. Yet, Paddi was profoundly miserable.
So, Paddi reflected on his situation. He realized that in building his empire he had lost track of what he loved – the dentistry itself. In a radical and life-changing move, he got rid of 80% of his clients, stopped all advertising for his practice, and transformed half his building into a cafe to create a happiness-centered dental business. Now he’s working a fraction of the time, has doubled his income, and is spending more time with family and friends. Paddi is happy.
Paddi turned his life around by finding a creative and agile response to his stressful situation. This ability – called mental agility – is the first pillar of switch craft.
Mental agility means being able to approach the complicated world with flexibility. It comes down to one basic decision – when you’re faced with challenges in life, do you stick or do you switch? While it is often easier – and sometimes useful – to stick with the current situation, being able to easily switch things up can help you thrive.
This was shown in a study on three cognitive biases in teenagers: Attention bias – whether they focus on pleasant or unpleasant things; memory bias – which type of things they’re more likely to remember, and; interpretation bias – what meaning they make of ambiguous situations.
The study found that biases towards focusing on and remembering threatening or negative words and situations – and interpreting ambiguous situations negatively – were tightly connected in those who struggled with depression and anxiety. For example, triggering a traumatic memory is more likely to make you focus on and interpret negativity around you.
On the other hand, those who were happy and thriving were able to think about negative things without experiencing all the other negative biases. In other words, they were more agile in their thinking, leaving them in a more open and flexible frame of mind.
What can you do to train this mental agility? Try paying attention to when you feel annoyed or upset and see if you can find other ways to interpret these negative situations. Maybe you’re bothered about a friend who is always slow to stay in touch with you. Sure, you can interpret that as her not wanting to see you, but there are always more positive explanations. Maybe she is too busy, or thinks that you are.
Your mental agility – this ability to stick or switch as circumstances require – can be applied to all sorts of situations. Whether you’re raising kids, managing a large project, or living in a long-term relationship, knowing when and how to change can help you thrive, and let you approach challenges with an open mind. Just like Paddi and his dental business, it’s always possible to change your life for the better.
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Know yourself so you can make the right choices.
On a column in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, you can find a short maxim, inscribed over 2000 years ago. Throughout history, this simple piece of wisdom has appeared over and over again, from the works of Socrates, to the poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and the words of Benjamin Franklin.
Today it can be translated into two little words: “Know thyself.”
This idea of being self-aware – aware of your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, goals – is the second pillar of switch craft. It is directly related to the first pillar – mental agility – that you learned about in the previous chapter. How can you change to fit the situation if you don’t know your abilities or values?
Now it’s time to ask yourself: Who am I?
The research on personality is extensive, though the current consensus is that it should be seen as a spectrum along five broad traits – conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. While all of these are useful to know, it’s this last one – openness to experience – which is particularly important when it comes to switch craft.
This trait relates to how varied and complex your mental life and experiences are, and hence how willing you are to try new things or entertain new ideas. Sound familiar?
To be able to try new things, you need to realize that your beliefs and opinions might be wrong, and sometimes changing your mind is a good thing. This so-called “intellectual humility” can be nurtured in a number of ways.
Firstly, try to listen carefully when you hear something you don’t agree with, without interrupting or ridiculing. Second, keep in mind that your ability isn’t fixed and unchangeable – change and improvement is always possible. Finally, celebrate your failures. Use them as learning experiences, and take those lessons on board.
But knowing yourself isn’t just about your personality and intellectual humility – you’ll need to reflect on what’s at the heart of your true self: Your beliefs and values. Beliefs are your deepest understandings and views about yourself, others, and the world. If you are honest with yourself, and ask probing questions – about what happened in a particular situation, how you felt and the conclusions you made – you can find your core beliefs. A thought diary helps.
Values, while related to beliefs, are more of a fundamental moral code that guides you through the world. It’s helpful to visualize values as a direction of travel rather than a goal. What keeps you going? What do you focus on? Think about key themes in your life, such as family, relationships, work, spirituality, and decide what you stand for.
When you have a good understanding of your beliefs, values, and personality, you can start to truly know yourself. Then when acting with the agility of switch craft, you can be sure that your choices are the best – for yourself.
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Be in control of your emotions.
