The User’s Guide to the Human Mind: Why Our Brains Make Us Unhappy, Anxious, and Neurotic and What We Can Do about It

Your mind is not built to make you happy; it’s built to help you survive. So far, it’s done a great job! But in the process, it may have developed some bad habits, like avoiding new experiences or scrounging around for problems where none exist. Is it any wonder that worry, bad moods, and self-critical thoughts so often get in the way of enjoying life?

The User’s Guide to the Human Mind is a road map to the puzzling inner workings of the human mind, replete with exercises for overriding the mind’s natural impulses toward worry, self-criticism, and fear, and helpful tips for acting in the service of your values and emotional well-being—even when your mind has other plans.

• Find out how your mind tries to limit your behavior and your potential
• Discover how pessimism functions as your mind’s error management system
• Learn why you shouldn’t believe everything you think
• Overrule your thoughts and feelings and take charge of your mind and your life

Table of Contents

Part 1: The Worry Machine
Chapter 1: Protection at a Price
Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of a Mind
Chapter 3: Letting the Mind Do Its Job

Part 2: Happiness Is Not Your Mind’s Job
Chapter 4: How the Mind Uses History
Chapter 5: The Mind’s Skewed View and Biased Memories
Chapter 6: Values and Action

Part 3: Four Ways Our Minds Coerce Us—and What We Can Do About Them
Chapter 7: That Was Then and This Is Then
Chapter 8: Trump Cards and Double Standards
Chapter 9: Pessimistic Thinking
Chapter 10: Quick Fixes

Part 4: Mood, Lifestyle, and Psychological Flexibility
Chapter 11: Welcome to Your State of Mind
Chapter 12: Mind the Basics