Book Babble #12: "Gorilla Mindset" by Mike Cernovich

"How to Control Your Thoughts and Emotions and Live Life on Your Terms"

Back with the primate chit-chat?!

It's all gorillas, monkeys and chimps these days, no? Probably why I went with this today… although a gorilla mindset sounds a bit primitive. But here we are, and no, we're not suggesting going back to dragging our knuckles along the ground… quite the opposite in fact. And the sub-title at the top is certainly what we're looking for.

This book was among a trio in the 'drafts' section of an old blog, which I never finished or got round to publishing. There were 3 books I had recently read at that time and had put into a single post; The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (covered the other day), Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone (we'll get to that in due course, but we have another of Grant's books to tackle first), and this little poppet.

My thoughts were that this was the weakest of the 3, however not without its pearls of wisdom! Apparently this was one of the top non-fiction sellers a couple of years back and it came recommended, so of course gave it a look and here we are.

Primarily aimed at men, it can be applied to all. Again, like Subtle Art, I think it’s more a case of the author defining a target market, with gorillas and 'masculinity'… but gorilla-esses are welcome too ;).

Gorillas in the midst: quotes from the book with my 'expansions'…

To get more out of life you must get more out of yourself. You must take personal responsibility for your thoughts and emotions. You must stop blaming the system. The days of looking outside of yourself for answers are gone.

Oh look, first up is taking full responsibility. You may recognise a theme here as it's been mentioned before and will be again. This along with self-awareness are the 2 most important concepts I know of. If we could write these 2 points down, believe them and act on them, there would be no need for the rest of this book or any book. Let's go home!

Isn’t it time to get serious?

It's a reasonable question. Is it time to stop faffing about and get on with it? Whatever 'it' is.

Now imagine that you believe that the world is massive. The world is one of endless resources and infinite possibilities. What you do matters. Choices matter. You matter. Each day is a new day full of limitless possibilities. How would you act if you knew that anything you wanted to do was possible? Would you live life differently if you believed that you were abundant and full of potential?

Abundance mentality, rather than scarcity. This makes a huge difference to the actions you take and the results you get.

“If you talked to your friends like you talk to yourself, you wouldn’t have any friends.”

They'd punch you in the face and you wouldn't be invited to parties, if you were as rude to them as you are to yourself sometimes.

Gorilla Mindset shift: Treat yourself like a treasured and trusted friend.

Healthy respect. Positive. Upbeat.

“The only easy day was yesterday.” [Navy SEAL motto.]

Those SEALs are bad-asses! Make of that what you will, but my take is that it gets harder and harder as you are pushing for more and more. You should always be improving, whether 'yesterday' was terrible or amazing, it was f-ing easy compared to tomorrow. Oh, and this is a good thing.

“Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred percent and then some.”

US Army Rangers creed. What elite forces do is have certain affirmations, codes, 'rules' if you will, that they live by. Ways of living, so it's absolutely clear to all (not least themselves) what they're about and what's expected.

I'm not suggesting joining the special forces (you can if you like) but it does show what us 'civvies' lack in discipline and conduct. Something to be learned… again you could apply a small piece of this kind of thinking.

And the creed itself: keeping at the top of your game and giving your best. Makes for a great Ranger, and a well-rounded person.

How you ask a question and what facts you include when asking your question often influences the answer.

Framing. What questions you ask and what's included/excluded can heavily influence the response. And ask good questions to get good answers.

“Embrace the suck.”

I hate this term, so I've no idea why I highlighted it. In fact, that's probably why ;). Although it makes a fair point. You're going to 'eat shit' as Gary V would say… that hustle and hard work with minimal gains at that point.

This was a reference to the Army Rangers again as they go through a demanding training to say the least. And anyone who knows anything about the SEALs, have heard of 'hell week'. And we're worried about a half hour run. As an aside, check out the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. He was a navy SEAL and fought in Afghanistan among other missions.

“Mindfulness is ‘the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment,’ which can be trained by meditational practices.”

This is the Wikipedia definition of mindfulness which the author expands on. Certainly a worthy goal and something we're all striving for in our numerous ways.

Tip: meditate. I haven't in a while ('officially' but there are many ways and no rules) but it's one of the best things you can do and as close to a 'magic bullet' you're going to find. And I would say that running is a form of meditation, so mix it up a bit and have a little fun!

Walking has been the pastime of the world’s great thinkers. Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates were all famous for taking their students on walking lectures.

And walking. Leads on from last point. I've been known to stride a few miles in my time. There's a reason some of the top philosophers over the ages did so. And also why Steve Jobs was famous for 'walking meetings'. It's also the lowest barrier for entry; you are moving and exercising but it doesn't take too much effort. Oh, and its free and you get to see more of what's around you!

Here’s an experiment. Make a lot of money. If you decide having money is a bad thing, give it all away.

Money is important, we all know that so won't labour the point. But at least make some before calling it 'bad' and if you really do hate it, then give it away so someone else can make use of it. First thing's first.

a good middleman brings real value to a transaction by bringing together buyers and sellers who might not otherwise have met each other. Start thinking like a middleman.

The connector! This is where fortunes can be made (and not just in money). Also the most rewarding and requires a certain skill. You'll also be 'popular' and well-known, if that's what you want.

Gretzky replied, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

The famous ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. Having vision and putting yourself in the best places. Staying one step ahead and proactive rather than reacting to the tide. He also said: "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take".

Warren Buffett noted, “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and 20 seconds to destroy one. If you go through life with that mindset, you’ll do things differently.”

Especially in this day and age, with all the interwebs. The point here is that everything counts, and your reputation is paramount.

“If I want to be a TV star, I’ll start a YouTube Channel. If I want to be a radio star, I’ll start a podcast. If I want to become a writer, I’ll publish my own books.”

It's all in your hands these days. There are no middle-men. Add in the new blockchain technology and you can even get directly paid for producing, as well as the rest that comes with it. You can add in Steemit, DTube, DSound et al to this scenario. It's only becoming more and more in the hands of the individual, which is how it should be.

Look where you’re going, not where you’ve been.

Be future driven and forget (as much as possible) about the past, other than the lessons where appropriate. Let's bring in a little Socrates to hammer this home: "The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new".

Thanks Mikey! Anything else?

For someone who reads a lot of this kind of material it does have some nuggets but isn’t groundbreaking. For someone new to the rodeo, it may well be excellent. There were exercises too which could be useful for some.

So all in all a good, solid offering but not overly exciting for me. Worth a read but I'm not compelled to go back for round 2.

I don't know much about Mike Cernovich himself but a quick Google search shows he leans a little to the right and has views that may not be agreeable to all, shall we say. Each to their own.

Have you read this book? And what other fine specimens are out there (doesn't have to be animal related ;))?

Check out the others in the series…