In April 1986, Jennifer Guiness was kidnapped from her Dublin home by a group of armed men. The group had mistakenly thought that she was related to the wealthy Guinness brewing company, and they proceeded to demand a huge ransom payment.
For eight days Jennifer was held captive. Being a strong, no-nonsense woman, she suppressed her understandable fear and remained calm – closely observing her captors. She noticed an older man who seemed quite intimidating, so she was careful and polite around him. On the other hand, there was a younger man who seemed a bit less confident.
Jennifer took a calculated risk, and would become angry at this man, shouting and demanding her freedom. She knew that this tactic probably wouldn’t work on the menacing kidnapper, but she figured she could unsettle the softer one.
Whether or not this strategy of emotional manipulation contributed to her release eight days later, it certainly empowered her and helped her through the stressful ordeal. And her agile and creative response highlights the third pillar of switch craft: Emotional awareness.
When dealing with the complicated situation, Jennifer was able to understand and control her own emotions, while also accurately interpreting the emotions of others. It’s in this way that knowing your emotions can give you the agility to take a particular action to achieve the desired goal.
All emotions are important. Yes, even the negative ones. When you feel angry or scared, for example, that’s your body telling you that you need to focus on a particular issue and make some sort of change. This is essential for adapting to a changing situation. On the other hand, positive emotions like joy, hope, or pride, can leave you motivated and inventive, making you more able to thoroughly think through your decisions, or switch tasks as required.
With that in mind, it is useful to be able to regulate your emotions, so you can react appropriately in a given situation. Sometimes it isn’t helpful to feel a strong emotion, which may cause you to act impulsively. If this is necessary, there are a number of ways you can control your emotions.
One way is to simply change the situation. If you are around people who are making you upset, try to get away from them.
If this isn’t possible, try to shift your focus to something more positive. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a failed project, think about what went well.
You could also try to change your way of thinking entirely. Maybe try to see things as if from an outsider's point of view, or look at the bigger picture.
If none of these work, you can adjust your own response. For example, if you find yourself constantly worrying about work, try getting more sleep, changing your caffeine intake, or getting more exercise.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to regulating your emotions, so it’s important to pay attention to the situation and what you are feeling, and then act accordingly. With practice and patience, you can maintain the emotional-awareness required for switch craft.
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Learn to trust your gut.
In the summer of 1984, Elaine Fox was working as a chambermaid in a New York hotel. There, she became good friends with a girl called Jenny. One afternoon, Elaine bumped into Jenny at the beach – along with Jenny’s new boyfriend. She immediately felt that something was wrong. He was very handsome, charming, and friendly, yet Elaine couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable and wary around him. There was a subtle hostility in the way his eyes lingered. He didn’t do or say anything intimidating – it was just a feeling.
A feeling that turned out to be accurate. A few weeks later the boyfriend came to Elaine’s flat in a fit of rage, demanding to know where Jenny was. He stormed off after punching a hole through the screen door, before disappearing into the night. A few days and police interviews later it was discovered that the charming boyfriend had been on the run after a series of rapes in California.
Despite all the external evidence that he was a good guy, Elaine had trusted her gut and gone with her intuition. This kind of situational awareness is essential for making the right decision at the right time, and is hence the fourth and final pillar of switch craft.
Intuition is the unarticulated, almost imperceptible gist that you get in a situation. That feeling that something isn’t quite right, or that something is about to happen, that you can’t explain, but know to be true.
While it may seem like magic, intuition has been shown to be accurate and reliable. Your brain is constantly collecting as much information as possible, and using your prior experiences to make predictions. Even if your conscious mind isn’t aware of it, it is this process that lets you make the right decisions in complex and rapidly-changing situations.
When it comes to successful intuition, context is key. If you are sensitive to what’s going on around you, then your gut feelings are going to be more reliable.
So, how can you develop this context sensitivity, and by extension, your intuition?
A good start is to expose yourself to as many different experiences as possible. The more data you have to draw from, the more useful your response will be in a new or complex situation.
It’s useful to have a good idea of what is considered “normal” in a given situation. In a cafe, for example, you might expect people to be sitting around, relaxing, and drinking their coffee. So if you suddenly realize that the patrons are looking around nervously, you may need to prepare for action.
