Clearly, I’m ahead of the game here. I’ve never considered myself to be anything but ordinary! And I find it kind of sad that a book like this even needs to be read or written. I think that truly special people are in the minority. I think we can all be special from time to time but on the whole humankind are a pretty ordinary bunch.
However, I suspect that the rise of social media and influencers have contributed to peoples’ need to be noticed, to stand out and to believe that they are special. And this is probably an age thing. I’m old so I’ve always been ordinary, and I’m content to continue to be ordinary. I have had a few special moments and that’s great. But I am not suffering or struggling because I’m not special.
This book though does have some very interesting insights and some good advice for people who are struggling with the concept of being ordinary. There’s a great deal of wise counsel here and I found many of the chapter headings good maxims for the way to live our lives – “don’t be afraid to be different from everyone else” and that’s something I would agree with. The herd and flock mentality dominate so much behaviour nowadays. “Stop thinking only of yourself” is another excellent piece of advice. And the world will be a better place if folk could stop doing that and I like the fact that the author himself says that ‘it’s no exaggeration to say that many of today’s problems are caused by people who think only about themselves.’ I have found that to be so true.
The author of the book Is clearly influenced by the work of Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychotherapist who is noted for coining the concept “inferiority complex”.
So, I can see where the author’s ideas are coming from within that context.
I think this book would be of interest and of use to some of the younger generations who are struggling with their confidence and their identities because of the current world we live in. The world of influencing has given some people an exaggerated sense of their own worth, but the reverse is true of others who feel themselves to be inadequate. This book hopefully should address some of those issues and inspire its readers to understand that we must be who we are and if that’s ordinary so be it.
My thanks to Jen Furmage of Tandem Collective for the opportunity to read this book.