Rip It Up by Richard Wiseman

Introduction

Rip it Up  - Forget positive thinking. It’s time for positive action by Richard Wiseman fundamentally explores the way in which individuals can apply established psychological theory in their lives.

Essentially describing how our actions change our emotions (not the other way around) which is described as the ‘As if’ theory and how this can be used to improve our lives. 

Summary

The book is a mixture of theory and practical application in a number of different areas of life.  It’s a very practical book with a lot of exercises to try along the way. The chapters include:

1.       How to be happy – where Wiseman introduces the work of William James, a psychologist, with some simple thoughts around mind-body connection, for example, how the act of smiling can instantly make us feel happy.

2.     Attraction and relationships – is about unpacking the mysteries of the human heart and relationships.

3.     Mental health – focuses on dealing with phobias, anxiety, and depression.

4.     Willpower – where we learn why rewards punish and discover how to motivate others, and beat procrastination.

5.     Persuasion – explores how we can change people’s minds and views about things through cooperation.

6.     Creating a new you – this chapter is about feeling more confident.

7.     Conclusion – explores why we are in two minds about everything.

8.     Rip it up – ten ways in which your body instantly changes your brain.

The ‘as if’ principle – you may have heard of the saying “fake it until you make it” or “fake it until you become it” as coined by Amy Cuddy in Presence – see book review on my website.

The mind-body connection reminded me of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and again you can subscribe to my free download – An Introduction to Personal Development Using NLP, which has a lot more information about this.

 What resonated?

 There are many useful anecdotes and exercises dotted throughout this book.  Not all of them resonated with me and probably won’t with anyone who reads the book, however, there are some good takeaways:

There is a page in the book which has a ‘how to shake hands’ exercise which resonated with me.  Essentially it is about how the smoother the handshake the better the psychological connection between two people.

Wisman was/is involved in the government Change4Life campaign that encourages people to make small alterations to their diets and levels of exercise. There is a list of ‘triggers’ and what to do ‘instead’ which I will add as a downloadable resource on my website. 

 This was the smile exercise – why not give it a try?

 1.    Sit in front of a mirror.

2.    Relax the muscles in your forehead and cheeks, and let your mouth drop slightly open (in a neutral position).

3.    Contract the muscles near the corners of your mouth by drawing them back towards your ears.  Make the resulting smile as wide as possible and try to ensure that the movement of the cheeks produced wrinkling around the base of your eyes.  Finally, extend your eyebrow muscles slightly upward, and hold the resulting expression for about twenty seconds.

4.    Let the expression drop from the face and think about how you feel at the end of the exercise.

In theory, you should feel happier.

 Favourite Quotes

Not a quote by Wiseman but William James – “If you want a quality act, act as if you already have it”

And another – “Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it; men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp.  In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.” Aristotle

 Conclusion

Did I like this book?  Yes, I did, although I missed out big chunks as they did not resonate with me and I found the amount of reference to theory a little off-putting, however, essentially it is balanced out by the number of practical exercises a person can do whilst reading the book. 

Would I recommend others read it? That is difficult to answer, it is a very good book but probably not if you don’t want or need the theory and history.