Here’s a small exercise you can do to start being more situationally aware. Place a coin on the upper-left-hand corner of your desk. Tomorrow morning, and every morning after, move it to a different corner. While this may seem deceptively simple, it will slowly train you to be more aware of your immediate surroundings. Over time you will start to shift this awareness to other aspects of the environment.
This heightened understanding of your surroundings will work to enhance your switch craft, and help you make better, more agile decisions in this complicated world.
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Using switch craft as a tool to navigate the ups and downs the world offers can help you strengthen your ability to decide whether a situation calls for a switch in mindset, approach, or emotional response. Although the ability to switch from one task or thought to another can be difficult, learning switch craft will improve your quality of life over time.
Use the four pillars to guide you in achieving results and mastering switch craft for your daily lives and connections with others. Hone your mental agility, being prepared to stick or switch depending on the circumstances. Foster self-awareness, so you can know you are making the right decision for yourself. Understand and regulate your emotions, so you can use them to your advantage. And finally, learn to be aware of the world around you, so you can confidently go with your gut instinct.
Actionable advice:
Start integrating switch craft into your life today!
Switch craft is an ongoing skill that you need to develop over time. And the best time to start is right now. Try keeping a journal of your switch craft journey, addressing the four pillars you learned about in this book.
Make notes on decisions you’ve made, and your thought process in deciding to stick or switch. Explore your personality, beliefs, values, and goals, to get an understanding of your true self. Record your emotions over different circumstances and times of the day.
Over time you will see yourself develop and grow, and before you know it you will be acting with confidence and agility.
Summary: This book teaches how to hone your "switch craft" by building and maintaining its four basic pillars:
1. Mental agility 2. Self-awareness 3. Motional control 4. Intuition
With practice in each of these 4 areas, you can learn to flourish in this complex and rapidly-changing world.
Review: What I wanted: A manual to help navigate real life scenarios applying these four principles. E.g., How to pivot your business model from one industry to another, or how to emotionally navigate a huge life change. What I got: An explanation of why these 4 pillars are important.
When I read the title of the book, I was very curious to read from a Prof. of Psychology about mental agility. And I was deeply disappointed. For me, who has some knowledge in Psychology, the book had not much to offer. The book is written in a style like the ones of Malcolm Gladwell. Easy to read and staying more or less on the surface. If your are looking for psychological concepts and solid science, you won't find them. Besides the fact that "agile" appears in almost every second sentence, I found nothing besides common psychological knowledge that helps to harness the power of mental agility. From a Prof. of Psychology and a allegedly sought of coach I'd expect much more.
Elaine Fox is a psychologist/ performance coach who has developed a set of various skills she uses to help people improve their approach to challenges in their life. The book provided an overview of her work with various types of professionals and average people to restore flexibility and joy to their lives. The book is extremely enlightening and helpful.
I got a lot of helpful concepts from this, genuinely new ideas that I have not heard of before. That's what kept me going to finish this. There are gems. But the times other ideas were redundant, led me to only rate it 3 stars.
I'm glad I savored reading this for a long time though. Lots to marinate
This was a really interesting book with a heavy emphasis in both psychology and neuroscience. It was insightful and an interesting perspective on the subject. Some parts were a bit redundant, but overall, a really enjoyable read!
Switch Craft by Elaine Fox is a transformative guide that explores the science of mental agility and its profound impact on personal growth and well-being. Drawing from neuroscience and psychology, Fox presents practical strategies and exercises to enhance cognitive flexibility, resilience, and adaptability. This book is an essential read for anyone looking to unlock their potential and navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and effectiveness.
Main Points of Switch Craft
1. Understanding Mental Agility: • Definition of mental agility and its importance in navigating change and uncertainty. • How cognitive flexibility enhances problem-solving and decision-making skills. 2. Neuroplasticity and Brain Training: • Explanation of neuroplasticity and its implications for reshaping neural pathways. • Techniques to cultivate neuroplasticity through mental exercises and mindfulness. 3. Emotional Regulation: • Strategies for managing emotions and fostering emotional resilience. • How to recognize and reframe negative thought patterns for positive outcomes. 4. Adaptability in Decision-Making: • How to make informed decisions under pressure and ambiguity. • Techniques for weighing options, considering alternatives, and minimizing cognitive biases. 5. Building Cognitive Resilience: • Tools to bounce back from setbacks and adversity. • Strengthening mental toughness and perseverance through mindset shifts. 6. Mindfulness and Awareness: • Practices to enhance present-moment awareness and mindfulness. • Benefits of mindfulness in reducing stress, improving focus, and enhancing overall well-being. 7. Creativity and Innovation: • How mental agility fosters creativity and innovation. • Techniques to stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. 8. Personal Growth and Development: • Strategies for continuous learning and personal evolution. • Cultivating a growth mindset to embrace challenges and pursue goals. 9. Applying Mental Agility in Daily Life: • Practical applications of mental agility in professional and personal contexts. • Examples of how individuals can adapt and thrive in dynamic environments. 10. Integration of Theory and Practice: • Bridging scientific research with practical insights and real-world applications. • Case studies and anecdotes illustrating the effectiveness of mental agility techniques.
Conclusion
Switch Craft: Harnessing the Power of Mental Agility to Transform Your Life by Elaine Fox is a compelling guide that empowers readers to harness the power of their minds for personal transformation. With clear explanations, actionable strategies, and engaging exercises, Fox demystifies the science behind mental agility and offers a roadmap to enhancing cognitive flexibility, resilience, and adaptability. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to cultivate mental strength and agility in order to thrive in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world.
The first time I visited the Big Bad Wolf book sale, I didn’t purchase Fox’s Switch Craft. Because my budget was limited, I focused primarily on obtaining cognitive psychology books. As I already had Noise, I looked for other authors that would, at least, provide reminders to me regarding my cognitive biases and minimize wrong decisions under uncertain conditions.
Switch Craft, however, was a late scratch. To some extent, I believed that I have enough agility to address the changing times. It was, however, a good thing that I realized that I could never have enough, and that I could always be better. I have always been relatively conservative and remain to be risk-averse, but it wasn’t in the spirit of the scientific method and Karl Popper’s theory of falsification: for a theory to be scientific, it must be able to be tested and proven false.
On my second visit to the BBW (not the whales, but the sale), I bought Switch Craft. Outside of the transcendent and difficult Critique of Pure Reason, Switch Craft is one of the best books I’ve read this 2023, particularly because I realized that if I were to grow, I’d have to be more mentally agile and break free of the conservative cobwebs of thought. Abraham Maslow was right: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
Among my personal issues was to rationalize and posit every problem as a cogitative one. It has taken me years to slowly ease out of this cushion of intellect, and understand that emotions are also key toward effective action. Fox herself includes emotional awareness (with self-awareness and situational awareness) as foundations for mental agility.
Over the course of the book, Fox provides mnemonics and actionable suggestions that aid one to become more mentally flexible. Instead of worrying, for instance, there’s decentering, which is a psychological concept that has philosophical underpinnings: in Husserlian phenomenology, before pondering the problem at hand, the components of the problem are also broken down, and this is known as bracketing.
Fox also supports the male perspective in addressing a problem: “when there is a possibility of controlling the root cause of the issue, problem-focused strategies are generally a more effective solution.” The female tendency, likely because of how their brains are also designed, to ruminate tends to be an inferior way of addressing a problem especially those with central causes.
The focal point of switch craft is the development of mental agility: it is a dynamic way of addressing life and problems, and also allows us to minimize the bias that Kahneman described as “what you see is all there is.” Fox notes that “opening our minds beyond the rigid constraints of our own values and beliefs can also have a powerful influence on what we observe about the world.”
For instance, I used to stereotype those who went to the gym regularly as jocks. But when I got injured and could no longer run, I was forced to adjust my perceptions when I started going to the gym myself. I’ve grown leaner and more muscular and I can also dispute the idea that I’ve grown stupid. The false dichotomy that I nurtured in my mind was wrong: it turns out that you can both be smart and fit.
I also realized one concept that I had been grasping with, but didn’t have a name for: perspective-taking. Frankly, I’m still generally unempathetic (unless I’m watching My Mister), but perspective-taking is the ability to see another person’s standpoint through the lens of one’s interests.
The book is simply a treasure trove of studies and analyses that I had been wondering about. For instance, Fox disputes the effectiveness of brain-training games (such as Lumosity) because the studies do not show any improvement or carry over in real life situations. (I still like getting high scores in the vocabulary games, though.)
In the second pillar of switch craft, self-awareness, Fox calls out the problematic nature of the MBTI, which I agree with. The dichotomous nature of the MBTI tends to minimize the diversity of individuals. I myself find the MBTI useful as a heuristic: there are many different types of INTJs, but if I have a general idea that a person is an INTJ, I can approach that person with logic and rationality. As a personality indicator, however, it is clear that the MBTI is lacking. In this regard, Fox stated: “understanding your personality is about probabilities and tendencies rather than black-and-white certainties.”
I’ve had a hard time thinking of people’s personalities as continua, but I’m now striving to improve this perspective.
Self-awareness is also improved by intellectual humility: ultimately, I know nothing. While I still have strong views about politics and religion, I definitely have been able to develop this as I’ve grown older. As a general practitioner, I understand where my limitations in medical knowledge lie, and can defer to other people regarding their expertise. Tied into self-awareness is also one’s consistency with his values. I can quite honestly say that I’ve largely lived according to my values, and also try to show that I practice what I preach, which is probably also the reason why I have a rather high awareness of my self.
I also feel that I’ve developed the third pillar of switch craft, which is emotional awareness, through reading and internalizing psychology books and increasing my social interaction. One of the advantages of my rather wide vocabulary is a greater emotional granularity: because I can describe or gradate how I feel, it makes it easier for me to address my own emotions. I’ve also learned, with age, to be authentic rather than suppress my emotions. I have lost a few people in my life, but have gained worthy friends because of my authenticity, but this has improved my mental agility.
Yesterday, for instance, I spilled a good amount of my facial cleanser into the sink. It was pretty expensive, because it’s SK-II, but I thought quickly and just used the spillage as body soap. At least, it wasn’t totally a waste, and felt relaxed afterward. Switch craft helps.
The final pillar of switch craft, situational awareness, is something I still have to develop. Because I’m rather introverted, it’s taken me time to be more comfortable in interacting with people. However, Fox affirms that developing this can only be done through experience, and I find this to be relevant advice. Eventually I would need to bite the bullet and face reality, and this is something I still have to ease myself into.
Overall, for a rather conservative and cerebral person like me, Switch Craft is definitely a great read. The book has inspired me to be more flexible with my thoughts and actions, because the only constant is change. Fox also provided a caveat: change must not be normalized, but if needed, it must be done.
After reading this book, for instance, I still don’t like kids. And that’s OK.
"Elaine Fox's 'Switchcraft' is a compelling exploration of the mind's adaptability. The book touches lightly on the science behind how our brains function, providing just enough detail to enhance understanding without overwhelming the reader. It serves as an inspiring call to action, emphasizing the importance of self-care as a cornerstone of mental flexibility. The author identifies four key elements essential for cultivating a versatile mind, arguing convincingly that all must be present for true adaptability. Fox challenges readers with tough questions that encourage introspection, highlighting how our avoidance or denial of these questions can limit our growth and trap us in restrictive thought patterns. I highly recommend 'Switchcraft' for anyone looking to navigate life's changes more effectively. It offers profound insights into achieving a higher level of personal development and adaptability."
I enjoyed her perspective. Near the end, she neatly summarized key takeaways from the whole book by using an analogy given to her by a guy in the UK equivalent of special forces. She told him her analogy of different golf clubs for different needs. He told her that each team member had different skills. I received a review from NetGalley. I have left an honest opinion.
Een heel boeiend boek over mentale weerbaarheid en flexibiliteit Met tools, testjes, inzichten en een combinatie van zaken waar e als indvidu zelf mee aan de slag kan aanrader https://www.thebookroomatbyron.com/p/...
I really liked this book. Lately I’ve encountered a couple duds when I’ve rotated self-improvement into my rotation — books that promised new insights but were the same thing I’d read before. Switch Craft, however, challenged me and enlightened me. In particular, the part about how our emotions are formed really has me thinking. Brava to Elaine Fox for a well-written, thought-provoking book.